SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Chou Sean Yu, Wendy Lin, Monica Chong Wan Yee and Frank Oh Sheng Loong, WongPartnership LLP
5.6 Jurisdiction Over Third Parties Non-signatories to an arbitration agreement may be regarded as parties to the arbitration agreement in certain situations. For example, in Jiang Haiying v Tan Lim Hui [2009] 3 SLR(R) 13, the court appeared to accept that, in situations where the non-signatory is a party to a collateral contract (ie, an agreement dis - tinct from the main contract) and the claim against the non-signatory is based on the collateral contract, the non-signatory might be bound by the arbitration agreement (see at [50]–[55]). A third party may be treated as a party to the arbitration agreement by stat - ute under Section 9 of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 2001, if: • the contract clearly intends to confer the third party a unilateral right to arbitrate; or • the contract expressly provides that the third party may enforce a contractual term or if the contractual term purports to confer a benefit on the third party, and the enforcement of that substantive term is subject to the submission of the dispute to arbitra - tion ( Low Jun Hong and five Others v Hong Qi Yu and Another [2026] SGHCR 11 at [34]–[36]). Also, in Aloe Vera of America , Inc v Asianic Food ( S ) Pte Ltd and Another [2006] 3 SLR(R) 174, the court appeared to accept that a non-signatory could be bound by an arbitration agreement on the basis of theories such as alter ego and agency (see at [76]). In these scenarios, the law does not appear to have drawn a distinction between domestic and foreign non-signatories.
• taking of samples and conducting of experiments on property that is the subject matter of the dis - pute. In addition, under Section 12 (1) IAA (but not the AA where such matters are only in the court’s purview, unless otherwise agreed by the parties), a tribunal also has powers to make orders for securing the amount in dispute (ensuring that any award which may be made is not rendered ineffectual by the dissipation of assets by any party) or for an interim injunction or other interim measure; the tribunal is empowered to enforce any obligation of confidentiality that parties have agreed to in writing, under any written law or under the applicable arbitration rules. Such relief is binding on the parties. Under Section 12 (6) IAA and Section 28 (4) AA, all orders or direc - tions made or given by a tribunal are, by permission of the court, enforceable in the same manner as if they were orders made by the court; where permission is given, judgment may be entered in terms of the order or direction. 6.2 Role of Courts As indicated in 6.1 Types of Relief , under the IAA and AA, all orders/directions made or given by a tri - bunal are, by permission of the court, enforceable in the same manner as if they were orders made by the court, and where permission is given judgment may be entered in terms of the order/direction. In addition, under Section 12A IAA, irrespective of whether the seat of the arbitration is Singapore, the courts have the power to grant the same interim relief as the tribunal may grant, save for orders for security for costs, discovery of documents and discovery of facts. However, the court will not grant interim relief if it is of the opinion that the fact that the place of arbitration is outside Singapore or likely to be outside Singapore makes it inappropriate to make the order. If the case is one of urgency, the court may order interim relief on the application of a party or proposed party to the arbitral proceedings, as the court thinks necessary for the purpose of preserving evidence or assets. If the case is not one of urgency, such relief may only be ordered where the application is made
6. Preliminary and Interim Relief 6.1 Types of Relief
Under Section 12 (1) IAA and Section 28 (2) AA, a tri - bunal has powers to make orders for (among others): • security for costs; • discovery of documents and discovery of facts; • giving of evidence by affidavit; • preservation and interim custody of any evidence for the purposes of the proceedings; and
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