SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Benedict Teo, Kelvin Tan, Kong Man Er and Shumin Lin, Drew & Napier LLC
to execution if there is a real risk of the judgment debt- or dissipating its assets with the intention of depriving the creditor of satisfaction of the judgment debt and if it is in the interests of justice to grant the injunction. If the judgment debtor’s conduct or affairs provide probable reason for believing that the judgment debt- or is likely to leave Singapore with a view to avoid- ing payment or examination, the court has the power under the Debtors Act 1934 to order that the judgment debtor be arrested and brought before the court for examination regarding the judgment debtor’s ability to pay or satisfy the judgment. 9.5 Enforcement of a Judgment From a Foreign Country Foreign judgments may be enforced in Singapore: • under the Choice of Court Agreements Act 2016 (CCAA); • by registration under the Reciprocal Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act 1959 (REFJA); or • by way of a common law action. The statutory regime for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments has been con- solidated under the REFJA with effect from 3 October 2019. The REFJA applies to judgments from Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka and the Unit- ed Kingdom. With the exception of Hong Kong, all these jurisdictions previously fell under the Reciprocal Enforcement of Commonwealth Judgments Act 1921 (RECJA), which was repealed from 1 March 2023. The scope of judgments that may be recognised under the REFJA is more expansive than under the RECJA. While the precise scope of enforceable judg- ments depends on the reciprocal agreement with the individual foreign country, the following judgments may now be recognised under the REFJA: • money and non-money judgments (including freezing orders, injunctions and orders for specific performance); • higher and lower court judgments; • interlocutory judgments; and
• judicial settlements, consent judgments and con- sent orders. A REFJA application must be made within six years after the date of the judgment. The judgment creditor may commence proceedings to enforce a registered judgment after registration has been duly made, the judgment debtor has been notified, and the period within which an application may be made to set aside the registration has expired. The REFJA does not apply to judgments which may be recognised or enforced in Singapore under the CCAA (Section 2A of the REFJA). The CCAA currently applies to judgments from more than 30 jurisdictions, including European Union coun- tries. Where the requirements set out in the CCAA are met, the Singapore court must recognise and enforce a foreign judgment, subject only to limited exceptions within the CCAA. The Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1975 provides for the enforcement of maintenance orders issued by the courts of designated countries. Where legislation is inapplicable, a judgment creditor may bring a common law action for the recognition and enforcement of a foreign judgment by seeking summary judgment on the basis of the foreign judg- ment within six years of the date of the judgment. A foreign judgment is enforceable if it is a final and con- clusive judgment for a definite sum of money granted by a court of competent jurisdiction. It would not be enforced only if it can be shown that the foreign judg- ment was procured by fraud, its enforcement would be contrary to public policy, or the proceedings in which the judgment was obtained were contrary to natural justice.
10. Appeal 10.1 Levels of Appeal or Review to a Litigation
The General Division of the High Court has the juris- diction to hear criminal appeals from the District Courts, Magistrates’ Courts, Family Courts and Youth
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