SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Chou Sean Yu, Wendy Lin, Monica Chong Wan Yee and Frank Oh Sheng Loong, WongPartnership LLP
9. Confidentiality 9.1 Extent of Confidentiality
lishing of information would not reveal any matter that any party to the proceedings reasonably wishes to remain confidential (Sections 22 and 23 IAA, Sections 56 and 57 AA).
It is generally accepted that arbitral proceedings (and their constituent parts, including the pleadings, docu - ments and award) are confidential. This may be pro - vided for in the relevant rules applicable to the arbitra - tion proceedings. For example, Rule 59 SIAC Rules 2025 provides that, unless otherwise agreed by the parties or as otherwise provided in the Rules, the par - ties, witnesses and members of the tribunal are under a continuing obligation to treat all matters relating to the proceedings as confidential. Also, under the IAA, the tribunal is expressly empowered to enforce any obligation of confidentiality that the parties to an arbi - tration agreement have agreed to in writing, under any written law, or under the rules of arbitration agreed to or adopted by parties. Independent of any rules, there is an implied obliga - tion of confidence in arbitral proceedings under Sin - gapore law, which requires parties not to disclose or use for any other purpose any documents prepared for and used (or disclosed or produced in the course of the arbitration), transcripts or notes of the evidence in the arbitration or the award, save with the consent of the other party (see AAY v AAZ [2011] 1 SLR 1093 at [33]). Recognised exceptions to the aforementioned implied obligation include, for example, where the party who produced the material provides express or implied consent, by order of the court, or where the interests of justice require disclosure (see AAY at [59]). Arbitration rules typically stipulate situations in which disclosure may be permitted – for example, for the purpose of making a court application to challenge or enforce the award. Where the IAA or AA applies to the arbitration, court proceedings in relation to such arbitration are to be heard in private, unless the court orders otherwise. In such private proceedings, although applications may be made to the court for directions on the publishing of information relating to the arbitral proceedings, the court will not give a direc - tion permitting information to be published unless all the parties agree that the information may be pub - lished, or unless the court is satisfied that such pub -
10. The Award 10.1 Legal Requirements
An arbitral award must be made in writing and signed by the arbitrator(s). If there is more than one arbitrator, it suffices that the award be signed by a majority of the arbitrators provided that the reason for any omit - ted signature(s) is stated. The award must state the reasons upon which it is based unless parties have agreed otherwise or it is an award by consent. Addi - tionally, the date of the award and the place of arbi - tration must be stated. A signed copy of the award must then be delivered to each party (Article 31 ML, Section 38 AA). There are no statutory time limits on the delivery of the award under the IAA and AA. Arbitration rules may prescribe time limits. Under Rule 53.2 SIAC Rules 2025 (save where the Expedited or Streamlined Pro - cedures apply), the tribunal must submit the draft award to the SIAC Secretariat within 90 days from the date of submission of the last directed submissions in the proceedings. 10.2 Types of Remedies The tribunal may award any remedy or relief that could have been made by the General Division of the High Court if the dispute had been the subject of civil pro - ceedings in that court (Section 12 (5)(a) IAA, Section 34 (1) AA). Such powers exercisable by the Gener - al Division (which are set out in the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969) include, among others, the power to grant all reliefs and remedies at law and in equity (including damages, injunctions and specific performance). There is no rule in Singapore law preventing arbitrators from awarding punitive damages. However, under Sin - gapore law, such damages are exceptional and have only been granted for claims in tort. This is because Singapore courts have taken the view that under Sin - gapore law damages primarily serve a compensatory
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