Singapore’s LawSoc inks MOUs with Bahrain legal bodies to boost cross-border collaboration
The agreements will facilitate training in common law practices for Bahraini lawyers working within the new BICC’s hybrid system
[MANAMA] The Law Society of Singapore (LawSoc) has signed two memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with the Bahrain Centre for Dispute Resolution (BCDR) and Bahrain Bar Society to strengthen legal collaboration, and support the growing ecosystem around the two nations’ international commercial courts.
The agreements, signed on Thursday (Nov 6), establish a framework for knowledge exchange and training programmes between legal professionals in Singapore and Bahrain, said LawSoc vice-president Samuel Chacko.
The MOUs will facilitate training in common law practices, including witness examination and case presentation, for Bahraini lawyers working within the Bahrain International Commercial Court’s (BICC) hybrid civil and common law system.
LawSoc also plans to develop online seminars allowing both jurisdictions to exchange knowledge about their respective legal systems and structures.
The collaboration follows the establishment of the BICC, an international judicial body that will hear cross-border transnational commercial disputes.
The BICC is modelled after the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) and features a unique appeal mechanism that allows appeals to be heard by the International Committee of the SICC.
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“What we’ve witnessed today is really legal history in the making,” Chacko told The Business Times in an interview after the BICC launch ceremony on Wednesday.
“You have seen two small countries which share quite a few similar attributes come together and put together a system of international dispute resolution, the effect of which is going to reverberate way beyond these two countries.”
Chacko said that building traction for the BICC will require time and effort from both litigators and corporate lawyers, to educate clients about including BICC clauses in international contracts.
“The work starts now,” he said. “It has to go beyond just the (dispute) lawyers doing it. Corporate lawyers need to advise their clients about this new forum, the suitability of that forum and the desirability of using that forum.”
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