SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Randolph Khoo, See Chern Yang, Tan Ei Leen and Sharon Ki, Drew & Napier
tion and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (concluded on 2 July 2019) being billed as a game-changer for cross-border dis - pute settlement. However, this convention has yet to be adopted under Singapore domestic law. 3.2 Variations in Approach to Enforcement of Foreign Judgments As mentioned in 3.1 Legal Issues Concerning Enforcement of Foreign Judgments , there are both statutory and common law regimes for the enforce - ment of foreign judgments in the Singapore courts. Common Law The common law method of enforcement involves the filing of a fresh action on an implied debt. As such, to be enforceable under the common law, a foreign judgment must have the following characteristics (see Chen Aun - Li Andrew v Ha Chi Kut (suing as the sole executrix of the estate of Khoo Ee Liam, deceased) (2023), 1 SLR 341 at (9)). • A money judgment for a definite sum of money other than a sum payable in respect of taxes, fines or penalties (see Poh Soon Kiat v Desert Palace Inc (2010), 1 SLR 1129 at (13)). • A judgment that was granted less than six years prior – otherwise Section 6 (1)(a) of the Limitation Act 1959 would apply to prohibit the action. • A judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction that is final and conclusive on the merits (see Hum- puss Sea Transport Pte Ltd v PT Humpuss Inter- moda Transportasi TBK (2016), 5 SLR 1322 at (67) to (71)), which entails proof of the following. (a) Competent jurisdiction – the originating foreign court must have had transnational or interna - tional jurisdiction over the party sought to be bound, based on private international law of Singapore. In Singapore, international juris - diction is established at common law if the defending party: (i) was present or resident in the foreign country at the time the proceedings were commenced; (ii) had agreed to submit to the jurisdiction before the commencement of proceed - ings; or (iii) had voluntarily submitted to the jurisdic -
tion of the court by filing a defence or counterclaim or appearing in the proceed - ings. (b) Final and conclusive judgment – the judgment must be one that cannot be varied, reopened or set aside by the court that delivered it (see The Bunga Melati 5 (2012), 4 SLR 546 at (81)). A practical test would be to see whether the judgment is capable of raising an estoppel and rendering the dispute between the parties res judicata in the originating foreign jurisdiction. Default and summary judgments can be final and conclusive if they satisfy this test. (a) No applicable defences to recognition – there must be no applicable defence to recogni - tion or enforcement, such as fraud, breach of natural justice, conflict with public policy or an earlier recognised judgment, or enforcement of foreign penal, revenue or other public laws. REFJA Only the following types of judgments could be reg - istered and enforced under the REFJA, prior to the REFJA(A). • A judgment from a “superior court” – ie, one that has equivalent standing to the Singapore High Court (see the Malaysian High Court case of Excel- more Trading Pte Ltd v Excelmore Classics Sdn Bhd (1996), AMR 2837; see also Singapore High Court in Cheong Ghim Fah v Murugian s / o Ran- gasamy (2004), 3 SLR(R) 193 at (15)). • A money judgment – ie, a judgment for a definite sum of money. This is made clear by the definition of a “judgment” under Section 2 (1) of the REFJA. • A judgment that is final and conclusive – ie, it can - not be varied, reopened or set aside by the court that rendered the judgment (Section 3 (2)(b) of the REFJA). • A judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction – similar to the case at common law, this meant that the originating foreign court must have had inter - national jurisdiction over the party sought to be bound. However, the accepted grounds of jurisdic - tion under the REFJA were not entirely the same as those under the common law regime. For instance, presence is a ground for international jurisdiction
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