Arbitration:

The arbitrator looks into the legal rights and wrongs of a dispute and makes a decision. Once the arbitrator has arrived at a decision, it is binding on parties whether they agree with it or not.

Singapore International Arbitration Centre:
Established in 1991, SIAC serves as an independent, non-profit organization.

As an institution administering arbitration, SIAC mainly helps the parties in appointment of arbitrators when they cannot agree on an appointment, management of the financial and other practical aspects of arbitration and facilitation of the smooth progress of arbitration.

Mediation:

Singapore Mediation Centre:
Mediation – as opposed to arbitration and litigation – is a non-adversarial problemsolving process that does not involve declaring a winner or loser. The biggest advantage of mediation is that no one runs the risk of being imposed upon an adverse judgment.

Singapore Subordinate Courts Primary Dispute Resolution Centre:
Court-connected mediation refers to mediation which is held in court or conducted by a judicial officer or court official once legal proceedings have commenced. Apart from mediation under CDR, mediation may be employed within Pre-Trial Conferences. However, the majority of all court-based mediation is handled under CDR. The vast majority of cases in the Subordinate Courts undergo CDR.

Statistics:

  1. In 1997 the civil jurisdiction of the Subordinate Courts was increased from S$100,000 to S$250,000. As the financial stakes in cases with claims between S$100,000 and S$250,000 are much higher than those in the other civil cases in the Subordinate Courts, particular effort was made to promote mediation in these cases.
  2. More than 1000 matters – among which 80% are settled, and 72% within one working day - have been referred to the Singapore Mediation Centre for mediation.

Li Daming is a second year law student and an associate editor of SLR.