Uzbekistan Approves Bill to Join Singapore Convention

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — The Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan has reviewed and passed in its first reading a draft law on the country's accession to the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, known as the Singapore Convention on Mediation.

The document provides for Uzbekistan's accession to the international treaty, which establishes uniform legal mechanisms for the recognition and enforcement of settlement agreements resulting from mediation in international commercial disputes across participating states.

During the discussion, it was noted that if an Uzbek entrepreneur resolves a commercial dispute with a foreign partner through mediation, enforcing the resulting agreement in another state party to the convention will be simplified. This will eliminate the need for repeat judicial proceedings to enforce the settlement.

The draft law also stipulates that the provisions of the convention will not apply to settlement agreements to which the Republic of Uzbekistan, state bodies, or persons acting on their behalf are a party. Furthermore, the convention's mechanism will apply only with the mutual consent of the parties to use its provisions.

According to the developers, accession to the convention will promote the development of mediation in Uzbekistan, allow for faster and less costly resolution of international commercial disputes, strengthen the protection of entrepreneurs' rights, increase the country's investment attractiveness, and enhance foreign investors' trust in the national legal system.

Following the discussion, deputies passed the draft law in the first reading.