s 16 Appointment of conciliator
16.—(1) Where an agreement provides for the appointment of a conciliator by a person who is not one of the parties and that person refuses to make the appointment or does not make it within the time specified in the agreement or, if no time is so specified, within a reasonable time of being requested by any party to the agreement to make the appointment, the president of the Court of Arbitration of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre may, on the application of any party to the agreement, appoint a conciliator who is to have the like powers to act in the conciliation proceedings as if he or she had been appointed in accordance with the terms of the agreement.[16/2016] (2) The Chief Justice may, if he or she thinks fit, appoint any other person to exercise the powers of the president of the Court of Arbitration of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre under subsection (1).[16/2016] [Act 5 of 2025 wef 09/03/2025] (2A) An appointment under subsection (2) must be published in the Gazette.[Act 5 of 2025 wef 09/03/2025] (3) Where an arbitration agreement provides for the appointment of a conciliator and further provides that the person so appointed is to act as an arbitrator in the event of the conciliation proceedings failing to produce a settlement acceptable to the parties —(a) no objection is to be taken to the appointment of that person as an arbitrator, or to that person’s conduct of the arbitral proceedings, solely on the ground that that person had acted previously as a conciliator in connection with some or all of the matters referred to arbitration; and (b) if that person declines to act as an arbitrator, any other person appointed as an arbitrator is not required first to act as a conciliator unless a contrary intention appears in the arbitration agreement. (4) Unless a contrary intention appears therein, an agreement which provides for the appointment of a conciliator is deemed to contain a provision that in the event of the conciliation proceedings failing to produce a settlement acceptable to the parties within 4 months, or any longer period that the parties may agree to, of the date of the appointment of the conciliator or, where the conciliator is appointed by name in the agreement, of the date of receipt by the conciliator of written notification of the existence of a dispute, the conciliation proceedings are to thereupon terminate. (5) For the purposes of this section and section 17 —(a) any reference to “conciliator” includes a reference to any person who acts as a mediator; (b) any reference to “conciliation proceedings” includes a reference to mediation proceedings.