Singapore is the venue of choice for dispute resolution for more than half of commercial law practitioners and in-house counsel who deal with cross-border transactions in Singapore and the region, according to a recent survey commissioned by the Singapore Academy of Law.

The survey also found that “awareness of choosing Singapore law as governing law for cross-border transactions” is on the rise, with a quarter of respondents selecting it as their preferred choice for law governing contracts. However English law remained the top pick, with 48 choosing the same.

Those who selected Singapore law listed its “established legal system and the certainty of law” as significant reasons for their choice.

The report also indicated that 52 percent of participants chose Singapore as a preferred venue for dispute resolution, compared with 22 percent who picked Hong Kong. Respondents cited Singapore’s proximity, efficiency and neutrality/fairness as the leading reasons for their choice.

The 500 respondents to the independent study included commercial law practitioners, in-house counsel who handle cross-border transactions in Singapore as well as public sector legal professionals in the city-state and around the region.

The findings also showed that 74 percent of respondents believed that their cross-border business in Asia had gone up in recent years.

For dispute resolution, 71 percent said their preferred method was arbitration, followed by litigation (24 percent) and mediation (5 percent). Enforceability, confidentiality and fairness stood as leading factors for choosing arbitration.