ABSTRACT
This chapter explains a bespoke institutional arrangement between Malaysia and Singapore for the pacific settlement of bilateral disputes, and discusses what such an institutional arrangement might add to the present situation. It details the devices in handling some longstanding issues between Malaysia and Singapore, two nations in a region which has drawn more criticism than understanding about the traditional, informal 'ASEAN way' in which the relations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are conducted. The 1899 Pacific Settlement Convention was hailed as 'the most notable and enduring single triumph of human reason of the nineteenth century'. Malaysia and Singapore came into being at a time when disenchantment with international institutions and international law was arguably at an all-time high, and the US and the Soviet Union held the balance of power in international relations. International lawyers have long debated the issue of whether may be certain kinds of dispute that are simply unsuitable for international adjudication as a class.
