In our 30 June 2023 update titled Records of Arbitrators’ Deliberations to be Produced Only in Very Rarest of Cases, Singapore International Commercial Court Rules on the decision of the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) in CZT v CZU [2023] SGHC(I) 11, we highlighted the SICC’s ruling on the confidentiality of records of arbitrators’ deliberations and the high threshold to be crossed before a court would order the production of such records, with the SICC emphasising that such production orders should only be made in “the very rarest of cases”.
In our 28 December 2023 update titled Post-Refusal to Order Production of Arbitral Tribunal’s Deliberations, SICC Dismisses Setting Aside Application on the SICC’s decision in CZT v CZU [2023] SGHC(I) 22, we discussed the SICC’s dismissal of the plaintiff’s application to set aside an award (Award) issued by a 2-1 majority of the tribunal in favour of the defendant in an arbitration commenced by the defendant against the plaintiff. Dissatisfied with the outcome, the plaintiff appealed the SICC’s decision to the Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal has, in CZT v CZU [2024] SGCA(I) 6, dismissed the plaintiff’s appeal, marking the end of the matter, and finally closing the chapter on the plaintiff’s attempts to challenge the Award. In this latest decision, the court held that where the dispute concerns contractual interpretation, it is open to an arbitral tribunal to reach its views on the meaning of a contractual provision by drawing upon different parts of the contract or relevant surrounding circumstances that the parties may not have addressed in submissions before the tribunal. The court also affirmed the well-established principle that, in ascertaining whether there has been a breach of natural justice, a tribunal need only deal with essential issues, and not each and every point raised by a party.
Our Partners Koh Swee Yen, SC and Alessa Pang, Senior Associate Claire Lim, and Associates Samuel Teo, Shawn Ang and Samuel Low acted for the defendant in successfully resisting the plaintiff’s attempts to set aside the Award.
This update highlights the salient points of the Court of Appeal’s decision.
If you would like information and/or assistance on the setting aside of arbitral awards or any other area of law, you may wish to contact the Partner at WongPartnership whom you normally work with or any of the following Partners:
KOH Swee Yen, Senior Counsel
Head – International Arbitration
Partner – Commercial & Corporate Disputes
d +65 6416 6876
e sweeyen.koh@wongpartnership.com
Click here to view Swee Yen’s CV.
Alessa PANG
Partner – Commercial & Corporate Disputes and International Arbitration
d +65 65 6416 8107
e alessa.pang@wongpartnership.com
Click here to view Alessa’s CV.