Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Delroy Chuck, is leading Jamaica’s delegation for the Singapore Convention Week 2026 to be held from August 24-28, 2026.   

Minister Chuck leads a four-member delegation from the Ministry to include: Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Judith Grant; Senior Assistant Attorney General (Acting), Sandy-Lue Cole Jarrett; Assistant Attorney General, Jeffrey Foreman and Senior Policy Analyst, Shanique Graham.  

Chairman of the Dispute Resolution Foundation (DRF), John Bassie and Cherrol Taylor, Director of Operations at DRF and having oversight for mediation in Jamaica, will also be attending the Conference. Jamaica’s participation in the conference is in support of the Government’s push towards strengthening Jamaica’s mediation framework and expanding the use of Alternative Dispute Resolutions (ADAs) as an efficient, accessible and cost-effective complement to litigation. 

Jamaica set to benefit from its participation

Participation in the Singapore Convention Week will provide direct access to policy, legislative and implementation experience from jurisdictions and institutions that are actively applying international best practices in mediation. 

Citing the necessity for participating in Singapore Convention Week 2026, Chuck emphasised that the Convention establishes a critical international enforcement framework for mediated settlements, much like the New York Convention does for the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.  

The delegation is scheduled to return to the island on August 30, 2026.  The United Nations Convention on international settlement agreements resulting from mediation, commonly known as the Singapore Convention on Mediation, was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 20, 2018. 

It opened for signature in Singapore on August 7, 2019, and entered into force on September 12, 2020. The Convention establishes a harmonised legal framework through which international commercial settlement agreements, resulting from mediation, may be invoked and enforced. 

Jamaica signed the Singapore Convention on Mediation on August 7,  2019, but has not yet ratified it. The Ministry currently has before Parliament a bill entitled the Mediation Act, 2026, to be passed into law. 

Additionally, the Ministry is advancing the development of a National Policy on ADR, indicating its intention to develop mediation legislation aligned with the Convention.