BAHRAIN AND SINGAPORE SIGN BILATERAL TREATY ON APPEALS FROM THE BAHRAIN INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL COURT

Manama - Bahrain, March 20th, 2024 - (500NewsWire) -- The Government of Bahrain and the Government of the Republic of Singapore signed a bilateral Treaty today to establish the Bahrain International Commercial Court (“BICC”) in Bahrain and a designated body in Singapore to hear appeals from the BICC.

The Treaty was signed by Bahrain’s Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Waqf H.E. Mr Nawaf bin Mohamed AlMaawda and Singapore’s Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law Mr K Shanmugam SC in a virtual ceremony today.

Nature of the Collaboration

The Kingdom of Bahrain and the Republic of Singapore aim to promote the international rule of law and boost international trade by developing transformative systems for the resolution of disputes in international trade. The two Contracting States have negotiated a treaty finding a balance between party autonomy and public policy providing opt-in and opt-out models for the commercial court and the appeals mechanism whilst the reissuance of decisions allows for safeguarding of notions of public policy.

Thus the two Nations -- through this treaty -- join forces in promoting a transnational system of commercial justice. Cooperation between the two international commercial courts will allow for the development of better standards for international commercial dispute resolution thus addressing the current challenges users face when attempting to resolve their disputes.

Major Milestone in Bilateral Ties

The signing of the Treaty marks another milestone since the Bahrain and Singapore judiciaries signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation and Memorandum of Guidance as to the Enforcement of Money Judgments when Chief Justice Menon led a delegation to visit Bahrain in May 2023.

H.E. Mr Nawaf bin Mohamed AlMaawda Minister: “This treaty is a transformative step forward towards strengthening the rule of law and promoting access to justice on an international level. It provides a framework for cooperation between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Republic of Singapore to ensure the interests and rights of the international business community are safeguarded and protected.”

Mr. Jan Paulsson, Judge of the Bahrain Court of Cassation: “In providing this International Court in our region, we are pleased that the Republic of Singapore has placed its well-established Singapore International Commercial Court at the disposal of parties who desire the security of possible review by a body having a proven track record. BICC will hear all international arbitration-related cases in due course - it will be a relatively marginal adjustment as Bahrain is already a bilingual jurisdiction and cases heard in English are dealt with by international judges even at the level of the court of cassation.”

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