Press Release:

Scottish mediator flies the flag in Singapore

Edinburgh, Scotland (06 November 2014) – This week, Core’s founder and senior mediator, John Sturrock, participated in the launch of the Singapore International Mediation Centre. He was invited, along with New Zealand’s leading commercial mediator, Geoff Sharp, to deliver the keynote seminar at the launch. John has been appointed as a member of the Centre’s international panel of mediators, together with such other leaders in the field as Harvard’s William Ury.

An audience of over 100 government officials, academics, company representatives, legal advisers and mediators from all over South East Asia were present at the seminar, which posed a number of provocative questions about the practice of mediation and how practitioners can continue to improve it. At the launch, both the Chief Justice and the Senior Minister of State for Law were enthusiastic speakers.

John Sturrock commented: "The Centre builds on Singapore’s domestic Primary Dispute Resolution Centre, where Singaporean courts refer cases for mediation, and its Community Mediation Centre. It is another example of Singapore’s ambition to play a key role in the commercial world and, in this instance, in the resolution of international commercial disputes.

“Are there lessons for Scotland? Our location and positioning at the north western edge of Europe is in some respects not dissimilar to that of Singapore in the south east of Asia. However, we are not the international commercial "hub" which has always been Singapore’s raisin d’être and we are in close proximity to another major hub, namely London. Realistically, we are unlikely to see a significant shift of commercial focus from there. But Scotland can offer a reputation for honesty, fair-dealing, hospitality and good manners. The key to attracting business, however, would seem to be competence and capacity. We need to be able to demonstrate, domestically, our enthusiasm for, experience of and commitment to delivering the kind of dispute resolution which international users want. We need skilled exponents and continuing to encourage the use of mediation domestically would be an essential start."

For questions or comments, contact John Sturrock at john.sturrock@core-solutions.com; 07793401511