Dr Shouyu Chong

Profile

Profile

I am a Lecturer in Business Law at the School of Law, University of Leeds. I am also a researcher affiliated with the Centre for Business Law and Practice. I hold a PhD in private international law and arbitration from King’s College London (where I was also awarded the Associate of King’s College, AKC), and an LLM in Corporate and Financial Services Law from the National University of Singapore.

I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) (since 2023). I teach across several business law subjects, including International Financial Law and International Sales. I teach arbitration and commercial conflict of laws (Conflict of Laws in International Business Transactions) as well. Furthermore, I teach equity and trusts on the undergraduate programme.

Research interests

I am the co-author of the leading academic commentary on the Singapore Convention on Mediation (The Singapore Convention on Mediation: A Commentary, Wolters Kluwer, 2019 and 2022), now published in its second edition. I am also a prize-winning researcher: 2020 Society of Construction Law Hudson Prize (Commendation); 2023 Society of Construction Law Hudson Prize (2^nd Prize); 2024 Society of Legal Scholars Best Paper Prize by a Doctoral Student.

My research interests lie primarily in many aspects of cross-border commercial dispute resolution. I submitted my PhD in 2024: it analyses the limits of party autonomy in the enforcement of forum selection clauses in international commercial contracts. My PhD was generously (and fully) funded by the Centre of Construction Law and Dispute Resolution, King’s College London (Nash Research Scholarship), and the Society of Construction Law (Frances Paterson Scholarship).

I have delivered papers and lectures in leading institutions across the world. I enjoy speaking about the different aspects of the conflict of laws, alternative dispute resolution and arbitration, in different contexts and industries. I am fascinated by how dynamic the practice of cross-border dispute resolution can be, across different industries. For instance, one of my most memorable invitations (fully funded by the Law Schools Global League) was to the Harry Radzyner Law School (Reichman University), where I delivered a paper on ‘The Suitability of Mediation to Resolve Cross-border Disputes over Cultural Property’ at a conference on Due Diligence, Digital Databases and Cultural Property Law in March 2022.

In Singapore, I am recognised as an academic expert in commercial mediation and appropriate dispute resolution. Since 2019, I have co-authored the chapter on ‘Mediation and ADR’ in the Singapore Academy of Law Journal’s Annual Review of Supreme Court Cases. In addition to my research at Leeds, I am a Research Fellow at the Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy (SIDRA), the Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University (since 2020).

I have successfully applied for research funding from international sources. In 2022, I was awarded the ‘Singapore Management University’s Fellowship for Social Science Graduate Research’ after a competitive call for applications in 2021, which had a $10,000 research grant attached with it. The term of the grant funding lasted from May 2022 – April 2024. The grant funding was put to excellent use, and it led to me writing two prize-winning papers on enforcing mediation agreements, conflicting arbitration and choice of court provisions in international commercial contracts. In 2024, I was once again awarded the ‘Singapore Management University’s Fellowship for Social Science Graduate Research’ after a competitive call for applications in 2023, which had another $10,000 research grant attached with it. The term of the grant funding will last from June 2024 – May 2026.

My research and publications have left a demonstrable impact on mediation and ADR policy in law and industry across the world. My publications on the Singapore Convention on Mediation are widely cited and discussed by government officials and legislative drafting officials. My work was pivotal in the implementation of the Singapore Convention in Singapore, Australia, Iran, Sri Lanka, and several other countries. On 2 March 2023, a Consultation Committee led by the Ministry of Justice’s Private International Law and International Justice Policy Division recommended that the British Government sign on to the Singapore Convention after considering my written report and other expert submissions. The Committee cited my submissions word-for-word. The UK thereafter signed the Convention on 3 May 2023.

Research Projects

1. Implementation and application of the Singapore Convention on Mediation across different jurisdictions
2. Comparative analysis on the enforcement of agreements to proceed to mediation and/or ADR in commercial contracts
3. Enforcing co-existing and/or conflicting arbitration and choice of court agreements in international commercial contracts
4. Principles underlying forum selection rules on class action (or group action) litigation with a cross-border element
5. ‘Equity and Business’ – An examination of the limits to party autonomy in different parts and aspects of international commercial contracts

Research groups and institutes

• Centre for Business Law and Practice