About this Event
📅 Thursday, 5 March 2026
🕓 14h30–17h30, followed by an apéritif 🍷
🌐 Language: English
📍 Venue & Access
🏛️ Venue: Kursaal Bern, Kornhausstrasse 3, 3013 Bern
🚋 Tram: Line No. 9 from Bern Hauptbahnhof directly to “Kursaal”
🚶 On foot: Approximately 12–15 minutes walk from Bern Hauptbahnhof
🅿️ Parking: On-site underground parking available (240 spaces)
🎯 Purpose and format
This session is conceived as an interactive, policy-oriented dialogue, rather than a traditional conference. It will centre on exchanges:
- 💬 between the panel and the audience, and
- 🔄 among the panellists themselves,
to explore key questions that have emerged in Swiss and international discussions, including:
- what Swiss dispute resolution users (businesses) are seeking in terms of time, cost, enforceability, efficiency and relationship preservation;
- whether accession to the Singapore Convention on Mediation could address some of these needs, and under what conditions;
- what information or evidence is still missing to allow an informed policy decision;
- whether Switzerland should consider moving now, or rather await further developments at EU level.
The discussion will also include a brief synthesis of data and feedback received to date from economic, institutional and academic perspectives, including comparative insights from other jurisdictions.
Opening contribution
The discussion will open with a brief recorded video message from The Honourable Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Singapore, offering high-level reflections on the international significance of mediation and the emergence of the Singapore Convention.
🎙️ Speakers
Professor Nadja Alexander (Singapore) 🌏: Professor of Law and Director of the Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy (SIDRA) at Singapore Management University. Co-author of a leading book on the Singapore Convention on Mediation, she is a globally recognised authority on mediation, dispute system design and mediation law reform, understood equally from an academic and practitioner perspective.
Professor Daniel Girsberger (Switzerland) 📚 : Professor of Swiss and International Private, Procedural and Business Law at the University of Lucerne and counsel with Kaufmann Rüedi Attorneys-at-Law. He is a certified SCCM and Swiss Bar Association mediator and has published on arbitration and ADR, including the Singapore Convention and its implications for Swiss law, bringing a rigorous Swiss doctrinal and policy-focused perspective to the discussion.
George Lim, SC (Singapore) ⚖️: Senior Counsel of the Supreme Court of Singapore and Chair of the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC). A key adviser to the Singapore government on the Singapore Convention on Mediation, he is actively involved in discussions with states considering accession, ratification and implementation, and previously served as Singapore’s mediation consultant to UNCITRAL Working Group II.
Thomas Mayer (Switzerland): Legal officer at the Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ), in the Section for International Private and Civil Procedure Law. He works on cross-border civil procedure matters and related legislation, including issues connected with international judicial cooperation and the increasing use of electronic communication in transnational proceedings. His participation will allow the discussion to benefit from an administrative perspective on the policy and implementation questions raised by the Singapore Convention in the Swiss civil and commercial context.
Professor Haris Meidanis (Greece / EU): Attorney-at-law and international arbitrator and mediator, combining academic scholarship with extensive practical experience in cross-border commercial mediation and dispute system design in civil law jurisdictions. He is the author of The Private International Law of Commercial Mediation (2025), a leading and timely work analysing the conflict-of-laws, jurisdictional and enforcement issues surrounding international mediation, including the relationship between domestic legal frameworks and the Singapore Convention on Mediation, and the challenges and opportunities this raises for European civil law countries considering its implementation.
Ivana Ninčić Österle (Austria / International): Executive Director of the International Mediation Institute (IMI), the global, independent foundation dedicated to advancing professional standards, transparency and trust in mediation worldwide. Working at the intersection of policy, practice and institutional governance, she collaborates closely with governments, international organisations and dispute resolution institutions. Her contribution will focus on the global uptake of mediation, the role of international standards, and how confidence in mediated settlement agreements is built across jurisdictions.
Me Mauro Poggia (Switzerland) 🏛️: Attorney-at-law and Member of the Swiss Federal Parliament (National Council). Former State Councillor of the Canton of Geneva, where he played a central role in the development and adoption of Geneva’s legislation on mediation. He is the author of the recent parliamentary interpellation on Switzerland’s possible accession to the Singapore Convention on Mediation, which prompted the Federal Council to examine the issue and assess the interest of the Swiss economic and legal communities.
Moderators
Jeremy Lack (SCCM / FSM) 🧭 : Attorney-at-law and ADR neutral, accredited by SCCM and FSM, as well as SMC, SIMI and SIMC (Singapore). An IMI Certified Mediator, member of the IMI Independent Advisory Council, the Canton of Geneva Mediation Commission, and the Geneva Bar Association ADR Commission.
Birgit Sambeth (SCCM / FSM / FSA) ⚖️ : Attorney-at-law and ADR neutral, Partner and Co-Head of Dispute Resolution at Altenburger Ltd legal + tax. Accredited as a mediator by SCCM, FSM and the Swiss Bar Association (FSA). Former President of the FSA and member of the ICSID Panel of Conciliators.
👥 Expected participation
- Representative(s) of the Swiss business community, including multinational companies
- Members of the Swiss Parliament active in economic and business policy
💰 Participation fees
- CHF 55 – SCCM members
- CHF 75 – Members of BAVAAB, AKBS, ODAGE, OAV, ZAV, SAV/FSA, AFIM, FSM and other mediation associations
- CHF 95 – All other participants
🥂 Drinks and snacks (apéro) included.
The following organisations have been invited to cooperate in this event, and to inform their members of its occurrence: the bar associations of Bern (BAVAAB), Basel-Stadt (AKBS), Geneva (ODAGE), Vaud (OAV) and Zurich (ZAV), as well as the Swiss Bar Association (SAV/FSA) and the Federation Suisse Mediation (FSM). They will benefit from reduced participation fees. The event should qualify for three (3) hours of continuing professional development (to be confirmed).
📄 A short background note summarising the key issues identified to date will be circulated ahead of the event.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Kursaal Bern, 3 Kornhausstrasse, Bern, Switzerland
CHF 55.00 to CHF 95.00
