SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Randolph Khoo, See Chern Yang, Tan Ei Leen and Sharon Ki, Drew & Napier
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 above 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. (c) On the merits – the judgment must: (i) establish certain facts as proved, not proved or not in dispute; or (ii) state the relevant principles of law ap - plicable to such facts and express a conclusion on the effect of applying those principles to the factual situation. REFJA and REFJA(A) 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 is equivalent to or higher in standing than the Sin - gapore High Court (see the Malaysian High Court case of Excelmore Trading Pte Ltd v Excelmore Classics Sdn Bhd (1996) AMR 2837, cited by the Singapore High Court in Cheong Ghim Fah v Muru- gian s/o Rangasamy (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, unlike at common law, presence was not a ground for international jurisdiction under the REFJA (Sec - tion 5 (3)(a)(iv) of the REFJA). Furthermore, unlike at common law, the following are noteworthy:
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