Widening the appeal, use of mediation

WE refer to Danny Quah's letter ("Formalising mediation in Covid-19", BT, June 3, 2020).

As Singapore's leading provider of alternative dispute resolution services, the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC) welcomes his call to promote mediation as a means of dispute resolution - both during the Covid-19 period and beyond.

Parties will find that a well-established process for the mediation of domestic business and commercial disputes already exists at SMC. In this vein, the Supreme Court has spearheaded the SGUnited Mediation Initiative to help litigants resolve their disputes quickly and avoid protracted litigation. It will see the Supreme Court identifying cases suitable for mediation and then referring them to SMC for mediation at no charge to parties. This will take place in June and July.