SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Benedict Teo, Kelvin Tan, Kong Man Er and Shumin Lin, Drew & Napier LLC
13.2 Subject Matters Not Referred to Arbitration A court may refuse to refer a matter to arbitration where the subject matter of a dispute is non-arbitrable – ie, is of such a nature that it would be contrary to public policy for that dispute to be resolved by arbi- tration or is not capable of settlement by arbitration. Criminal offences are non-arbitrable. 13.3 Circumstances to Challenge an Arbitral Award The courts have the power to set aside awards in respect of arbitrations seated in Singapore only in the limited circumstances set out in the AA and the IAA. The courts will not set aside arbitral awards from non- Singapore-seated arbitrations. In determining chal- lenges to arbitral awards, the Singapore courts adopt a policy of minimal curial intervention and will adhere to the narrow bases for challenging arbitral awards expressly set out in the AA and the IAA. A party seeking to set aside an award must make an application to do so within three months of receipt of the reward, or of the date on which a tribunal disposes of a request to correct or interpret an award or make an additional award. The courts have more extensive powers in respect of AA-governed arbitrations than IAA-governed arbitra- tions, and may hear an appeal on a question of law. The applicant must first exhaust all arbitral processes of appeal or review and other recourses, and must have either the consent of all parties or leave of court, which will only be given in limited circumstances. 13.4 Procedure for Enforcing Domestic and Foreign Arbitration A party seeking to enforce an arbitral award may do so by applying to the High Court of Singapore for leave to enforce the award in the same manner as a judg- ment or order of the court. This application must be made within six years from the time that the applicant becomes entitled to enforce the award. The grounds for resisting enforcement of the award are similar to those for setting it aside.
including the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, the international divi- sion of the American Arbitration Association, and the Arbitration and Mediation Center of the World Intel- lectual Property Organization. Private mediation service providers include the SMC and the SIMC. There are also bodies providing media- tion services for specific disputes, such as: • the Community Mediation Centre for community disputes; • the Consumers Association of Singapore for consumer-business disputes; • the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre for disputes between consumers and financial institutions; • MOH Holdings’ Healthcare Mediation Scheme for healthcare disputes; and • the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management for employment-related matters. While parties may choose to implement either frame- work, the default position is that domestic arbitrations are generally governed by the Arbitration Act 2001 (AA) and international arbitrations are governed by the International Arbitration Act 1994 (IAA). Both sets of legislation are based on the United Nations Commis- sion on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration. Arbitra- tion conducted by SIAC may be conducted according to the SIAC Rules of Arbitration or other rules agreed upon by parties. The 1958 Convention on the Recognition and Enforce- ment of Foreign Arbitral Awards has been enacted into Singapore law (the Second Schedule of the IAA), and the substantive provisions governing the recognition and enforcement of foreign awards can be found in the IAA. Generally, a foreign award may be enforced in a court either by action or in the same manner as a domestic arbitration award. 13. Arbitration 13.1 Laws Regarding the Conduct of Arbitration
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