SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Foo Yuet Min, Kong Man Er, Shumin Lin and See Chern Yang, Drew & Napier LLC
agreement or by the court in assessment of costs proceedings. In costs assessment proceedings, party-and- party costs are typically assessed on the stand- ard basis, which means that a reasonable amount in respect of all costs reasonably incurred would be granted, and any doubts as to whether the costs were reasonably incurred shall be resolved in favour of the paying party. Solicitor-and-cli- ent costs are typically assessed on the indem- nity basis, which also means that a reasonable amount in respect of all costs incurred would be granted, but that any doubts are to be resolved in favour of the receiving party. Costs assessed on the indemnity basis are typically about one- third more than costs assessed on the standard basis. Where the receiving party is a litigant in per- son, the court may allow such costs as would reasonably compensate the litigant for the time expended by the litigant, together with all expenses reasonably incurred. 11.2 Factors Considered When Awarding Costs The court that heard a matter must fix the costs of the matter, unless the court thinks fit to direct an assessment of the costs. The court takes into account all the circumstances of the case, including a party’s conduct in the course of the proceedings, efforts made by the parties towards amicable resolution, the complexity of the matter and the difficulty of the questions involved. 11.3 Interest Awarded on Costs Costs carry interest at the rate of 5.33% per annum from: • the date of assessment; • the date of the order fixing the costs;
• the date of agreement (if costs are agreed between the parties); or • the date of judgment.
12. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) 12.1 Views of ADR Within the Country Singapore offers a suite of ADR options, includ- ing arbitration, mediation and other forms of ADR. Mediation has grown in prominence in the Sin- gapore legal landscape, with the establishment of mediation institutions such as the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC), the Singapore Interna- tional Mediation Centre (SIMC), the Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI) and the State Courts Centre for Dispute Resolution (SCCDR). Hybrid arbitration and mediation options are also available in Singapore, whereby parties to an arbitration agree to first engage in mediation, and record any settlement reached as a consent award in the arbitration. Parties may then con- tinue with arbitration if they fail to reach a settle- ment (ie, Arb-Med-Arb procedure). 12.2 ADR Within the Legal System ADR is an integral part of the Singapore courts’ procedural framework. A party to any proceed- ings has the duty to consider amicable resolu- tion of the dispute before the commencement and during the course of any action or appeal. A party is to make an offer of amicable resolu- tion (by way of either an offer to settle or an offer to resolve the dispute other than by litigation) unless it has reasonable grounds not to do so, and must not reject any offer of amicable resolu-
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