Walk into Mediation Prepared, Not Guessing

No, and it matters that you know this before you engage us rather than after. It is worth clearing up a common misunderstanding first: Singapore does not license mediators, and nothing stops two parties appointing whoever they both trust. What panel membership and certification actually do is open a door. Under the Mediation Act 2017, a mediated settlement agreement can be recorded as an order of court only where the mediation was administered by a mediation service provider designated by the Minister for Law or conducted by a mediator certified under an approved certification scheme. The Singapore Mediation Centre is one of the designated providers, and the Singapore International Mediation Institute's credentialing scheme is the approved certification scheme. That is why institutional or certified mediation is the sensible default, and it is also the clearest way to say what WeCare is not. We are not a designated provider and we do not sit as your mediator. We are also not a law firm and employ no lawyers, so we cannot advise you on your legal rights, put positions to the other side for you, or represent you in a session or in any court. What we provide is preparation and administrative support for you, the party.

Largely, yes — though where the protection comes from depends on which room you are in. For a private mediation, the Mediation Act 2017 places statutory protections around mediation communications: as a general rule they may not be disclosed to a third party to the mediation, and they are not to be admitted in evidence in any court, arbitral or disciplinary proceedings except with the permission of a court or an arbitral tribunal. There are exceptions — where all the parties consent, where the content is already public, where disclosure is needed to prevent injury to a person or the abuse or neglect of a child, where it is made for the purpose of seeking legal advice, and where it is required by an order of court or by written law. Mediation conducted by a court, or under a direction of a court, sits outside that Act and takes its protection from the court's own rules instead: the Family Justice Courts direct that their mediations are conducted on a without prejudice basis, that communications made in the course of them are treated in strict confidence, and that they are not admissible in court unless the law stipulates otherwise. One honest caveat, because we would rather you were not surprised later: those protections attach to the mediation. They are not legal professional privilege, and they do not automatically cover what you tell a preparation consultant. We treat your information as confidential as a matter of our own practice, but we will not dress that up as something the statute gives it.

A settlement agreement signed at the end of a mediation is a contract between the parties, and that alone carries weight. Beyond that, the Mediation Act 2017 provides a route for a mediated settlement agreement to be recorded as an order of court, after which it may be enforced in the same manner as a judgment given or an order made by a court. That route is narrower than most people expect. Under section 12 of the Act it is open only where no proceedings have been commenced in a court over the dispute. The mediation must have been administered by a designated mediation service provider or conducted by a certified mediator; the agreement must be in writing, signed by or on behalf of all the parties, and contain the information prescribed; every other party must consent to the application; and the application must be made within 8 weeks after the agreement is made, or such longer period as the court may allow. The court also keeps a discretion to refuse — for example where the agreement is void or voidable, where the subject matter is not capable of settlement, where a term could not work as an order of court, where a term touching a child's welfare or custody is not in the child's best interest, or where recording it would be contrary to public policy. Where proceedings are already on foot — which is the position for anyone mediating at the Family Justice Courts — that route does not apply. There, the terms you agree are recorded by the court within the existing proceedings instead, usually as a consent order. Two things to be clear about either way: that recording is a court application, WeCare does not make it for you, and no one can tell you in advance that a court will grant it.

Where divorcing parents have at least one child below the age of 21, section 139I of the Women's Charter 1961 makes counselling and mediation at the Family Justice Courts a compulsory step, and the courts describe it as directed where the parties have not agreed on the child or parenting matters. It is not absolute: the court may dispense with attendance where it considers that attending would not be in the interest of the parties concerned — for example where family violence has been committed, or where Child Protection Services is involved. Parties first attend a Family Dispute Resolution Conference to crystallise the issues relating to the children and fix dates, and the sessions that follow are not confined to the children: the divorce itself, the children's living and care arrangements, maintenance and the division of matrimonial property and assets can all be worked through there. The Family Justice Courts charge no fee for mediation at the Family Dispute Resolution Division, and sessions may be held in person or by video conference. It is worth saying plainly what this means for us: that programme is run by the court, not by WeCare. We cannot refer you into it, expedite it, waive it, or attend it in your place. What we can do is prepare you for it — help you think through the arrangements you want to propose, get the school, care and expense details into order, and explain what the sessions involve so you are not walking in cold on a day that is already hard enough.

The courts and the institutions both present mediation as the quicker and less costly route compared with fighting a matter through to a contested hearing. Their own published material gives you the shape of it: the Singapore Mediation Centre says a mediation at SMC typically lasts one day, and that sessions can be arranged quickly and, in urgent cases, within 24 hours. Mediation at the Family Justice Courts' Family Dispute Resolution Division is provided at no charge to the parties. That is their record and their practice, not a prediction about your matter, and we will not pretend otherwise. On our own side: our fee for preparation is fixed and quoted before you commit, and any fees charged by the mediation institution or the court are listed separately, since those are paid to them directly. The SMC, for instance, publishes its own filing and mediation fees, scaled to the amount in dispute. If money is the obstacle, ask about interest-free instalments, and if you are holding a written quote from someone else, bring it, so the two can be compared line by line rather than on headline price.