Singapore proposes committee for international commercial dispute resolution

A division of the Singapore High Court, the SICC was established in 2015 in response to an increasing demand for effective international litigation in Singapore. The International Committee intended to be established under the new Bill will be a standalone body and will not be part of the Singapore judiciary.

If passed, the International Committee established by the Singapore International Commercial Court (International Committee) Bill (16-page / 117KB PDF) will be presided over by the Chief Justice and comprised of international judges from SICC, Supreme Court judges and ad hoc members from the court of the foreign jurisdiction referring the appeal to the International Committee.

The Bill - which follows a treaty recently entered into between Bahrain and Singapore to create the new Bahrain International Commercial Court modelled on the SICC - refers specifically to situations where arrangements have been made between Singapore and a foreign jurisdiction for appeals from civil judgements by a court of that foreign jurisdiction to lie to Singapore. In such cases, according to article 6.1 of the Bill, the Minister may make ‘jurisdiction regulations’ regarding a wide variety of powers to be conferred to the International Committee - in particular, to apply foreign law, issue interim measures or enforcement measures, stay enforcement of a judgement of a foreign court and order costs.

Like the ‘competence-competence’ principle of international arbitration, the International Committee may decide questions about its own jurisdiction. Unlike international commercial arbitration, according to article 8 of the Bill, the International Committee’s proceedings by default will not be confidential.

Singapore-based advocates and solicitors, foreign lawyers and law experts who have been registered to appear before the SICC can appear before the International Committee.

According to article 10 of the Bill, proceedings will be administered by the Chief Justice who may make rules to regulate the procedure, including deciding that there will not be an oral hearing and prescribing the forms to be used and fees and deposits payable. The regulations issued by the Minister will take precedence over any rules issued by the Chief Justice.

According to article 12 of the Bill, the International Committee’s decision will be final and may not be appealed to or reviewed by any court. For purposes of enforcement in Singapore, a judgement or order of the International Committee on appeal from a court of a foreign jurisdiction will be treated as a judgement or order of a court of the foreign jurisdiction the appeal came from, according to article 13 of the Bill.

Frédéric Gillion of Pinsent Masons MPillay, the Singapore joint law venture between MPillay and Pinsent Masons, said: “The expected establishment of the International Committee illustrates the growth in international commercial courts across the globe. The stated goal of the International Committee is to increase Singapore’s offering as an international dispute resolution hub.”

“The regulations to be issued by the Minister and the rules which the Chief Justice may issue to govern the proceedings suggest that the proceedings may be less party-driven than in an international arbitration.”

Johanne Brocas of Pinsent Masons said: “It remains to be seen what type of cases can be appealed from foreign jurisdictions, as this also lies within the powers of the Minister for Law.”