LESG Workshop at BFSU Law School

法律英语研习会·走进北京外国语大学法学院

On March 15, 2019, Friday Night Study of LESG was carried out at the Moot Court Room of BFSU Law School.The subject of the night study was International Mediation and the “Singapore Mediation Convention”.

The Convention draft was approved on June 26, 2018 at the auspices of the UNCITRAL. The approval came after three years of intense deliberation among 85 member states and 35 inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations. 

On December 20, 2018, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention, which will become binding on member states pending their acceptance and ratification. This year will see a ceremony in August 2019 and how the Convention will become effective upon the signing of three member states. 

2019年3月15日周五晚上，法律英语研习小组走进北京外国语大学法学院，举行了一场题为“国际调解和《新加坡调解公约》”的法律英语研习会。本次研习会在北京外国语大学主楼的模拟法庭举行。

《新加坡调解公约》草案（下称“公约草案”）在经历了由85个成员国及35个国际政府间或非政府间组织参与的、为期三年的紧张审议后，于2018年6月26日在联合国贸易法委员会获得通过。

随后，2018年12月20日，第73届联合国大会决议通过了《新加坡调解公约》（下称“公约”）。该公约将在缔约国签署并批准后对该国产生法律拘束力。据悉，公约的签字仪式将于2019年8月举行，并在三个缔约国签署后正式生效。

What changes the Singapore Mediation Convention will bring about?

《新加坡调解公约》将会带来什么变化呢？

(a)Prior to the Convention, if an international disputant settled a case through mediation, it would usually be required to enforce the settlement agreement as it would any other contract: by bring a new action in the contractual counter-party’s own country.

在公约以前，如果国际（商事）争端一方通过调解的方式解决争议，通常需要像执行任何其他合同一样执行经由调解达成的和解协议：在另一方当事人的所属国提起诉讼。

(b)After the Convention, the international disputant may seek to skip the litigation process but go right to the enforcement procedure to enforce the mediated settlement agreement in the member states.

在公约生效后之后，国际（商事）争端的一方可以避开缔约国国内的诉讼程序，并通过缔约国的执行程序执行该和解协议。

The Scope of the Convention

公约的适用范围

The Convention applies to an agreement resulting from mediation and concluded in writing by the parties to resolve a commercial dispute (“settlement agreement”) which, at the time of its conclusion, is international in that:

(a) At least two parties to the settlement agreement have their places of business in different States; or

(b) The State in which the parties to the settlement agreement have their places of business is different from either:

i) The State in which a substantial part of the obligations under the settlement agreement is performed; or

ii) The State with which the subject matter of the settlement agreement is most closely connected.

公约适用于经由调解达成的，并由争端当事方以书面形式订立的，以解决商事争端的和解协议。该和解协议在缔结时须具有国际性：

(a)和解协议至少有两方当事人在不同国家设有营业地；或者

(a)和解协议各方当事人设有营业地的国家不是：

i)和解协议所规定的大部分义务履行地所在国； 或者

ii)与和解协议所涉事项关系最密切的国家。

To be specific, the settlement agreement must be international. This means that a domestic settlement agreement among domestic parties will not be subject to the Convention.

 “International” must involve either parties who have their places of business in different states, or the following two scenarios:

(a) The State where the parties have their places of business is different from the State where a substantial part of the obligations under the settlement agreement is performed;

(b) The State where the parties have their places of business is different from the State that is most closely connected with the subject matter of the settlement agreement.

具体而言，和解协议必须具有国际性。这意味着，双方当事人同属一国的、经由调解方式达成的纯国内和解协议并不属于该公约的适用范围。

“国际性”要求和解协议任一当事方的营业地位于不同的国家，或者存在以下两种情形：

(a)双方当事人营业地所在国与和解协议中大部分义务履行地所在国不同；

(b)双方当事人营业地所在国与和解协议所涉事项关系最密切的国家不同。

Exclusions under the Convention

公约适用的除外条款

The following settlement agreements are expressly excluded from the Convention:

(a) Settlement agreements concluded in the course of court proceedings or have been approved by a court;

(b) Settlement agreements that are enforceable in the country of that court;

(c) Settlement agreements that are recorded or enforceable as an arbitral award.

下列和解协议被明确排除在公约适用范围之外：

(a)经由法院批准或者系在法院相关程序过程中订立的协议；

(b)可在该法院所在国作为判决执行的协议；

(c)已记录在案并可作为仲裁裁决执行的协议。

Circumstances of non-enforcement under the Convention

公约规定不予执行的情形

Modeling on the New York Convention, the Singapore Convention lists out all the circumstances where a settlement agreement may be refused of enforcement by the courts of a member state. The following grounds are some of the examples:

(a)Incapacity of a party to the settlement agreement;

(b)The settlement agreement is incapable of being performed under the applicable law;

(c)The settlement agreement is not final or binding according to its own terms;

(d)There was a failure by the mediator to disclose facts and circumstances creating justifiable doubts as to the mediator’s independence or impartiality;

(e)The relief is contrary to the public policy of the signing state in which enforcement is sought;

(f)The subject matter of the dispute is not capable of settlement by mediation under the law of the signatory state.

以《纽约公约》为典范，《新加坡调解公约》列举了和解协议可能被缔约国法院拒绝执行的各种情形，包括但不限于以下情形：

(a) 和解协议中一方当事人处于某种无行为能力的状况；

(b) 根据准据法，和解协议不能被履行；

(c) 根据和解协议的规定，该协议不具约束力或是非终局性的；

(d) 调解员在履行披露义务时存在不当以及其他情形使得有理由对调解员的独立和公正产生怀疑；

(e) 和解协议所包含的救济方式有悖于执行程序所属缔约国的公共政策；

(f) 依据执行程序所属缔约国的法律，争端事项不能通过调解的方式加以解决。

Connection to Justice Concept

与“正义”观念的关联

The Night Study looked at the concept of justice and found some interesting connection of justice to the settlement agreement.

研习会同时还关注到“正义”的观念，并发现和解协议与“正义”的观念间存在某些有趣的联系。

Both Greek philosophers and Chinese traditional thinkers of harmony looks at harmony as most valuable. Per Polus [5th Cent. BC], justice bring harmony, symmetry and peace to the entire soul.

古希腊哲学家与中国古代传统思想家都将“和谐”视为最高价值追求。公元前五世纪的古希腊哲学家波拉斯就提出，正义为灵魂的每一个角落带来和谐、对称和安宁。

In relation to freedom of economic rights, justice theories, per Michael Sandel, advocate individual choices, freedom of choices, under the Laissez-faire school, which respects and upholds the voluntary choices made by consenting adults. Settlement agreements are voluntarily chosen by the parties in the market. Hence the group found that it is a piece of work that meets the justice theories in this regard.

关于经济权利的自由和正义理论，在自由放任主义的思想下，Michael Sandel教授提倡个人选择和选择自由。这要求我们要尊重并支持每一位成年人所作出的自主选择。和解协议是争端当事人在市场经济条件下自主作出的选择和决定。因此，研习小组认为，在该语境下，和解协议 与“正义”的观念是相吻合的。

Certification of the settlement agreements by the Mediators/Mediation Institutions

调解员或调解机构对和解协议的认证

In order to enforce the settlement agreement, the enforcing party must present a settlement agreement that is certified by the mediator or the mediation body. 

在公约之下，为了执行和解协议，申请执行的一方当事人必须提供经由调解员或调解机构认证的和解协议。

A survey on the spot shows that it is more likely for parties to include a mediation clause in their contract if a settlement agreement resulted from mediation can be enforced in another contracting state. 

研讨会上的一份现场调查显示，如果经由调解达成的和解协议可以在另一缔约国被执行，那么当事人更倾向于在合同中加入一项调解条款。

In North America, experience seems to show that mediators may not be willing to certify the settlement agreements because of the potential exposure to breach of confidentiality obligations and future litigation. Some mediators may however choose to defend against claims of breach of confidentiality and be willing to certify the settlement agreements. 

在北美，经验表明，调解员不太情愿对和解协议作出认证，因为这潜在地违反保密义务并存在诉讼的风险。但是，一些调解员会选择对违反保密义务的控诉加以辩护进而认证和解协议。

As a practice note, it is suggested that institutional mediation may be more preferable than ad hoc mediation in international area.

实践经验证明，在国际争端解决领域，机构调解较之于临时调解更受推崇。

Questions and answers

问答环节

Some very heated discussions took place through questions raised at the night study. A big question was raised for the participants to watch: will a non-signatory state be obliged to enforce a settlement agreement coming from a party whose country is a signatory state, and vice versa query as well? 

研习会还就参与者所提出的问题进行了热烈的讨论。其中，参与者所聚焦的一个主要问题是：非缔约国是否有义务执行缔约国当事人的和解协议？反之亦然？

It is worth noting how countries will respond to the signing of the Singapore Mediation Convention. Hopefully more countries will be signing off as a result of the UN General Assembly’s resolution last December, 2018.

值得关注的是各国将对签署新加坡调解公约的反应。希望更多国家将在2018年12月联合国大会决议的基础上签署公约。