Global
Singapore Convention on Mediation
The so-called Singapore Convention on Mediation, which paves the way for settlements reached by mediation to be recognised internationally, opened for signature and was immediately signed by 46 states, including the US and China, with five others signing shortly thereafter. The Convention will come into effect six months after the deposit of the third instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. The first jurisdiction to ratify, Singapore, did so on 3 February 2020.
Hague Judgments Convention
The HCCH unveiled the final text of the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters. The so-called Judgments Convention aims to facilitate cross-border litigation by establishing a general recognition and enforcement regime for court judgments among Contracting States.
Intra-EU investor protection and arbitration
The majority of EU member states agreed in October 2019 on a multilateral treaty to terminate their intra-EU bilateral investment treaties, in line with the Achmea CJEU decision of 2018. It is unclear whether intra-EU investors, who previously could have resorted to investment arbitration in cases of breach of fair and equitable treatment, expropriation or denial of other protections by a State, will attempt to pursue similar claims in fora other than national courts on the basis of sources of law other than investment treaties.
This also raises the question of whether the EU will look to create a multilateral investment court or some other dispute resolution mechanism for this purpose. For its part, the European Commission has promised to foster discussions in the coming period to improve existing dispute resolution mechanisms under EU law or to create new ones.