On the morning of September 22, 2022, the seminar “Singapore Convention on Mediation and Viet Nam’s possibility to accede” organized by Hanoi Law University took place at Hall A402, 4th Floor, Building A, Hanoi Law University. Lawyer Nguyen Hung Quang – President of Vietnam International Commercial Mediation Center (VICMC), Founding and Managing Lawyer of NHQuang&Associates – participated in the presentation on the topic “Code of Conduct, Code of Ethics and the consequences of violating these codes under the Singapore Convention on Mediation”.
The seminar “Singapore Convention on Mediation and Viet Nam’s possibility to accede” was attended by many experts, representatives of the Director General, Deputy Director, Head of the Department of International Law under the Ministry of Justice, and Deputy Director General of the Department of International cooperation and representatives of the Department of Legal and Scientific Management of the Supreme People’s Court, commercial mediation centers, universities, faculty leaders, lecturers, and students of the University Hanoi Law School.
Many interesting topics surrounding the Singapore Convention and Vietnam’s recognition of the settlement agreements were presented by the speakers during the two discussion sessions of the Workshop. Many agree that Vietnam should soon join the Singapore Convention on Mediation in order to improve the efficiency and popularization of the use of commercial mediation. The content and practice of the Singapore Convention on Mediation in the world, especially the grounds for refusing to grant relief, were also discussed.
Speaking at the Seminar, Lawyer Nguyen Hung Quang – President of Vietnam International Commercial Mediation Center (VICMC), Founding and Managing Partner of NHQuang&Associates – emphasized the role of ethical standards in mediation activities, including improving the quality of activities and ensuring that settlement agreement is reached by the disputing parties themselves.
While the Singapore Convention on Mediation can contribute to promoting the development and adoption of mediation, it is important for the mediation institutions themselves to develop codes of conduct or ethics and mediation rules. Mr. Quang also proposed that the Ministry of Justice should soon issue a model set of code of ethics and conduct for mediators so that they can be applied generally to ad-hoc mediators as well as mediators of mediation institutions.
It can be seen that, despite the low number of members and cases in practice, the Singapore Convention on Mediation still receives great expectations from legal experts in terms of its ability to promote the development and the use of this method in the future. In parallel with the improvement of the legal framework, commercial mediation in Vietnam should continue to improve the professionalism and capacity of mediators, especially through compliance with the standards in the codes of conduct or ethics.
VICMC Secretariat
