Singapore litigation guide
Abraham Vergis
Drew & Napier
Tel: +65 6535 0733; Fax: +65 6535 4964; Website: www.drewnapier.com
Singapore’s system of justice is based on the English common law adversarial model. Judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court (comprising the Singapore Court of Appeal and the High Court) as well as the Subordinate Courts. The judge is the arbiter of both law and fact in Singapore. The jury system was entirely abolished in 1970.
The apex court in Singapore is the Court of Appeal, which hears both civil and criminal appeals emanating from the High Court and the Subordinate Courts. The Court of Appeal is Singapore’s final court of appeal after the right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London was abolished in 1994.
The High Court has both original and appellate jurisdiction over both civil and criminal matters. The High Court also has specialist judges in the fields of admiralty, intellectual property and arbitration matters.
The Subordinate Courts comprises the District Court and the Magistrate’s Court, which have civil, commercial and criminal jurisdictions. The jurisdictional monetary limit of the Magistrate’s Court and the District Court in civil matters is up to S$60,000 and S$250,000 respectively.
The Singapore courts are renowned for their efficiency through proactive judicial case management, having a disposal rate of at least 85% of all writ actions within 18 months of filing.
Final judgment can be enforced by a variety of writs of execution, garnishee proceedings, and bankruptcy and winding-up proceedings. Given the efficiency of the judicial processes, execution proceedings are typically completed within a few months.
In appropriate cases, the Court is empowered to grant injunctions and order specific performance of contractual obligations. The Court may also exceptionally grant pre-action remedies like freezing orders to prevent dissipation of assets and civil search orders to permit the search and seizure of incriminating evidence from the potential defendant’s premises.
Arbitration
Singapore is one of the leading arbitration centres in Asia and in the world. Two separate legal regimes govern the conduct of arbitration in Singapore: domestic arbitrations are governed by the Arbitration Act and the International Arbitration Act (IAA) generally applies to international arbitrations. The IAA was enacted to make provision for the conduct of international commercial arbitrations based on the Model Law as well as to give effect to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.
The Singapore government has implemented various incentives to make Singapore an arbitration venue of choice, for example by abolishing withholding tax on foreign arbitrators’ fees and allowing arbitrators to appear in international arbitrations held in Singapore without work permits. Parties are free to engage lawyers of any nationality and use any governing law.
Importantly, Singapore’s judicial philosophy also strongly supports the arbitral process.
The Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) was founded in 1991 and has quickly become one of the leading arbitration institutions in Asia with a constantly increasing caseload. The SIAC administered 70 international cases in 2007 and 71 international cases in 2008. The administration fees charged by SIAC are very moderate and among the lowest worldwide. The SIAC is also able to administer arbitrations under any other rules agreed to by the parties such as the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules 1976.
July 2009 saw the establishment of Singapore’s integrated dispute resolution complex, Maxwell Chambers, which houses world-class hearing facilities as well as brings together top international ADR institutions.
Enforceability of foreign judgments and awards
Foreign judgments can be enforced in Singapore in two ways. The first is by registration under the Reciprocal Enforcement of Commonwealth Judgments Act (RECJA) or the Reciprocal Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (REFJA). The second is by suing on the judgment under common law.
RECJA provides for the reciprocal enforcement of judgments from the UK, Australia, Hong Kong (pre-July 1997), New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Windward Islands, Pakistan, Brunei Darussalam, Papua New Guinea, and India (except Jammu and Kashmir). REFJA only provides for the reciprocal enforcement of judgments from Hong Kong.
Foreign judgments from other countries may be enforced by commencing an action by writ in the Singapore High Court in which the foreign judgment is pleaded as the basis for the claim. Thereafter, the usual course is to apply for summary judgment, which if obtained is enforceable as of right.
A foreign arbitral award made in a New York Convention country may be enforced in Singapore by action with the leave of the High Court. If leave is granted, judgment will be entered in terms of the award. In this regard, it bears noting that the Singapore judiciary has consistently demonstrated a pro-enforcement stance in interpreting and implementing the New York Convention.