Interpretation of this Part
27.—(1) In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires —“agreement in writing” includes an agreement contained in an exchange of letters, telegrams, telefacsimile or in a communication by teleprinter;
“arbitral award” has the meaning given by the Convention, but also includes an order or a direction made or given by an arbitral tribunal in the course of an arbitration in respect of any of the matters set out in section 12(1)(c) to (j);
“arbitration agreement” means an agreement in writing of the kind referred to in paragraph 1 of Article II of the Convention;
“Convention” means the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards adopted in 1958 by the United Nations Conference on International Commercial Arbitration at its twenty‑fourth meeting, the English text of which is set out in the Second Schedule;
“Convention country” means a country (other than Singapore) that is a Contracting State within the meaning of the Convention;
“court” means the General Division of the High Court in Singapore;
“foreign award” means an arbitral award made pursuant to an arbitration agreement in the territory of a Convention country other than Singapore.[12/2012; 40/2019; 32/2020]
(2) In this Part, where the context so admits, “enforcement”, in relation to a foreign award, includes the recognition of the award as binding for any purpose, and “enforce” and “enforced” have corresponding meanings.
(3) For the purposes of this Part, a body corporate is taken to be habitually resident in a country if it is incorporated or has its principal place of business in that country.
Application of this Part
28.—(1) This Part applies to arbitration agreements made before 27 January 1995 as it applies to arbitration agreements made on or after that date.
(2) This Part does not apply to foreign awards made before 19 November 1986.
Recognition and enforcement of foreign awards
29.—(1) Subject to this Part, a foreign award may be enforced in a court either by action or in the same manner as an award of an arbitrator made in Singapore is enforceable under section 19.
(2) Any foreign award which is enforceable under subsection (1) must be recognised as binding for all purposes upon the persons between whom it was made and may accordingly be relied upon by any of those parties by way of defence, set‑off or otherwise in any legal proceedings in Singapore.
Evidence
30.—(1) In any proceedings in which a person seeks to enforce a foreign award by virtue of this Part, the person must produce to the court —(a)
the duly authenticated original award or a duly certified copy thereof;
(b)
the original arbitration agreement under which the award purports to have been made, or a duly certified copy thereof; and
(c)
where the award or agreement is in a foreign language, a translation of it in the English language, duly certified in English as a correct translation by a sworn translator or by an official or by a diplomatic or consular agent of the country in which the award was made.
(2) A document produced to a court in accordance with this section is, upon mere production, to be received by the court as prima facie evidence of the matters to which it relates.
Refusal of enforcement
31.—(1) In any proceedings in which the enforcement of a foreign award is sought by virtue of this Part, the party against whom the enforcement is sought may request that the enforcement be refused, and the enforcement in any of the cases mentioned in subsections (2) and (4) may be refused but not otherwise.
(2) A court so requested may refuse enforcement of a foreign award if the person against whom enforcement is sought proves to the satisfaction of the court that —(a)
a party to the arbitration agreement pursuant to which the award was made was, under the law applicable to the party, under some incapacity at the time when the agreement was made;
(b)
the arbitration agreement is not valid under the law to which the parties have subjected it or, in the absence of any indication in that respect, under the law of the country where the award was made;
(c)
the party was not given proper notice of the appointment of the arbitrator or of the arbitration proceedings or was otherwise unable to present the party’s case in the arbitration proceedings;
(d)
subject to subsection (3), the award deals with a difference not contemplated by, or not falling within the terms of, the submission to arbitration or contains a decision on the matter beyond the scope of the submission to arbitration;
(e)
the composition of the arbitral authority or the arbitral procedure was not in accordance with the agreement of the parties or, failing such agreement, was not in accordance with the law of the country where the arbitration took place; or
(f)
the award has not yet become binding on the parties to the arbitral award or has been set aside or suspended by a competent authority of the country in which, or under the law of which, the award was made.
(3) When a foreign award referred to in subsection (2)(d) contains decisions on matters not submitted to arbitration but those decisions can be separated from decisions on matters submitted to arbitration, the award may be enforced to the extent that it contains decisions on matters so submitted.
(4) In any proceedings in which the enforcement of a foreign award is sought by virtue of this Part, the court may refuse to enforce the award if it finds that —(a)
the subject matter of the difference between the parties to the award is not capable of settlement by arbitration under the law of Singapore; or
(b)
enforcement of the award would be contrary to the public policy of Singapore.
(5) Where, in any proceedings in which the enforcement of a foreign award is sought by virtue of this Part, the court is satisfied that an application for the setting aside or for the suspension of the award has been made to a competent authority of the country in which, or under the law of which, the award was made, the court may —(a)
if the court considers it proper to do so, adjourn the proceedings or (as the case may be) so much of the proceedings as relates to the award; and
(b)
on the application of the party seeking to enforce the award, order the other party to give suitable security.
Enforcement of awards under other provisions of law
33.—(1) Nothing in this Part affects the right of any person to enforce an arbitral award otherwise than as is provided for in this Part.
(2) [Deleted by Act 24 of 2019 wef 01/03/2023]
(3) Despite section 7 of the Reciprocal Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act 1959, proceedings to enforce a foreign award under this Part may be commenced where the award is both enforceable under this Part and registrable as a judgment under that Act.
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
