关于《新加坡调解公约》的几点思考

关于《新加坡调解公约》的几点思考

This article attempts to discuss two things:

本文致力于探讨以下问题：

1. The scope of application in Article 1 of the Singapore Mediation Convention; and,

《新加坡调解公约》第一条关于公约适用范围的规定，和

2.Prudence of the State that can be noted when acceding to the Singapore Convention.

一国在加入《新加坡调解公约》时所应具备的审慎考量。

Scope of application

适用范围

Singapore Convention deals with settlement agreements resulting from  international mediation. The settlement agreements cannot be domestic agreements between parties of the same State (except the matter is otherwise related to another State, see below).

《新加坡调解公约》适用于国际和解协议。和解协议不能为双方当事人同属一国的国内协议(除非该事项与另一国家另有关系，见下文)。

The first criterion is the place of business of the parties. If the parties to the settlement agreement have places of business in different States, such settlement agreement is an international settlement agreement. For example, Party A is in Korea, and Party B is in Singapore, the two parties entered into a settlement agreement after the mediation process. Such settlement agreement falls into the scope of application of the Singapore Convention.

第一个标准是双方的营业地点。和解协议的当事人的营业地在不同缔约国的，该和解协议为公约所要求的国际和解协议。如甲方在韩国，乙方在新加坡，双方在调解过程中达成了和解协议。这种和解协议就属于《公约》的适用范围。

The second criterion is the place where the obligation of performance is located. Even if the parties have their places of business in the same State, but a substantial part of the obligations under the settlement agreement locates in another State, then the Singapore Convention will apply. For example, if the two parties are Chinese parties, but the construction project under the settlement agreement is located in another BRI country. Take Pakistan as an example, if Party A has the obligation of performing the engineering services in a project in Pakistan, and Party B needs to make payments to Party A for such services, then the settlement agreement falls within the scope of application of the Singapore Convention.

第二项标准是义务履行地。即使当事人的营业地位于同一国家，但和解协议项下的相当一部分义务履行地位于另一国家，《公约》同样适用该和解协议。例如，和解协议双方当事人均为中国企业，但和解协议项下的建设项目位于另一个“一带一路”沿线国家。以巴基斯坦为例, 若协议要求甲方在巴基斯坦境内的某一项目中履行工程服务，乙方需要向甲方支付工程价款，则该和解协议属于《公约》的适用范围。

The third criterion is the place where the subject matter of the settlement agreement mostly connected with is located in another State. Let us take an example. The parties are a Hong Kong party and a Mainland Chinese party, but the subject matter, a real estate development project is located in Cambodia，then the settlement agreement between Party A and Party B falls into the scope of application of the Singapore Convention.

第三项标准是和解协议的所涉事项的最密切联系国家位于其他国家。例如，和解协议的双方当事人分别为香港一方和中国大陆一方，但该协议所涉事项为柬埔寨的一个房地产开发项目，则该和解协议属于《公约》的适用范围。

The above understanding is based on the rules in legal English or legal language in Article 1 of the Singapore Convention, as follows:

上述理解是基于《公约》第1条中法律英语或法律语言的规则，内容如下:

“Article 1. Scope of application

1. This Convention applies to an agreement resulting from mediation and concluded in writing by 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.”

第1条 适用范围

1. 本公约适用于调解所产生的、当事人为解决商事争议而以书面形式订立的协议(“和解协议”)，该协议在订立时由于以下原因而具有国际性:

(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

(b) 和解协议各方当事人设有营业地的国家不是:

     (一) 和解协议所规定的相当一部分义务履行地所在国;或者

   (二) 与和解协议所涉事项关系最密切的国家。”

Legal languages are organized in a specific phrase for specific purpose, and with specific meaning. In different versions of language, some implications might be lost in the translation. In the English version of the above provision, inthe phrase of item (b),“the State in which the parties to the settlement agreement have their places of business is different from”, the word “State” implies “the one and same State”, because it is in the singular form. In the Chinese version, the translation is: 和解协议各方当事人设有营业地的国家does not have the implied meaning of the “one and same State”. The full meaning in Chinese appears to be:

法律语言是基于特定目的，由特定的短语组成，并具有特定含义的语言。在不同文本的交替中，语言的部分含义可能会在翻译的过程中遗失。在上述条款的英文文本(b)项“和解协议各方当事人设有营业地的国家”中，“国家”一词意味着“一个国家”，因为它是单数形式。然而，在中文版本中，该款被翻译为“和解协议各方当事人设有营业地的国家”并没有指向“一个和同一的国家”。

完整的中文意思似乎是:

(b) 和解协议各方当事人设有营业地的该国家不是:

    (一) 和解协议所规定的相当一部分义务履行地所在国;或者

 (二) 与和解协议所涉事项关系最密切的国家。

In English language, when used in singular form, “the State”means impliedly one state. In the Chinese language, the character“国家”does not have singular or plural form. Singularity or pluralism is expressed by other characters, such as “this”or “these”in expressions like “the State or this State” or “these States”. If a singular one State is meant, we should interpret it as “the state”，instead of “state”. Thus, the innate meaning of the provision in respect of the one and same State in which the parties have their places of business will not be lost in the Chinese translation.

在英语中当用于单数形式时，“the State”意指一个且是同一个国家。而在中文中，“国家”这个词语并没有单数或复数形式。单数或复数形式会通过其他词语表达，如“这个”或“这些”等表达“这个国家”或“这些国家”。如果其英文为单数形式的“国家”，我们应将其理解为“该国家”，而不是“国家”。这样，《公约》中文文本中关于当事人在一个且同一个国家内拥有营业地的固有含义便不会存在缺漏。

Therefore, in legal English, words must be understood in the context of the original language when we examine provisions like this one in international conventions or treaties.

因此，在法律英语中，当我们研究国际公约或条约中类似的条款时，必须在原语言的上下文中理解词语的含义。

Of course, when considering the scope of application of the Singapore Convention, the “carved out” provisions such as Article [2] and [3] also need to be studied and noted carefully. Settlement agreement in personal consumption, family, inheritance and employment matters, and settlement agreements that have translated into court orders or arbitration awards are carved out from the scope of application of the Singapore Convention.

当然，在考虑《公约》的适用范围时，也需要认真研究和注意第2条和第3条等“除外”规定。在个人消费、家庭、继承和就业问题上的和解协议，以及“转化”成法院命令或仲裁裁决的和解协议，都是《公约》排除适用的。

Prudence when acceding to the Convention

一国在缔结《公约》时所应具备的审慎考量

There are proper procedures set out in the Singapore Convention in respect of signing, acceding, ratification, accession and approval. We believe readers need to read Article [10] Depository, and Article [11] of the Convention to understand the full process of the accession to the Convention.

《公约》在签署、批准、加入和接受方面规定了适当的程序。我们认为，读者需要阅读《公约》第10条关于保存人的规定以及第11条，才能了解一国缔结《公约》的整个过程。

We would like to note one important provision: Article 8 (1), that is, as set out in the following:

我们要指出一项重要的规定：第8条第一款，即如下文所述:

Article 8. Reservations

1. A Party to the Convention may declare that:

(a) It shall not apply this Convention to settlement agreements to which it is a party, or to which any governmental agencies or any person acting on behalf of a governmental agency is a party, to the extent specified in the declaration;

(b) It shall apply this Convention only to the extent that the parties to the settlement agreement have agreed to the application of the Convention.”

第8条 保留1. 公约当事方可声明:

(a) 对于其为一方当事人的和解协议，或者对于任何政府机构或者代表政府机构行事的任何人为一方当事人的和解协议，在声明规定的限度内，本公约不适用;

(b) 本公约适用，唯需和解协议当事人已同意适用本公约。”

Article 8 (1) (a) applies to situations where the settlement agreement deals with public law matters, such as when the State is a party to the settlement agreement. In such a case, the state can make a reservation as to the application of the Convention to these settlement agreements. In investor-State arbitration, if the State will be a party to a mediated settlement agreement, the reservation, if made here, will not likely subject the State to the scope of application of the Singapore Convention.

《公约》第八条第一款（a）项适用于和解协议涉及公法事项的情况。如国家是和解协议的一方当事人。在这种情况下，公约缔约国可以做出保留，使公约不适用于这些和解协议。在投资者与东道国国际仲裁领域，如果国家可能成为和解协议的一方，假设缔约国作了此项保留，则该国不太可能会受《新加坡公约》的约束。

Article 8(1) (b) deals with private consent of the parties to the settlement agreement to be governed by the Convention. This provision gives the contracting State a different layer of protection concerning the applicability of the Singapore Convention. The Convention only applies when the parties to the settlement agreement expressly consent to the application of the Singapore Convention. This seems to be a prudent method for a contracting State to consider as a declaration at the time of accession to the Convention. It pushes the entities who have the places of business in the contracting State to agree to be governed by the Singapore Convention, in order for the Convention to the applied in respect of the mediated settlement agreement. It will also help cultivate a sense of consensual rights and obligations by referencing to international conventions expressly in commercial contracts between Chinese parties and foreign parties.

《公约》第8条第一款(b)涉及受《公约》调整的和解协议中，当事各方的对于适用《公约》的合意。这项规定赋予缔约国在《公约》的适用性上更强的保护，即只有当和解协议各方明确同意适用《公约》时，《公约》才可适用。这是缔约国在缔结《公约》时，可通过特定声明而加以明确的审慎方式。它促使在缔约国拥有营业地点的实体同意受《公约》管辖，以便《公约》适用于特定的和解协议。通过在中外当事方之间的商业合同中明确引用国际公约，这将帮助培养一种协商一致的权利和义务意识。

International conventions and treaties are negotiated documents. If the readers do not fully understand the sentences used in the legal provisions, they could resort to the legislative histories of such provisions. After all, negotiated documents involve hard-chosen words at the time of negotiation that may not be the easy-going words used in the ordinary sense. Hence, the legal provisions will need to be studied by professionals if they do not fully make sense to layman persons.

国际公约和条约是经过谈判达成的文件。如果读者不完全理解法律条文中所使用的句子，他们可以求助于这些条文的立法背景和历程。毕竟，谈判文件时所涉及的措辞，可能不是在一般意义上容易理解的。因此，如果法律规定的含义不能被一般民众所充分掌握，就需要由法律专业人士加以研究。