SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Chou Sean Yu, Wendy Lin, Monica Chong Wan Yee and Frank Oh Sheng Loong, WongPartnership LLP
affected by the misrepresentation (see Founder Group (Hong Kong) Ltd v Singapore JHC Co Pte Ltd [2023] 2 SLR 554 (CA) at [58]).
request of any party, appoint all three arbitrators and designate one as the presiding arbitrator (Section 9B
and Section 8 (2) IAA). Under Section 13 AA
4. The Arbitral Tribunal 4.1 Limits on Selection
In an arbitration with a sole arbitrator, the default pro - cedure is the same as that under the IAA (see above). In an arbitration with three arbitrators, each party must appoint one arbitrator, and the parties must by agreement appoint the third arbitrator. If a party fails to appoint an arbitrator within 30 days from receipt of a request to do so, or if the two parties fail to agree, the President of the SIAC Court would make the appoint - ment. Notably, these provisions appear to assume an arbitration with two parties, and it is not stated how this might apply to an arbitration with three or more parties. 4.3 Court Intervention The IAA and the AA do not provide any mechanism for the court to intervene in the selection of arbitrators. 4.4 Challenge and Removal of Arbitrators Under Articles 12–14 ML and Sections 14–16 AA, an arbitrator may be challenged only if circumstances exist that give rise to justifiable doubts as to their impartiality or independence, or if they do not pos - sess qualifications agreed to by the parties (“Chal - lenge Grounds”). In the absence of an agreed challenge procedure by the parties, a party intending to challenge an arbitra - tor shall, within 15 days after becoming aware of the constitution of the tribunal or after becoming aware of any Challenge Ground, send a written statement for the reasons for the challenge to the tribunal. Unless the challenged arbitrator withdraws or the other party agrees to the challenge, the tribunal shall decide on the challenge. If the challenge is unsuccessful, the challenging party may, within 30 days after having received notice of the decision, request the General Division of the High Court to decide on the challenge – such decision shall not be subject to appeal. Where an arbitrator becomes de jure or de facto unable to perform their functions or for other reasons fails to act without undue delay, their mandate termi -
Parties are generally free to agree on the number of arbitrators and the method for their selection and appointment. Article 11 (1) ML and Section 13 (1) AA both provide that no person shall be precluded by reason of their nationality from acting as an arbitrator unless otherwise agreed by the parties. 4.2 Default Procedures Under the IAA In an arbitration with a sole arbitrator, if the parties are unable to agree on the arbitrator, the arbitrator shall be appointed, upon request of a party, by the President of the Court of Arbitration of the SIAC (the “SIAC Court”) (Article 11 (3)(b) ML, Section 8 (2) IAA). In an arbitration with two parties and three arbitrators, each party must appoint one arbitrator, and the parties must by agreement appoint the third arbitrator. If the parties fail to agree on the appointment of the third arbitrator within 30 days after the receipt of the first request by either party to do so, the appointment must be made, upon the request of a party, by the President of the SIAC Court (Section 9A and Section 8 (2) IAA). In an arbitration with three or more parties and three arbitrators, the claimant (or all the claimants if there is more than one, by agreement) must appoint an arbi - trator and inform the respondent/respondents of the appointment when the request for the dispute to be referred to arbitration is sent. The respondent (or all the respondents if there is more than one, by agreement) must appoint an arbitrator and inform the claimant/ claimants within 30 days after receipt of the aforemen - tioned request, or by the last respondent to receive the request if there is more than one respondent. The two arbitrators appointed above must by agreement appoint the third (and presiding) arbitrator. If either side fails to appoint an arbitrator or inform the other side of such appointment within the specified dura - tion, the President of the SIAC Court must, upon the
716 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook