Changes to Singapore's arbitration laws come into force

On 9 April 2012, the Singapore International Arbitration (Amendment) Act and Foreign Limitation Periods Act were passed in Parliament. Following their respective commencement notifications on 1 June 2012, the amendments to Singapore's arbitration laws have now come into force.

Background

On 8 March, the Government of Singapore introduced the International Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2012 (IA(A) Bill) and Foreign Limitation Periods Bill 2012 (FLP Bill) in Parliament after wide public consultation (see Legal update, Proposed changes to Singapore's arbitration laws).

The IA(A) Bill proposed the following key changes to the International Arbitration Act (IAA): 

• Relaxation of the requirement that arbitration agreements be in writing
• Conferral of power on the Singapore courts to review an arbitral tribunal's decision to refuse jurisdiction
• Confirmation of the courts' power to make costs orders against any party when ruling that a tribunal does not have jurisdiction
• Clarification of the scope of the arbitral tribunal's powers to award simple or compound interest on both the principal amounts claimed and on amounts awarded in respect of costs as well as confirmation that interest will accrue from the date of the award at the rate prescribed for judgment debts (unless the award otherwise directs)
• Statutory recognition and support for an emergency arbitrator procedure through amendments to the definition of "arbitral tribunal" and ensuring that the awards of emergency arbitrators are enforceable through an appropriate amendment to the definition of "arbitral award" 

The IA(A) Bill also proposed related and consequential amendments to the Arbitration Act (AA), which relates to domestic arbitration in Singapore. 

The FLP Bill sought to clarify which country's limitation laws will apply to disputes which are heard in Singapore but are governed by the laws of another jurisdiction. In such circumstances (and subject to two exceptions), the FLP Bill proposed that limitation shall be determined by the law that governs the dispute. For further details on the exceptions, see Legal update, Proposed changes to Singapore's arbitration laws. 

Developments

On 9 April 2012, the IA(A) Bill and FLP Bill received their second and third readings in Parliament and were passed without amendment before receiving the assent of Singapore's President, Tony Tan Keng Yam, on 15 May 2012. On 1 June 2012, the International Arbitration (Amendment) Act 2012 and Foreign Limitation Periods Act 2012 (FLPA) came into force following their respective notifications in the Government Gazette.

On the same day, the Foreign Limitation Periods Act (Commencement) Notification 2012 and the International Arbitration (Amendment) Act (Commencement) Notification 2012 brought both the FLPA and the amendments to the IAA (and AA) into operation. The IAA amendments only apply to arbitral proceedings commenced on or after 1 June 2012 (unless the parties agree otherwise). 

Alastair Henderson (Partner) and Sean Izor (Associate), Herbert Smith LLP

A version of the Herbert Smith briefing has been published by Practical Law Company.