SINGAPORE - CENTER FOR ARBITRATION AND MEDIATION

Within the framework of the USAID judicial reform project in Uzbekistan and according to the Action Plan for Cooperation between the USAID and the Arbitration Court at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the field of legal education of citizens and entrepreneurs of Uzbekistan, foreign investors on alternative dispute resolution, a group of specialists has been in Singapore with a study visit during January 11-20, 2020.

The purpose of the study visit was to improve the qualifications and practical experience of mediators and arbitrators with the help of studying the legislation, the experience of international arbitration and mediation centers in Singapore.

During the visit, members of the group, including the chairman of the International Commercial Arbitration Court Foziljon Otakhonov and the deputy chairman of the Arbitration Court at the CCI of the Republic of Uzbekistan Rustam Shaimardonov, visited the Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI), Singapore International Mediation Center (SIMC), Singapore International Arbitration Center (SIAC), American Arbitration Association International Dispute Resolution Center (AAA-ICDR), Singapore Mediation Center (SMC), Singapore University of Management (SMU), Singapore Academy of Dispute Resolution, where highly qualified specialists - Marcus Lim, Chuvan Vее Meng, Kevin Nash, Nadia Alexander and others  talked about the activities of the relevant organizations in the form of a dialogue.

The members of the group studied the legislation and practical experience of Singapore in the development of arbitration courts and mediation, which led Singapore to one of the main centers of international arbitration and mediation in Asia and the world, including familiarized themselves with the Law of Arbitration, which regulates the activities of internal arbitration (arbitration court); The Arbitration Act, which governs international arbitration and the Mediation Act; got acquainted with the organizational structure and activities of international arbitration centers, in particular with the task, competence and functions of the Board of Directors; The Regulations and Rules of the International Arbitration Centers, internal documents on management and financing, the procedure for issuing fees to arbitrators; the state of the material and technical base and the activities of international arbitration centers to strengthen the material and technical base; interaction of international arbitration centers with the government, state courts, justice authorities of Singapore; experience in establishing international relations with international commercial arbitration and arbitration courts of foreign countries; the organization and participation in international conferences (seminars, round tables), as well as the procedure and sources of financing for these events; dispute resolution procedure.

In addition, the group studied the organizational structure and activities of the Singapore International Mediation Centers, in particular, got acquainted with the composition of mediators and statistics on the procedures for mediation; institutional support from the courts of Singapore, the Ministry of Justice, the Singapore Academy of Law, as well as from the Board of Directors of mediation centers; the possibility of enforcing a mediation agreement by appealing to the court; the practice of compulsory mediation of family disputes; accreditation and certification of mediators.

During the visit, issues of cooperation between the Arbitration Court at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Singapore Academy of Dispute Resolution were discussed.