Publication Type
Journal Article
Publication
Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)
Publication Date
9-2025
Abstract
Private settlements have been consistently encouraged by the Singapore civil justice system. Depending on the context, the settlement may take on many forms, including consent orders and settlement agreements. This begs the question of whether the exact form of settlement matters, or whether a settlement “by any other name” suffices. This article proposes the concept of “sustainable settlements” – comprising the measures of ease of enforcement, finality, and confidentiality – to holistically appraise the effectiveness of settlement mechanisms. The assessment of six settlement mechanisms using these measures clearly indicates that not every mechanism is equally sustainable. Exploring settlement amidst the increasingly complex dispute resolution landscape thus requires greater prudence in the choice of settlement mechanisms, that is informed by both the context as well as jurisprudence concerning enforceability, finality and confidentiality.
Keywords
settlement agreement, consent order, sustainable settlements, negotiation, mediation, arbitration, Singapore Convention
Disciplines
Dispute Resolution and Arbitration
Subject(s)
Applied or Integration/Application Scholarship
ISSN/ISBN
2737-5048
Publisher
SMU Lexicon, SMU School of Law
Version
publishedVersion
Copyright Holder
Singapore Management University
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Format
application/PDF
Citation
QUEK ANDERSON, Dorcas.
A settlement by “any other name”: Evaluating the sustainability of settlement mechanisms. (2025). Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon). 5, 38-70.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sljlexicon/48
Volume
5
Page
38-70
Research Area
Dispute Resolution