SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Renu Menon, May Ng, Blossom Hing, SC and Ong Ken Loon, Drew & Napier LLC
6.2 Foreign Law and Jurisdiction The choice of a foreign law as the governing law of the contract will typically be upheld under Singapore law, as long as the application of foreign law is not contrary to public policy and the choice is bona fide and legal. Similarly, the Singapore courts will typically uphold a party’s submission to a foreign jurisdiction. Where a party has submitted exclusively to the jurisdiction of a state that is party to the Hague Convention, the Singapore Choice of Court Agreements Act 2016 (CCAA) will apply and the Singapore courts, will gen- erally, subject to certain exceptions, stay or dismiss proceedings in the Singapore courts. Even where the CCAA does not apply, the Singapore courts will generally stay local proceedings where there is a valid exclusive jurisdiction clause unless strong cause as to why such a stay should be refused is shown, such as a denial of justice. Contractual waivers are also typically upheld under Singapore law. In particular, there may be waivers of sovereign immunity under the circumstances set out in the Singapore State Immunity Act 1979. 6.3 Foreign Court Judgments Judgments Given by a Foreign Court Foreign judgments may be recognised and enforced in Singapore without a retrial of the merits of the case: • 1. under the Reciprocal Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act 1959 (REFJA); • 2. under the CCAA; or • 3. by way of the common law recognition and enforcement regime. 1. REFJA – the REFJA applies to judgments from the following countries: • a. Australia; • b. Brunei Darussalam; • c. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China; • d. India; • e. Malaysia; • f. New Zealand; • g. Pakistan;
• h. Papua New Guinea; • i. Sri Lanka; and • j. the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The REFJA does not apply to any judgment which may be recognised or enforced in Singapore under the CCAA. 2. CCAA – foreign judgments may also be recognised under the CCAA, which applies in every internation- al case where there is an exclusive choice of court agreement concluded in a civil or commercial matter. Under the CCAA, foreign judgments from over 30 jurisdictions may be recognised and enforced by the Singapore courts without a review of the merits of the foreign judgment if the conditions set out in the CCAA are met. 3. Common law – in situations which fall outside the scope of the REFJA and the CCAA, a judgment credi- tor may also apply for the recognition and enforce- ment of the relevant foreign judgment under common law. A foreign judgment may be enforced under the com- mon law recognition and enforcement regime without a retrial of the merits of the case if: • it was made by a court of competent jurisdiction; • the foreign court had jurisdiction to give a judg- ment in personam capable of recognition or enforcement as against the person against whom it was given (eg, by submission to the jurisdiction of that court); • it is final and conclusive on the merits; • it is a final judgment for a fixed sum of money; • does not involve the enforcement of foreign penal, revenue or other public laws; and • there is no defence to its recognition. Arbitral Awards In general, foreign arbitral awards may be recognised and enforced in Singapore in accordance with the New York Convention read with the Singapore Inter- national Arbitration Act 1994 (pursuant to which the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial
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