Application Of Singapore Convention On Mediation From The Perspective Of Myanmar

The purpose of this paper is to develop Myanmar’s mediation process(mechanism)and the use of mediation for the resolution of cross-border commercial disputes.Mediation is an effort by a third party to encourage parties to a dispute to voluntarily reach an agreement to resolve their dispute.Myanmar has long used the methods of mediation,arbitration and litigation to resolve disputes.Lawsuits and minor offenses are usually mediated in the presence of community leaders or acquaints.Lawsuits and minor offenses are usually mediated in the presence of community leaders or acquaintances.In general,commercial disputes in Myanmar are time-consuming and costly,as they use only arbitration and litigation methods.Types of mediation in People’s Republic of China,Republic of India,and Republic of Singapore are civil mediation,judicial mediation,Administrative mediation and Arbitration mediation and they have qualified many dispute settlement organizations.Therefore,this paper examines the Singapore Mediation Convention,the legality of mediation in Myanmar without a separate Mediation Law,which organizations are legally conducting mediation,and what the difficulties are.It also looked at the benefits that Myanmar could have if it became a party to the Singapore Mediation Convention.The result from this study indicated that,there is negotiation method,mediation or conciliation method,arbitration method to settle disputes as Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR)without litigation.Administrative mediation conducted by an administrative organ under the relevant laws.Judicial mediation is set in the Civil Procedure Code(CPC).Myanmar is a member of many regional agreements with investment provisions.Myanmar has signed Free Trade Agreements(FTAs)with some countries including China.Moreover Myanmar has thirteen Bilateral Investment Treaties(BITs).Directorate of Investment and Company Administration(DICA)is striving to create enabling business environment and to help facilitate doing business in Myanmar.The UMFCCI has established the Myanmar Arbitration Center to resolve disputes over foreign investment in a fair and equitable manner.In order to further develop Myanmar’s economy,the Myanmar government has implemented laws and policies(such as tax reductions,dispute resolution,etc.)to facilitate foreign businesses doing business with Myanmar.Currently,Myanmar does not have a developed International Commercial dispute resolution mechanism,apart from arbitration.However,Myanmar is trying to resolve the family disputes,the financial disputes and the commercial disputes through Court lead mediation.The initiatives of the Court-Led Mediation system were conducted in 2018 planning to implement this system at the selected courts in 2019.The Myanmar State Administration Council issued an amendment to the Code of Civil Procedure(CPC)which introduces mediation as an avenue for dispute resolution in civil disputes.Countries easily join the Convention without changing to their existing domestic law addressing purely domestic settlements according to the Singapore Convention on Mediation.There are eight situations on which a court can refuse recognition and enforcement of meditated settlement agreements.Therefore,the Singapore Mediation Convention should be signed and implemented to attract foreign investors to show that there are various ways to resolve disputes in Myanmar.