Legal Framework and Policy
The Legal Framework and Policy domain tests whether you can identify which instrument governs a given ADR process and explain the policy choices behind it. Questions contrast hard-law treaties with soft-law model laws, and ask which instrument governs enforcement, confidentiality or limitation periods.
The international layer
The New York Convention 1958 requires Contracting States to recognise arbitration agreements (Article II) and enforce foreign awards (Article III), subject only to the grounds in Article V. The UNCITRAL Model Law 1985 (amended 2006) is not a treaty but a legislative template, so the text enacted in Singapore or Kenya may differ from the version you know. The UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules 1976 (revised 2010) govern procedure where adopted; the UNCITRAL Conciliation Rules 1980 provide a mediation framework. The Singapore Convention on Mediation 2019, in force since 12 September 2020, makes international commercial mediated settlements enforceable, with refusal grounds in Article 5.
Regional and national instruments
The EU Mediation Directive 2008/52/EC applies only to cross-border civil and commercial disputes and deals with enforceability, confidentiality and limitation periods. Brussels I recast (1215/2012) governs jurisdiction and judgments but excludes arbitration. The English Arbitration Act 1996 codifies party autonomy, a narrow appeal on a point of law (section 69) and limited challenges; the US Federal Arbitration Act 1925, the French Code de procédure civile Book IV, the Singapore International Arbitration Act and the Hong Kong Arbitration Ordinance pursue similar pro-arbitration policies.
Policy themes
Party autonomy, minimal court intervention, finality, competence-competence, separability, equal treatment and due process. Mandatory mediation schemes - Italy for certain civil claims, several jurisdictions for labour disputes - reflect a different trade-off: compulsion to attend, never compulsion to settle.
Worked example
A mediated settlement signed in State A is breached in State B. Does the Singapore Convention apply? Check that it is international (places of business in different States), commercial (consumer, family and employment matters excluded), in writing and the product of mediation. If so, it is enforceable unless the resisting party proves an Article 5 ground such as incapacity, fraud or a serious breach of mediator standards. Had the settlement been recorded as a court judgment, enforcement would instead follow the judgments route.
Traps
Calling the Model Law binding treaty law; extending the Singapore Convention to consumer or family settlements; applying the EU Mediation Directive to purely domestic disputes; forgetting that Brussels I excludes arbitration from its scope.