The Role of Empirical Research and Dispute System Design in Proposing and Developing International Treaties: A Case Study of the Singapore Convention on Mediation

Abstract

This Article seeks to provide insights into the “black box” of early treaty-making processes by undertaking a case study of the development of the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, known colloquially as the Singapore Convention on Mediation (Singapore Convention). The discussion focuses on several issues that have seldom been discussed in the legal literature, including the way in which a proposal for an international treaty makes its way to the relevant decision-makers and how those decision-makers determine which of the various alternatives to pursue. In so doing, the article focuses particularly on the role that dispute system design (DSD) and empirical research played in the early development of the Singapore Convention. The analysis also considers how interested individuals can assist the treaty-proposing process, particularly if they are not a member of a non-governmental organization (NGO).

Keywords: international commercial mediation, international commercial arbitration, Singapore Convention, New York Convention, settlement, dispute resolution, ADR, dispute system design, empirical, international law, international treaties, non-governmental organization (NGO), private international law, UNCIT