The following article is taken from The Business Times. Click here to go to the original article.
IN a bid to boost Singapore’s position as an international dispute resolution hub, the Ministry of Law is planning to triple the current size of Maxwell Chambers, which houses hearing facilities and top international arbitration institutions.
The expansion, which will add 120,000 square feet of floor space, will support the growth of dispute resolution institutions which have seen signficant increases in caseload, said the ministry.
Said Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Law, Indranee Rajah: “One of Singapore’s key strengths as an international dispute resolution centre is our legal system which is neutral, stable, has high quality jurisprudence and is trusted by businesses.
“We will build on this and strengthen our ecosystem of laws, lawyers, institutions and infrastructure, so that we can better serve the needs of businesses and take our international dispute resolution services to the next level.”
The Ministry of Law will take over a conserved heritage building – previously the Singapore Traffic Police Headquarters for over 70 years till 1999 – adjacent to the Maxwell Chambers on May 1 this year. It will start restoration work, led by Singaporean architect Mok Wei Wei, that same month, and complete them by 2019.
The new building will house about 50 new offices for international dispute resolution institutions, arbitration chambers, law firms and ancillary legal services, while the existing building will be dedicated to hearing and preparation rooms. An overhead link-bridge will be constructed between the two buildings.
