- Indian Government has signed the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements(UNISA).
- The United Nations General Assembly adopted the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation in 2018.
- The UN has authorized that the Convention will be open for signature in Singapore and will be known as the “Singapore Convention on Mediation”.
- The Convention provides a uniform and efficient framework for the enforcement of international settlement agreements resulting from mediation and for allowing parties to invoke such agreements.
- The Convention defines two additional grounds upon which a court may, on its own motion refuse to grant relief.Those grounds relate to the fact that a dispute would not be capable of settlement by mediation or would be contrary to public policy.
- The signing of the Convention will boost the confidence of the investors and shall provide a positive signal to foreign investors about India’s commitment to adhere to international practice on Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR).
- However,experts have called this as a base convention that will have to be translated into an effective law in India.The law supporting the convention should cover all government contracts with investors for mediation both in India and in a third country choice of disputing parties.
- India has taken steps such as establishing the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre(NDIAC) as a statutory body to encourage international commercial arbitration in India and to evolve a comprehensive ecosystem of arbitration.
