Mediation has gathered momentum as a means of international commercial dispute resolution over the past four decades. The advent of the Singapore Convention has broken new ground by elevating international mediated settlement agreements to a new status, enabling them to be recognised and enforced within the framework of private international law. This new international basis for enforcement will serve to raise the international profile of the commercial mediation process, giving it increased credibility and visibility and the promise of greater regulatory robustness.
This book analyses the principal legal and regulatory issues in international commercial mediation and discusses the implications for the process in its several contexts. The controversies arising from the international commercial mediation process are identified and discussed in detail. This perspective on recent and emerging developments, and the insights it reveals, sets this book apart, comprising its original contribution to the field.
Commercial mediation is primarily a creature of contract and has proved most successful in those countries where it developed entirely separately from the court process. Consequently, private commercial mediation, as distinct from mandatory forms of mediation, is the primary process covered in this book. The main focus is on developments in common law jurisdictions in Europe, North America and Australia where mediation tends to be more advanced, while developments in other common, civil and ‘mixed’ jurisdictions are referred to in various places for comparative purposes. In view of the flexible nature of the mediation process, the principles and themes covered are comparative and international and largely transcend systemic differences.
The chapters are organised thematically, with each chapter reflecting a natural progression from the preceding one. While many of the themes and principles discussed in the book are relevant to mediation generally, the book’s focus on commercial mediation means it will primarily be of interest to students, academics, practitioners, mediation service providers, judges and others with an interest in the law and regulation of the commercial mediation process. The content should also serve as a useful guide to recent developments in regulation and law for those engaged in other forms of mediation and those who have an interest in the mediation process generally.
I am grateful to my family, above all my wife Hazel, for their patience and support throughout the intensive process from draft manuscript to final production.
The staff at Cambridge University Press, particularly Finola O’Sullivan and Marianne Nield, have been encouraging and helpful through the process.
I am grateful to Professor Carrie Menkel-Meadow for writing the foreword. A founder of the dispute resolution field, Professor Menkel-Meadow is both a leading academic and practitioner. As one of modern mediation’s ‘pioneering pracademics’, her work has resulted in theory influencing practice and practice influencing theory.
While this book has been an ongoing project for some time, it was finalised during a period of sabbatical research leave at the Commercial Law Centre, Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford. I am grateful to Professor Kristin Van Zwieten and Professor Horst Eidenmueller for making this visit fruitful and enjoyable, particularly in such challenging times.
I have attempted to state the law as at 30 June 2022.
Christchurch, New Zealand
July 2022
