Views from the coal face: the development of international commercial mediation

Mediation use in the international commercial area has been the subject of some research and discussion over the past two decades. In the past five years, however, a number of significant changes have resulted in an increased focus on the use of mediation to resolve international commercial disputes. One significant area of potential change has resulted from the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (the Singapore Convention on Mediation, New York, 2018). Apart from this change, domestic commercial mediation has increased in a number of jurisdictions as a result of an increased domestic focus on mediation and, in some instances, mandatory requirements to use mediation that are fostered by legislative instruments or contractual requirements. This article explores the potential and actual use of mediation from the perspective of international commercial mediators, their perceptions of barriers to use and ways to expedite growth as well as discussing the perceived benefits and concerns about what has been referred to as the juridification of mediation.