Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Increasing Housing Stability Through State-Funded Community Mediation Delivered By The Massachusetts Housing Mediation Program (Hmp) Fy2023 Evaluation Report, Madhawa Palihapitiya, Karina Zeferino

Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration Publications

The Massachusetts Housing Mediation Program (HMP) is a comprehensive statewide program that provides free housing mediation services as a tool to increase housing stability with the intention of preventing homelessness created by landlord-tenant disputes. It is administered by the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration (MOPC) at the University of Massachusetts Boston and deploys the community mediation system infrastructure with 11 Community Mediation Centers (Centers) participating and serving all 14 counties of the Commonwealth to provide free conflict resolution services for tenants and landlords/property managers with housing disputes at any stage, from the earliest point a problem occurs, up to, and …

Belt And Road Initiative: Legal Mechanism To Recover Stolen Assets, Veltrice Tan

Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy

Purpose: This paper aims to determine the types of legal mechanisms that authorities can use to recover stolen assets for and from China. Design/methodology/approach: Newspaper articles and books are examined as are relevant reports by various regulatory authorities and academic institutions. Findings: The effectiveness of legal mechanisms in the recovery of stolen assets may be affected by issues such as the difficulties in tracing illicit funds, the ambiguous nature of “value” as well as the rise in technology. Research limitations/implications: There are limited data available in relation to the prevalence of corrupt officials along the Belt and Road Initiative and …

Hague Service Convention Enters Into Force In Singapore, Adeline Chong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Singapore acceded to the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (‘Service Convention’) on 16 May 2023. It has now entered into force in Singapore on 1 December 2023. Two declarations were lodged: first, against Article 8(1) objecting to the direct service of judicial documents upon persons in Singapore through foreign diplomatic or consular agents unless the documents are to be served upon a national of the State from which the documents originate; and secondly, objecting to service of judicial and extrajudicial documents in Singapore by the methods of transmission set …

Addressing Barriers To Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In Massachusetts Community Mediation, Madhawa Palihapitiya, Shino Yokotsuka, Karina Zeferino, Jarling Ho

Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration Publications

This report presents over three years of systematically engaging, documenting and analyzing the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) needs/gaps and assets of state funded community mediation centers in Massachusetts. The report was compiled by researchers and an in-house DEI expert at the statutory state office of dispute resolution, the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration (MOPC) at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The office has been serving as a neutral forum and state-level resource for over 30 years.

The report is based on qualitative research that falls into the category of community based participatory research conducted through a series of community …

Addressing Barriers To Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In Massachusetts Community Mediation, Madhawa Palihapitiya, Jarling Ho, Shino Yokotsuka, Karina Zeferino

Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration Publications

This report presents over three years of systematically engaging, documenting and analyzing the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) needs/gaps and assets of state funded community mediation centers in Massachusetts. The report was compiled by researchers and an in-house DEI expert at the statutory state office of dispute resolution, the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration (MOPC) at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The office has been serving as a neutral forum and state-level resource for over 30 years.

The report is based on qualitative research that falls into the category of community based participatory research conducted through a series of community …

Single Crime, Dual Crime And Another? Expansion Of The Concept Of Joint Liability Under Section 34 Of The Penal Code – Public Prosecutor V Azlin Bte Arujunah And Other Appeals [2022] 2 Slr 825, Ting Xuan Jordan Chia, Natalia Mai Do Ngoc

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

It is well-understood that for most crimes to be established, the requirements of actus reus (the physical element) and mens rea (the mental element) need to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. However, in situations involving joint offenders, if one of the offenders dealt the fatal blow, while the other offender acted as a lookout, can the other offender really be said to have the actus reus of the particular offence?

The Lack Of A Time Bar: An Injustice Within Unjust Enrichment Claims – Esben Finance Ltd And Others V Wong Hou-Lianq Neil [2022] 1 Slr 136, Jie Loong Tan

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

Limitation periods refer to the period within which a claimant who has a right to claim against another person, i.e., the defendant, must begin court proceedings to establish that right. Once that period has passed, the defendant can no longer be sued on that particular action. This is to prevent the threat of an action from continually hanging over the defendant such that once the limitation period has passed, the defendant can be sure that the claimant is no longer able to sue.

The Geoeconomics Of Belt And Road Disputes: A Case Study On The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Mark Mclaughlin

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article argues that the dovetailing economic, geopolitical, and security interests that underpin the Belt and Road Initiative demands a dispute resolution mechanism that focuses on broader interests and legal rights. Using the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a case study, it identifies the conditions in which Chinese investors could have initiated an investment arbitration but did not. This can be explained by the rights-based orientation of investment treaties failing to reflect the interests of multi-project initiatives. Instead, alternative methods of home state intervention, such as state-funded political risk insurance, are used to protect investors. In other words, the political …

Increasing Housing Stability Through State-Funded Community Mediation Delivered By The Massachusetts Housing Mediation Program (Hmp) In Fy2022, Madhawa Palihapitiya, David Sulewski, Karina Zeferino, Jarling Ho

Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration Publications

This report presents findings and recommendations from an evaluation of the Massachusetts Housing Mediation Program (HMP) administered by the MA Office of Public Collaboration (MOPC) at the University of Massachusetts Boston in partnership with 11 Community Mediation Centers (Centers). The program is funded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and implemented in partnership with the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). The program was initially part of the Governor’s Eviction Diversion Initiative (EDI), which ended in the latter half of FY2022 and is continuing as an intervention to support housing stability. The evaluation was conducted by MOPC’s research unit comprised …

A Review Of The 2021/22 International Moots Season, Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This is the eighth1 annual review of Singapore’s performance in international moot court competitions.2 An overview of the results for this season is presented at Table #1 below, while Tables #2 and #3 provide a snapshot of the results of the past 10 seasons. Despite the substantial lifting of travel restrictions throughout the world, the 2021/22 international moots season remained a virtually conducted one for many competitions, though competitions such as IP, Stetson, PAX, and WTO saw a much-welcomed return to in-person hearings, allowing students to compete and interact with teams and judges from around the world at places such …

Negotiation Theories Engage Hybrid Warfare, Sharon Press, Nancy A. Welsh, Andrea Kupfer Schneider

Faculty Scholarship

The concept of hybrid warfare has arisen recently to describe the efforts, short of outright war, used by nations to disrupt and destabilize each other. This Article reviews available negotiation theories, concepts and skills to determine whether they can help governmental actors and business organizations targeted by hybrid warfare respond effectively. In other words, can negotiation theories, concepts and skills be used to engage effectively in “hybrid conflict management”? The Article urges that international diplomacy and multiparty negotiation theories and skills, as well as the more recent scholarship that has developed regarding hostage negotiation and “wicked problems,” are likely to …

Provisional Measures In Aid Of Arbitration, Ronald A. Brand

Articles

The success of the New York Convention has made arbitration a preferred means of dispute resolution for international commercial transactions. Success in arbitration often depends on the extent to which a party may secure assets, evidence, or the status quo between parties prior to the completion of the arbitration process. This makes the availability of provisional measures granted by either arbitral tribunals or by courts fundamental to the arbitration. In this Article, I consider the existing legal framework for provisional measures in aid of arbitration, with particular attention to the sources of the rules providing for such measures. Those sources …

To Negotiate, Mediate Or Litigate? Examining The Durability Of Divorce Outcomes In The Singapore Family Courts, Dorcas Quek Anderson, Eunice Chua, Yilin Ning

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

For many years, the courts have been grappling with the paradox of marriages—the most intimate of relationships—being dissolved in the courts that represent a public and adversarial setting. Despite the growth of divorce interventions, the perennial struggle remains in many courts on how to reduce the intense acrimony of divorce litigation. The question remains on the scope of “mainstream” interventions to be offered by the courts to divorce litigants. The current study therefore explores the use of court-connected negotiation, mediation, and litigation in the Singapore Family Justice Courts. It uses a statistical method of survival analysis to produce insights on …

A Hague Parallel Proceedings Convention: Architecture And Features, Paul Herrup, Ronald A. Brand

Articles

In Paul Herrup and Ronald A. Brand, A Hague Convention on Parallel Proceedings, 63 Harvard International Law Journal Online 1(2022), available at https://harvardilj.org/2022/02/a-hague-convention-on-parallel-proceedings/ and https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3894502, we argued that the Hague Conference on Private International Law should not undertake a project to require or prohibit exercise of original jurisdiction in national courts. Rather, the goal of current efforts should be to improve the concentration of parallel litigation in a “better forum,” in order to achieve efficient and complete resolution of disputes in transnational litigation. The Hague Conference is now taking this path. As the Experts Group and Working Group …

Empowering The Courts To Order The Use Of Amicable Dispute Resolution: The Singapore Rules Of Court 2021, Dorcas Quek Anderson

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The civil justice regime in Singapore entered a new phase of radical reforms with effect from 1 April 2022. The reforms have substantially expanded the role of amicable dispute resolution (ADR). Parties have a duty to consider ADR prior to and during civil proceedings. More significantly, the courts have been empowered to order parties to attempt ADR, taking into account the ideals of the Rules of Court and all relevant circumstances. This note analyses the key reforms relating to the use of ADR with reference to comparable English developments. It discusses the broad yet ambivalent scope of ADR that could …

Online Falsehoods, Constitutional Free Speech And Its Limits: The Online Citizen V The Attorney-General, Gary K. Y. Chan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The Singapore Court of Appeal has for the first time in The Online Citizen v The Attorney-General (8 October 2021) adjudicated on the constitutionality of correction directions issued by Ministers against allegedly false statements of fact under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019. An overarching framework was utilised to assess whether the Ministerial directions restrict free speech under Article 14(1)(a) of the Constitution; if so, whether the restrictions are justifiable under the Constitution and whether there is a rational nexus between the statutory aims and enumerated exceptions. This case comment also examines the constitutional stance towards subject …

Pathways To Preferences For Collaborative Conflict Resolution: Disputants’ Process Goals Drive Preferences, Ashley Votruba, Jared Noetzel, Abigail L. Herzfeld

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Understanding individuals’ preferences for how to resolve conflict—specifically legal disputes—has long interested researchers, particularly those considering procedural justice. This study considers the impact of relational factors that influence individuals’ preferences for dispute resolution processes for civil legal issues. Specifically, it examines the impact of self-construal and the relationship between the parties in conflict on preferences for specific features of dispute resolution processes and considers the role of underlying resolution goals as potential mediators in a parallel mediation model. Using a novel paradigm in which the outcome variables of interest focused on specific dispute resolution process features allowed the researchers to …

Reforming Singapore’S Law On Division Of Matrimonial Assets, Jia En Teo

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

Section 46(1) of the Women’s Charter undergirds the sacrosanct institution that is marriage – it lays out its moral basis and expresses society’s hopes and expectations of the ideal marital relationship: marriage is an equal cooperative partnership of different efforts for mutual benefit. It is thus no surprise that even when a marriage is terminated, the division of matrimonial assets is also founded upon this prevailing ideology. However, as opposed to equal division, Singapore law dictates a “just and equitable” division of matrimonial assets, where wide discretion and power is vested in the judiciary. This legal rule has been criticised …

Retirement From Trusteeship – Express And Statutory Powers: Supreme Court Case Summary: Chan Yun Cheong (Trustee Of The Will Of The Testator) V Chan Chi Cheong (Trustee Of The Will Of The Testator, Noemi En-Hui Sarah Chaw

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

This case involved two trustees of a testamentary trust,1 both of whom alleged that they had resigned as trustees. Trusteeship is a serious appointment that comes with responsibilities. Under the Trustees Act (Cap 337, 2005 Rev Ed) (“Trustees Act”), which governs trusts in Singapore, once a person takes up a trusteeship, he cannot simply relinquish his duties at will but must do so in accordance with the law and the terms of the trust instrument.

Through The Rocky Road – Divergent Opinions On “No Oral Modification” Clauses: Charles Lim Teng Siang V Hong Choon Hau [2021] 2 Slr 153, Wei Xuan Joel Fun

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

A no oral modification (“NOM”) clause refers to a contractual clause which seeks to exclude any modification of terms of a particular agreement unless such modifications are made in written form. However, if a party can prove that there has been an oral variation of such an agreement, can the counterparty rely on this clause to invalidate the variation?

To Stay Or Not To Stay? A Clash Of Arbitration And Insolvency Regimes, Darius Chan, Sidharrth B Rajagopal

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In the wake of the global Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a rise in creditorinitiated winding-up proceedings is likely to be impending in coming years (See e.g., RCMA Asia Pte. Ltd. v. Sun Electric Power Pte. Ltd. [2020] SGHC 205). At the same time, geopolitical developments, such as the scale and ambition of Belt & Road Initiative projects, have raised questions over the issue of debt sustainability. Given the prevalence of arbitration clauses in modern international commercial and project agreements, the interplay and relationship between insolvency and dispute resolution, and especially arbitration, requires careful attention. While the intersections between the …

Arbitration By Ssos As A Preferred Solution For Solving The Frand Licensing Of Seps?, Kung-Chung Liu

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In the last decade, the licensing of standard essential patents (SEPs) on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms has been a thorny issue for SEP holders in the US and Europe on the one hand, and major SEP implementers in major Asian economies on the other, such as Japan, Korea, the PRC, Taiwan and even India. With the rise of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, driven by the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, driverless vehicles, and artificial intelligence (AI), which relies even more on interconnectivity, more and more new standards and SEPs will emerge, and the issue of FRAND licensing of …

Digital Readiness Index For Arbitration Institutions: Challenges And Implications For Dispute Resolution Under The Belt And Road Initiative, Allison Goh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Post-COVID-19, a paradigm shift has occurred in the adoption of technology in arbitration. Leading arbitral institutions have adapted quickly, highlighting the foresight of institutions who have existing technological infrastructure in place. This article proposes a ‘Digital Readiness Index’, which aims to evaluate arbitral institutions on their level of digital readiness based on five evaluative indicators. Cross referenced against Institute for Management Development (IMD’s) 2019 World Digital Competitiveness Rankings, the findings reveal synergies between an economy’s digital competitiveness and the adoption of technology in dispute resolution. To further the development of dispute resolution processes under the Belt and Road Initiative, strategic …

Choice Of Law Governing A Contract Where Its Existence Is In Dispute: Clarifications From The Singapore International Commercial Court In Lew, Solomon V Kaikhushru Shiavax Nargolwala, Shou Yu Chong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The Singapore International Commercial Court’s judgment in Lew, Solomon v Kaikhushru Shiavax Nargolwala [2020] 3 SLR 61 is noteworthy as it heralds a modest development in Singapore private international law, especially in respect to the not uncommon issue of disputes over cross-border contracts where its existence is challenged. This case represents one of the handful of Singapore precedents which directly addresses the difficult conundrum where both the governing law and the existence of the underlying contract are in dispute. Under this context, it articulates a default choice of law position – the lex fori – where it is impossible to …

Recommendations To Develop International Commercial Mediation In Singapore, Nadja Alexander

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In this post on the Kluwer Mediation Blog, the recommendations of a Working Group established in April 2013 by Singapore’s Chief Justice and the Ministry of Law to transform and develop its international commercial mediation sector are presented.

Accrual Of Cause Of Action In Negligence: Ipp Financial Advisers Pte V Saimee Bin Jumaat, Gary Kok Yew Chan

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

Damage is the gist of the action in negligence. An action in negligence is said to accrue only when damage arises. The precise timing of the damage is an important factor in an application to strike out a claim in negligence on the ground that it was filed out of time contrary to the Limitation Act. Consequently, the lawsuit may have to be initiated within a specified period from the accrual of the cause of action.

The Vulnerable Sovereign, Ronald A. Brand

Articles

The connection between sovereignty and law is fundamental for both domestic (internal sovereignty) and the international (external sovereignty) purposes. As the dominant forms of government have evolved over time, so has the way in which we think about sovereignty. Consideration of the historical evolution of the concept of sovereignty offers insight into how we think of sovereignty today. A term that was born to represent the relationship between the governor and the governed has become a term that is used to represent the relationships between and among states in the global legal order. This article traces the history of the …

Hiding Sexual Harassment: Myths And Realities, Pat K. Chew

Articles

Hiding Sexual Harassment: Myths and Realities

Nevada Law Journal, Vol. 21, p. 1223, 2021

Sexual harassment and gender disparities in the workplace continue, but we are not paying enough attention. The heralded me-too movement and the publicized downfalls of Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, and other former luminaries might give the impression that the lid is blown off the indignities of harassment in the workplace and that American society’s collective disdain and abhorrence of harassment has quickly put an end to these incivilities. But these headline cases are just the tip of the sexual harassment iceberg; they may even give us …

Bibliometric Analysis Of Research Trends On Role Of Dispute Resolution Mechanisms In Family Law Conflicts, Himanshi Parekh, Yogesh Dharangutti

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper is a bibliometric analysis of research publications in the field of dispute resolution of family matters. The paper analyses the frequency of publications in this arena and identifying the research gaps. The paper utilizes literature published on this subject available at the Scopus database from 2011 to 2020. A total of 59 documents varying from books, chapters, articles, and journals have been extracted and analyzed for the purpose of this study. This data is further analyzed and presented in the forms of tables, maps, graphs, etc using VOSviewer and IMAPBuilder software. The study shows that even though there …

Mediating Consumer Financial Disputes: Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre's Unique House Style, Eunice Chua, Beverly Wee

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (“FIDReC”) was established in August 2005 with the purpose of providing a low-cost avenue for consumers to resolve their disputes with financial institutions. This article seeks to outline the role of FIDReC and its processes and, at the same time, seeks to define the house style of mediation that has served FIDReC well over the years. This article also highlights some of the different techniques adopted by FIDReC mediators in the course of facilitating the mediation.