International Arbitration Update No. 18

Since announcing measures to strength Japan as a hub for international arbitration and mediation in April 2018, Japan has undergone several steps in both the public and private sectors to seek to achieve this goal.

International arbitration in Japan has long been governed by the Arbitration Act of 2003. From 1 April 2024, however, the amended arbitration act (“Amended Arbitration Act”) took effect.

The overhaul of the underlying legislation appears to be a pivotal phase in Japan’s arbitration reforms. The Amended Arbitration Act brings Japan alongside major regional destinations for arbitration, such as Hong Kong and Singapore, while allowing Japan to compete more easily with emerging centres such as South Korea and Thailand.

On the same date as the Amended Arbitration Act took effect, Japan took another key step in relation to Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) by ratifying the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (“Singapore Convention”) through domestic legislation (“New Mediation Act”).

Following their introduction in Japan’s Diet in 2023, both acts have been subject of much commentary and discussion (not least at the very well-attended International Chamber of Commerce event, “2nd ICC Arbitration Day” in April 2024).

With the dust having settled following the coming into force of the acts, in this client alert, we summarise the key changes introduced in the Amended Arbitration Act and the New Mediation Act.