SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Jansen Chow and Ang Leong Hao, Rajah & Tann Singapore
could not be enforced in the state that it originates from (Section 4 of the REFJA). • A court order giving permission to register a foreign judgment must then be drawn up by, or on behalf of, the judgment creditor. The court order must state that an application may be made to set aside the registration of the foreign judgment and must contain a notification that an enforcement order to enforce the judgment will not be issued until after the expiration of that period. This court order must then be served on the judgment debtor in question (Order 60 Rule 5 of the Rules of Court 2021). A notice of registration must be served on the judgment debtor personally unless the court otherwise orders (Order 60 Rule 7 of the Rules of Court 2021). • Within three days after the service of the notice of registration (or any longer period as the court may permit), the notice or a copy of the notice must be endorsed by the person who served it with the day of the week and date on which it was served. If the notice is not so endorsed within this period, the judgment creditor may not apply for an enforcement order to enforce the foreign judgment to which the notice relates without the permission of the court (Order 60 Rule 8 of the Rules of Court 2021). • A judgment creditor may apply to set aside the registration of a judgment by way of a summons supported by an affidavit (Order 60 Rule 9 of the Rules of Court 2021). (a) In this regard, Section 5 (1)(a) of the REFJA provides for certain grounds where the Sin - gapore court shall set aside the registration of a foreign judgment. These grounds include: the foreign judgment was obtained by fraud; if enforcement of the foreign judgment would be contrary to public policy of Singapore; or the judgment debtor, being a defendant in the proceedings in the foreign court, did not (notwithstanding that process may have been duly served on him in accordance with the law of the foreign country) receive notice of those proceedings in sufficient time to enable him to defend the proceedings and did not appear. (b) Section 5 (2)(b) of the REFJA provides that the registration may be set aside if the Singapore court is satisfied that the matter in dispute in
the proceedings in the foreign court had before the date of the judgment in the foreign court been the final and conclusive judgment by a court having jurisdiction in the matter. (c) Section 5 (2)(c) of the REFJA provides that the registration may be set aside if the Singapore court is satisfied that the notice of registration had not been served on the judgment debtor or that the notice of registration was defective. • If the registration has not been set aside, the judg - ment creditor who wishes to apply for an enforce - ment order to enforce a foreign judgment that is registered with the REFJA must produce to the court an affidavit of service of the notice of regis - tration of the judgment and any order made by the court in relation to the judgment (Order 60 Rule 10 of the Rules of Court 2021). 6. Privileges 6.1 Invoking the Privilege Against Self- Incrimination The right to silence can be invoked when a person is asked to provide information that may incriminate them. However, the fact that the answer or the docu - ment to be provided will expose the person to civil liability is generally insufficient to attract the privilege. The right is therefore more commonly applied in criminal proceedings. In Singapore, the right to self- incrimination is not a constitutional right under the principles of natural justice. When summoned for an investigation, a person must state what they know about the facts and circumstances of the case, except that they are not required to disclose anything which they think might expose them to a criminal charge, such as admitting or suggesting that they committed a crime. At the same time, the court has the power under Sec - tion 116 (g) of the Evidence Act 1893 to presume that evidence which could be and is not produced would, if produced, be unfavourable to the person who with - holds it. As a result, courts have drawn adverse infer - ences against a party who fails to produce documents or call crucial witnesses to testify at trial, both in civil and criminal proceedings.
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