The Singapore Convention on Mediation, easy sailing toward enforceability

It has always been a mystery to us why cross border commercial disputes are rarely settled using mediation. The answer usually given is that if parties reach a mediated settlement there is still a problem enforcing that deal across international borders. That is because the settlement deal is still just a contract that will require a court in another country to enforce. It's a bit like trying to take intricately carved wooden objects through Customs into a foreign country. You might get them in but the lining up in the Customs queue and red tape barely make it worthwhile.

The good news is that we're well underway to having a global regime which allows easy enforcement of these agreements across the world.