In February of this year, the Singapore High Court dismissed an attempt by a party to challenge a determination by the Registrar of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) as to the commencement date of an arbitration. This was the first case in Singapore in which the decision of an arbitration institution was challenged.
The attempt was unsuccessful and was appealed to the Singapore Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and has now provided the reasons for its decisions. It explains the scope of Article 5 of the Model Law (which limits judicial intervention into the arbitration process) and considers the validity of rule 40.2 of the 2016 SIAC Rules which excludes recourse to the courts in respect of decisions by the SIAC.
Please click on the attachment for more details.