SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Randolph Khoo, See Chern Yang, Tan Ei Leen and Sharon Ki, Drew & Napier
Common Law This involves the filing of a fresh action for the judg - ment debt in Singapore (Order 6, Rule 1 of the ROC 2021). To expedite matters, the enforcing party should apply for summary judgment on the basis that there is no defence to the claim (Order 9, Rule 17 of the ROC 2021). If the judgment debtor is not in Singapore, the enforcing party must also apply for permission to serve the originating process out of the jurisdiction (Order 8, Rule 1 of the ROC 2021). The application must be made within six years from the time the foreign judgment became final and con - clusive under foreign law (Section 6 (1)(a) Limitation Act 1959; see Sang Cheol Woo v Charles Choi Spack- man (2024) 4 SLR 66). REFJA(A) Enforcement under the REFJA(A) operates by way of registration. Once a foreign judgment is registered under this regime, it may be enforced as if it were a domestic judgment. The registration procedure is set out in Order 60 of the ROC 2021 and involves, amongst other things, making an originating applica - tion without notice and the filing of an affidavit exhibit - ing the duly authenticated judgment and its certified translation in English, and evidence as to the enforce - ability of the judgment by execution in the country of the original court. Under the REFJA(A), the application must be filed within six years after the date of the judgment, or if there is an appeal against the judgment, after the date of the last judgment given in respect of the appeal (Section 4 (1) REFJA(A), Ha Chi Kut (suing as the sole executrix of the estate of Khoo Ee Liam, deceased) v Chen Aun-Li Andrew (2023) 3 SLR 283 at (24)). The enforcing party may also be required to furnish secu - rity for costs (Order 60, Rule 4 of the ROC 2021). If the application is successful, the enforcing party will have to extract the order of registration and arrange for personal service of both the order of registration and notice of registration on the judgment debtor. Execution on the foreign judgment will only be permit - ted after expiry of the period allowed for the judgment debtor to set aside the registration.
CCAA Registration is not required under the CCAA and there is accordingly no procedural time limit. How - ever, an enforcing party must still file an originating application without notice for enforcement to the High Court (Order 37 of the ROC 2021; Section 13 (1) of the CCAA). This application must be supported by an affidavit exhibiting: • the complete and certified copy of the foreign judg - ment; • the exclusive choice of court agreement; • where the foreign judgment was given by default, the original or a certified copy of a document showing that the party in default was notified of the document by which the proceedings were insti - tuted or an equivalent document; and • evidence that the foreign judgment has effect in the state of origin. The application may be made at any time so long as the judgment is enforceable in the state of origin (Sec - tion 13 (2) of the CCAA). 3.5 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Foreign Judgments The costs and time it takes to enforce foreign judg - ments will vary depending on the number of enforce - ment orders required to be sought and whether the applications are challenged. If contested, the entire process will likely take several months, even if no appeals are filed. In general, registration and enforcement under the statutory regimes is faster than the common law meth - od of enforcement as the process is more straight - forward. Under the common law regime, there is a risk that the opposing party will try to challenge its enforceability in Singapore. The following types of costs issues may be involved, in addition to the costs highlighted in respect of domestic judgments: • provision of security for costs to the debtor; • certification costs; • translation expenses; and • costs for arranging service out of jurisdiction.
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