Recent developments
On 7 August 2019, Turkey signed the United Nations Convention on
International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation
("Singapore Convention"), which aims to
regulate the enforcement of cross-border settlement agreements
resulting from mediation. The Singapore Convention is similar to
the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of
Foreign Arbitral Awards of 1956, which regulates the enforcement of
foreign arbitral awards and which Turkey also signed.
Under Turkish law, all disputes arising out of private law
transactions concerning matters that can be freely disposed of are
subject to mediation. However, parties must undergo mandatory
mediation for commercial disputes for monetary claims pursuant to
the Turkish Commercial Code. The Singapore Convention is applicable
to cross-border settlement agreements settling commercial disputes
as a result of a mediation. Taking this into consideration,
settlement agreements signed following mandatory mediations prior
to filing commercial cases are in the scope of the Singapore
Convention, provided that they also meet the other conditions
specified under the Singapore Convention. Therefore, the ease of
enforcing settlement agreements concerning international commercial
disputes and signed as a result of a mandatory mediation in the
contracting states of the Singapore Convention will make mandatory
mediation a functional and effective way to settle these types of
disputes.
Scope of the Singapore Convention
The Singapore Convention is applicable to written cross-border
settlement agreements that settle commercial disputes as a result
of a mediation.
The Singapore Convention does not apply to settlement
agreements
- concluded to resolve a dispute arising from transactions engaged in by a consumer for personal, family or household purposes;
- relating to family, inheritance or employment law;
- that have been approved by a court or concluded in the course of proceedings before a court, and that are enforceable as a judgment in the state of that court; and
- that have been recorded and are enforceable as an arbitral award.
Necessary documents for the enforcement of a settlement agreement
The party requesting the enforcement of an international
settlement agreement only needs to submit two documents to the
competent authority, namely:
- a copy of the signed settlement agreement, and
- evidence that the settlement agreement resulted from mediation (e.g., the mediator's signature on the settlement agreement or evidence that the competent authority deems acceptable).
Grounds for refusal of the enforcement of a settlement agreement
When a party seeks the enforcement of the settlement agreement,
the competent authority of the state that is a party to the
Singapore Convention may only reject the request for enforcement ex
officio if the enforcement would be contrary to that state's
public policy or if the subject matter of the dispute cannot be
mediated pursuant to the laws of the state where the party seeks
enforcement.
A party may also rely on a number of grounds to prevent the
enforcement of a settlement agreement, such as incapacity of a
party; a null, void, inoperative or incapable settlement agreement;
and the mediator's failure to disclose to the parties any
circumstances that raise justifiable doubts regarding the
mediator's impartiality or independence.
Conclusion
The Singapore Convention is the first major step towards
creating an international legal framework for the enforcement of
settlement agreements resulting from mediations. The Singapore
Convention will increase the popularity of international mediation
because it will abolish the need for a court judgment or an
arbitral award recording the result of a mediation to enforce
settlement agreements. It will also reduce parties' need to
resort to post-mediation steps, such as court proceedings or
arbitration.
Although European Union member states and Russia are not parties to
the Singapore Convention, the US, China, India, Qatar, Israel, and
Korea which are amongst Turkey's most significant trade
partners signed the Singapore Convention. In this regard, securing
the enforcement of settlement agreements following mediation in the
scope of the Singapore Convention in states that are relevant to
Turkey's economy shows the significance of the Singapore
Convention for Turkey.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.