Important: You and the other party must agree to waive confidentiality (to a limited extent) in order to meet condition (v) under 3. above.
Step 1
(i) If submitting to mediation right after the close of pleadings, each party indicates in the Notification to Registrar that it wishes to submit the dispute in the IPOS proceedings to mediation and intends to apply for funding.
(ii) If submitting to mediation before the close of pleadings or after the Notification to Registrar has been filed earlier, each party informs the Registrar in writing that it wishes to submit the dispute in the IPOS proceedings to mediation and intends to apply for funding.
(iii) If parties wish to submit to mediation but are undecided at that point in time whether or not to apply for funding under the EMPS, they are encouraged to first inform the Registrar in writing that they may apply for funding; and update the Registrar later when they have come to a decision.
Step 2
Parties submit a request for mediation to the chosen mediation service provider, copying IPOS.
Step 3
Before the mediation, the parties consent to and the mediation service provider arranges for minimally a “shadow” mediator to observe the mediation.
Step 4
Parties participate in the mediation, with the mediator and minimally a “shadow” mediator.
Step 5
Within 1 month from the date of the payment receipt from the mediation service provider or the party’s lawyer / agent, whichever is later, each party separately submits a completed EMPS application form to IPOS, with the supporting documents. Please note that EMPS funding is limited by budget and applications will be considered chronologically according to the date of submission of the application form and not the date of the mediation.
Step 6
Upon successful application, each party receives reimbursement of the mediation costs from IPOS, up to a combined total of S$10,000 / S$12,000 per mediation case. Each party will receive an equal share of up to S$5,000 / S$6,000 unless otherwise agreed by the parties involved.
