On 20 March 2024, the Government of Singapore and the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain signed a Bilateral Treaty which will establish a new Bahrain International Commercial Court (BICC) in Bahrain and a designated body in Singapore to hear appeals from the BICC.
This groundbreaking treaty aims to boost international trade, provide enhanced access to justice and will build on the excellent dispute resolution offerings already available in Bahrain.
The BICC, which is set to launch this year, will be based “principally” on the Singapore International Commercial Court model which has a proven track record of being a trusted and effective international dispute resolution forum.
The BICC is certainly set to play an important role in the development of the rule of law and jurisprudence in the field of international trade. Furthermore, the hearing of appeals by the SICC from the BICC will provide international parties with confidence to develop international trade in the safe knowledge that they will have a world class, transnational dispute resolution system to rely on should disputes need to be resolved.
This news is extremely exciting for the team at Trowers & Hamlins as we have recently opened an office in Singapore. The office will work closely with our other international offices (including our market-leading Bahrain office) to complement our expert offerings in Projects and Infrastructure, Corporate, Banking and Real Estate, as well as dispute resolution in cooperation with Singapore disputes experts, Braddell Brothers LLP. The team at Braddell Brothers specialises in high-profile and complex civil, corporate and commercial disputes as well as international arbitrations under the SIAC, ICC, UNCITRAL and other rules.
Please get in touch with our Singapore or Bahrain office if this is something of interest to you.
