The International ADR Center (IADRC) Sri Lanka will hold its annual Symposium on Mediation for Commercial Dispute Resolution on January 29, 2025. The event is conducted under the Support to Justice Sector Project (JURE) funded by the European Union (EU), and jointly implemented by UNDP and UNICEF Sri Lanka, facilitated by the Ministry of Justice. The Symposium will discuss a range of subjects relating to the use of mediation for commercial dispute resolution.
The Symposium 2025 will include technical sessions and panel discussions that demystify mediation across various contexts, reinforced by a mock mediation and role play that will highlight the process and how it differs from adversarial processes, and how mediators assist parties to skilfully navigate and negotiate conflicts towards resolution.
Globally, Mediation has become an increasingly popular alternative to litigation and other adversarial dispute resolution processes that often consume time and cost. It’s accepted as being meaningful because of benefits such as ensuring party autonomy, facilitating better communication between disputants, being cost-effective and time efficient, and has the potential to preserve business relationships and save costs for governments.
Many international organisations including the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) (World Bank Group), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), and the International Bar Association (IBA) have adopted their own institutional rules and offers mediation for the settlement of a wide range of disputes. The IADRC Sri Lanka has its own Commercial Mediation Rules and offers dispute resolution services.
Many countries in Asia have institutionalized commercial mediation. Centres have been established in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Maldives in recognition of its value, not only to provide for a meaningful process, but also to address the serious issue of law delays.
Sri Lanka also has a body of professionals who have been trained in providing professional mediation services. Sri Lanka improved its legal regime by enacting the Recognition and Enforcement of International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, Act No. 5 of 2024, and ratified the UN Convention on Mediation (New York, 2018) and by drafting a Bill for the use of mediation for commercial and civil disputes, which awaits enactment.
All these initiatives will contribute to Sri Lanka improving its Doing Business environment and being accepted as an investment-friendly country, which, with the significant advantage of its strategic location, is thereby poised to become a hub, attracting international business and fostering economic growth.
