Singapore Convention Week Kicks Off Today With International Mediation Competition

02 AUG 2019

2 Aug 2019 Posted in Press releases

  1. The Singapore Convention Week, a week-long series of events held in conjunction with the signing of the Singapore Convention on Mediation on 7 August 2019, kicked off today at the National University of Singapore, Faculty of Law, with an international mediation competition involving 140 students and 28 coaches from 30 universities from around the world (see Annex for the list of participating universities).

  2. Over a three-day period, between 2 and 4 August 2019, these university students, in teams of three to four members each, will compete on their negotiation and mediation skills over five increasingly complex commercial cases, which are based on and inspired by real international disputes mediated by professional mediators. They will be judged on their performance by professional mediators accredited by the Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI). The ranking of the teams will be announced on 5 August 2019.

  3. The International Mediation Singapore Competition, organised by the Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI), is the first ever international moot organised in Singapore that focuses on mediation advocacy and mediation.

  4. The university students were among the first international delegates to arrive in Singapore for the Singapore Convention Week. Besides competing in the mediation competition, they will also attend the Singapore Convention Signing Ceremony and Conference on 7 August 2019 and other related events.

  5. Singapore Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Law and Ministry of Health, Edwin Tong, SC said, “We are marking the start of Singapore Convention Week with an international mediation competition involving university students. It is very encouraging to see 140 students from 30 universities around the world come to Singapore to take part. There is clearly a very strong interest in mediation, and as demand for mediation services grow, it will be important to develop thought leadership in Singapore, nurture a strong mediation curriculum in our law schools and build a strong pool of professionals.”

  6. Chairman of SIMI, Professor Joel Lee said, “The overwhelming interest in IMSG is a sign that mediation is something very much on the forefront of the minds of students and educators. Universities increasingly recognise the need to expose our law students to mediation, so that they are equipped with this new skillset which will only grow in demand when they enter into practice. This competition serves as a good introduction to international mediation in practice.”

  7. Over 1,500 delegates are expected to attend the Singapore Convention Signing Ceremony and Conference and related events during Singapore Convention Week. They include prominent judges, senior partners of major law firms, other senior practitioners, scholars, presidents of law associations, courts and boards of top dispute resolution institutions, general counsel of large multinational corporations, and business leaders.

  8. SIMI is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to be the standards body for professional mediation

Annex: Participating Universities

Annex: Participating Universities

  1. Advance Tertiary College (ATC), Malaysia

  2. Alliance University, Alliance School of Law, India

  3. Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology, Colombo, Sri Lanka

  4. BPP University, UK

  5. University of Delhi, Campus Law Centre, India

  6. Chapman University, California, USA

  7. Foreign Trade University, Hanoi, Vietnam

  8. Hanoi Law University, Hanoi, Vietnam

  9. Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat, India

  10. King’s College London, UK

  11. London College of Legal Studies (South), UK

  12. NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, India

  13. National Law Institute University, Bhopal, India

  14. National Law School of India University, Bangalore, India

  15. National University of Singapore, Singapore

  16. Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab, India

  17. Christ University, School of Law, Bangalore, India

  18. University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, School of Law, Dehradun, India

  19. Singapore Management University, Singapore

  20. Strathmore Law School, Nairobi, Kenya

  21. Tribhuvan University, Nepal

  22. Universidade de Brasília, Brazil

  23. Universitas Indonesia, West Java, Indonesia

  24. University of London, UK

  25. University of Oslo, Norway

  26. University of the West of England, UK

  27. Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam

  28. Washington & Jefferson College, Washington, Pennsylvania

  29. West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata, India

  30. Wuhan University, China

Last updated on 04 Aug 2019