PART 9 | POWERS OF COURT IN RELATION TO AWARD |
| Determination of preliminary point of law |
| 45.—(1) Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the Court may, on the application of a party to the arbitral proceedings who has given notice to the other parties, determine any question of law arising in the course of the proceedings which the Court is satisfied substantially affects the rights of one or more of the parties. [12/2012] (2) The Court is not to consider an application under this section unless —| (a) | it is made with the agreement of all parties to the proceedings; or | | (b) | it is made with the permission of the arbitral tribunal and the Court is satisfied that —| (i) | the determination of the question is likely to produce substantial savings in costs; and | | (ii) | the application is made without delay. |
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| (3) The application must identify the question of law to be determined and, except where made with the agreement of all parties to the proceedings, must state the grounds on which it is said that the question should be decided by the Court. |
| (4) Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the arbitral tribunal may continue the arbitral proceedings and make an award while an application to the Court under this section is pending. |
| (5) Except with the permission of the appellate court, no appeal shall lie from a decision of the Court on whether the conditions in subsection (2) are met. [40/2019] [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022] |
| (6) The decision of the Court on a question of law is a judgment of the Court for the purposes of an appeal to the appellate court. [40/2019] |
| (7) The appellate court may give permission to appeal against the decision of the Court in subsection (6) only if the question of law before it is one of general importance, or is one which for some other special reason should be considered by the appellate court. [40/2019] [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022] |
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| 46.—(1) An award made by the arbitral tribunal pursuant to an arbitration agreement may, with permission of the Court, be enforced in the same manner as a judgment or order of the Court to the same effect. [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022] | (2) Where permission of the Court is so granted, judgment may be entered in the terms of the award. [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022] |
| (3) Despite section 3, subsection (1) applies to an award irrespective of whether the place of arbitration is Singapore or elsewhere. [9/2003] |
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| No judicial review of award |
| 47. The Court does not have jurisdiction to confirm, vary, set aside or remit an award on an arbitration agreement except where so provided in this Act. |
| Court may set aside award |
48.—(1) An award may be set aside by the Court —| (a) | if the party who applies to the Court to set aside the award proves to the satisfaction of the Court that —| (i) | a party to the arbitration agreement was under some incapacity; | | (ii) | the arbitration agreement is not valid under the law to which the parties have subjected it, or failing any indication thereon, under the laws of Singapore; | | (iii) | the party making the application was not given proper notice of the appointment of an arbitrator or of the arbitral proceedings or was otherwise unable to present the party’s case; | | (iv) | the award deals with a dispute not contemplated by or not falling within the terms of the submission to arbitration, or contains decisions on matters beyond the scope of the submission to arbitration, except that, if the decisions on matters submitted to arbitration can be separated from those not so submitted, only that part of the award which contains decisions on matters not submitted to arbitration may be set aside; | | (v) | the composition of the arbitral tribunal or the arbitral procedure is not in accordance with the agreement of the parties, unless the agreement is contrary to any provisions of this Act from which the parties cannot derogate, or, in the absence of such agreement, is contrary to the provisions of this Act; | | (vi) | the making of the award was induced or affected by fraud or corruption; | | (vii) | a breach of the rules of natural justice occurred in connection with the making of the award by which the rights of any party have been prejudiced; or |
| | (b) | if the Court finds that —| (i) | the subject matter of the dispute is not capable of settlement by arbitration under this Act; or | | (ii) | the award is contrary to public policy. [12/2012] |
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| (2) An application for setting aside an award may not be made after the expiry of 3 months from the date on which the party making the application had received the award, or if a request has been made under section 43, from the date on which that request had been disposed of by the arbitral tribunal. |
| (3) When a party applies to the Court to set aside an award under this section, the Court may, where appropriate and so requested by a party, suspend the proceedings for setting aside an award, for any period of time that it may determine, to allow the arbitral tribunal to resume the arbitral proceedings or take any other action that may eliminate the grounds for setting aside an award. [12/2012] |
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| 49.—(1) A party to arbitral proceedings may (upon notice to the other parties and to the arbitral tribunal) appeal to the Court on a question of law arising out of an award made in the proceedings. [12/2012] | (2) Despite subsection (1), the parties may agree to exclude the jurisdiction of the Court under this section and an agreement to dispense with reasons for the arbitral tribunal’s award is to be treated as an agreement to exclude the jurisdiction of the Court under this section. |
(3) An appeal must not be brought under this section except —| (a) | with the agreement of all the other parties to the proceedings; or | | (b) | with the permission of the Court. [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022] |
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| (4) The right to appeal under this section is subject to the restrictions in section 50. |
(5) Permission to appeal is to be given only if the Court is satisfied that —| (a) | the determination of the question will substantially affect the rights of one or more of the parties; | | (b) | the question is one which the arbitral tribunal was asked to determine; | | (c) | on the basis of the findings of fact in the award —| (i) | the decision of the arbitral tribunal on the question is obviously wrong; or | | (ii) | the question is one of general public importance and the decision of the arbitral tribunal is at least open to serious doubt; and |
| | (d) | despite the agreement of the parties to resolve the matter by arbitration, it is just and proper in all the circumstances for the Court to determine the question. [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022] |
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| (6) An application for permission to appeal under this section must identify the question of law to be determined and state the grounds on which it is alleged that permission to appeal should be granted. [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022] |
| (7) The permission of the appellate court is required for any appeal from a decision of the Court under this section to grant or refuse permission to appeal. [40/2019] [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022] |
(8) On an appeal under this section, the Court may by order —| (a) | confirm the award; | | (b) | vary the award; | | (c) | remit the award to the arbitral tribunal, in whole or in part, for reconsideration in the light of the Court’s determination; or | | (d) | set aside the award in whole or in part. |
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| (9) The Court is not to exercise its power to set aside an award, in whole or in part, unless it is satisfied that it would be inappropriate to remit the matters in question to the arbitral tribunal for reconsideration. |
| (10) The decision of the Court on an appeal under this section is to be treated as a judgment of the Court for the purposes of an appeal to the appellate court. [40/2019] |
| (11) The appellate court may give permission to appeal against the decision of the Court in subsection (10) only if the question of law before it is one of general importance, or one which for some other special reason should be considered by the appellate court. [40/2019] [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022] |
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| Supplementary provisions to appeal under section 49 |
50.—(1) This section applies to an application or appeal under section 49.(2) An application or appeal may not be brought if the applicant or appellant has not first exhausted —| (a) | any available arbitral process of appeal or review; and | | (b) | any available recourse under section 43 (correction or interpretation of award and additional award). |
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| (3) Any application or appeal must be brought within 28 days of the date of the award or, if there has been any arbitral process of appeal or review, of the date when the applicant or appellant was notified of the result of that process. |
(4) If on an application or appeal it appears to the Court that the award —| (a) | does not contain the arbitral tribunal’s reasons; or | | (b) | does not set out the arbitral tribunal’s reasons in sufficient detail to enable the Court to properly consider the application or appeal, |
| the Court may order the arbitral tribunal to state the reasons for its award in sufficient detail for that purpose. |
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| (5) Where the Court makes an order under subsection (4), it may make any further order that it thinks fit with respect to any additional costs of the arbitration resulting from its order. |
| (6) The Court may order the applicant or appellant to provide security for the costs of the application or appeal, and may direct that the application or appeal be dismissed if the order is not complied with. |
(7) The power to order security for costs must not be exercised by reason only that the applicant or appellant is —| (a) | an individual ordinarily resident outside Singapore; or | | (b) | a corporation or association incorporated or formed under the law of a country outside Singapore or whose central management and control is exercised outside Singapore. |
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| (8) The Court may order that any money payable under the award must be brought into Court or otherwise secured pending the determination of the application or appeal, and may direct that the application or appeal be dismissed if the order is not complied with. |
| (9) The Court may grant permission to appeal subject to conditions to the same or similar effect as an order under subsection (6) or (8) and this does not affect the general discretion of the Court to grant permission subject to conditions. [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022] |
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| Effect of order of Court upon appeal against award |
51.—(1) Where the Court makes an order under section 49 with respect to an award, subsections (2), (3) and (4) apply.| (2) Where the award is varied by the Court, the variation has effect as part of the arbitral tribunal’s award. |
| (3) Where the award is remitted to the arbitral tribunal, in whole or in part, for reconsideration, the tribunal must make a fresh award in respect of the matters remitted within 3 months of the date of the order for remission or any longer or shorter period that the Court may direct. |
| (4) Where the award is set aside or declared to be of no effect, in whole or in part, the Court may also order that any provision that an award is a condition precedent to the bringing of legal proceedings in respect of a matter to which the arbitration agreement applies is of no effect as regards the subject matter of the award or (as the case may be) the relevant part of the award. |
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| Application for permission of Court, etc. |
| 52.—(1) An application for the permission of the Court or the appellate court to appeal or an application mentioned in section 21A(1), 36(6) or 49(3)(b) or (7) must be made in the manner that may be prescribed in the Rules of Court. [12/2012; 40/2019] [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022] | (2) The Court is to determine an application for permission to appeal without a hearing unless it appears to the Court or the appellate court that a hearing is required. [40/2019] [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022] |
(3) For the purposes of this section —| (a) | an application for permission of the Court may be heard and determined by a Judge sitting in chambers in the Court; and [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022] | | (b) | the appellate court has the like powers and jurisdiction on the hearing of such applications as the Court or any Judge sitting in chambers in the Court has on the hearing of such applications. [40/2019] [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022] |
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