REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE
GOVERNMENT GAZETTE
ACTS SUPPLEMENT
Published by Authority
NO. 40]Friday, October 26 [2001
The following Act was passed by Parliament on 5th October 2001 and assented to by the President on 17th October 2001:—
Arbitration Act 2001

(No. 37 of 2001)

I assent.

S R NATHAN,
President.
17th October 2001.
Date of Commencement: 1st March 2002
An Act to provide for the conduct of arbitration and to repeal the Arbitration Act (Chapter 10 of the 1985 Revised Edition) and also to make consequential amendments to the Bankruptcy Act (Chapter 20 of the 2000 Revised Edition) and the Limitation Act (Chapter 163 of the 1996 Revised Edition).
Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:
PART I
PRELIMINARY
Short title and commencement
1.  This Act may be cited as the Arbitration Act 2001 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.
Interpretation
2.—(1)  In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —
“appointing authority” means the appointing authority designated under section 13(8) or (9);
“arbitral tribunal” means a sole arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators or an arbitral institution;
“arbitration agreement” has the meaning given to it in section 4;
“award” means a decision of the arbitral tribunal on the substance of the dispute and includes any interim, interlocutory or partial award but excludes any orders or directions made under section 28;
“Court” means the High Court in Singapore;
“court”, for the purposes of sections 6, 7, 8, 11(1), 55, 56 and 57, means the High Court, District Court, Magistrate’s Court or any other court in which the proceedings referred to in those sections are instituted or heard;
“party” means a party to an arbitration agreement or, in any case where an arbitration does not involve all of the parties to the arbitration agreement, means a party to the arbitration;
“the place of the arbitration” means the juridical seat of the arbitration designated by —
(a)the parties to the arbitration agreement;
(b)any arbitral or other institution or person authorised by the parties for that purpose; or
(c)the arbitral tribunal as authorised by the parties,
or determined, in the absence of such designation, having regard to the arbitration agreement and all the relevant circumstances.
(2)  Where any provision in this Act allows the parties to determine any issue, the parties may authorise a third party, including an arbitral institution, to make that determination.
(3)  Where any provision in this Act refers to the fact that the parties have agreed or that they may agree or in any other way refers to an agreement of the parties, such agreement includes any arbitration rules incorporated in that agreement.
(4)  Where any provision in this Act refers to a claim, it shall also apply to a cross-claim or counter-claim, and where such provision refers to a defence, it shall also apply to a defence to such cross-claim or counter-claim.
Application of this Act
3.  This Act shall apply to any arbitration where the place of arbitration is Singapore and where Part II of the International Arbitration Act (Cap. 143A) does not apply to that arbitration.
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