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• Determination of foreign law: Parties may apply to have questions of foreign law determined on the basis of submissions instead of proof. This means that they will not have to call witnesses to prove what the foreign law is.
• Document production or discovery: Instead of general discovery, the document production or discovery rules in the SICC are similar to the International Bar Association Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration.
• Costs: Costs are awarded at the discretion of the Court, with the general principle that the unsuccessful party shall pay the reasonable costs of the proceedings to the successful party.
Are SICC judgments enforceable in other jurisdictions?
As judgments of the Supreme Court of Singapore, SICC judgments will be widely enforceable around the world. In common law countries, and in certain civil law jurisdictions, enforcement will proceed without review of the merits of the case.
SICC judgments can also be registered and enforced in the Courts of countries which have reciprocal enforcement arrangements with Singapore. This includes Australia1, Brunei Darussalam, Hong Kong, India2, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom and the Windward Islands.
Singapore is also a party to the 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements (COC), together with the EU countries (except Denmark) and Mexico – a total of 29 countries, as at Sep 2017. Being a party to the COC would generally mean that SICC judgments may be recognised and enforced in the Courts of the other contracting states. It is envisaged that more countries will become parties to the COC in the near future.
More enforceability of SICC judgments can be found at: http://www.sicc.gov.sg/documents/docs/SICC_ Enforcement_Guide.pdf.
What are the SICC’s charges?
Fees will be based on factors including the type of hearing, number of hearing days and the number
CONTACT DETAILS
of judges hearing the case. Detailed fee information can be found in the relevant Rules of Court, which can be accessed at: http://www.sicc.gov.sg/Services.aspx?id=56.
How does the SICC compare to international commercial arbitration?
The SICC complements existing international arbitration services. The SICC may be preferred over arbitration where the parties:
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Prefer that all adjudicators are independently appointed. In SICC proceedings, the Chief Justice assigns judges from the panel of International and Singapore judges to each case. In most arbitrations, arbitrators are generally appointed by parties to the arbitration.
Desire to have a right of appeal, as decisions of the SICC may, by default, generally be appealed to the Singapore Court of Appeal. Parties may, however, contractually limit or waive their right of appeal.
Require third parties to be joined to the proceedings.
Prefer that the proceedings take place in open Court rather than confidentially.
The federal jurisdiction of Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria
Western Australia, Australian Capital Territory, Norfolk Island and Northern Territory.
Except for the states of Jammu and Kashmir
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Singapore International Commercial Court
1 Supreme Court Lane, Singapore 178879 Tel: +65 6336 0644
Fax: +65 6337 9450
Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.sicc.gov.sg
SINGAPORE ARBITRATION SIAC SCMA MEDIATION MAXWELL SICC SINGAPORE AN OVERVIEW OF CHAMBERS LAW SINGAPORE LAW