The Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) has announced the release of the 7th Edition of the Arbitration Rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC Rules 2025“) which has come into force on 1 January 2025. The SIAC Rules 2025 will apply to arbitrations commenced from 1 January 2025 onwards, where the arbitration agreement provides that the arbitration will be conducted pursuant to the rules of the SIAC for the time being in force, even if the arbitration agreement was entered into before that date.
Amongst other things, the SIAC Rules 2025 seek to improve efficiency in the conduct of arbitral proceedings through:
- the introduction of new procedures, such as the “Streamlined Procedure“, which will allow disputes of lower value and complexity to be decided in an expeditious manner, and “Coordinated Proceedings” which seeks to coordinate the resolution of multiple arbitrations involving common legal or factual issues where the same tribunal has been appointed;
- the enhancement of existing mechanisms such as the “Expedited Procedure” to make it more accessible to the parties, and the “Emergency Arbitrator” procedure to make it easier for parties to seek and obtain urgent interim relief; and
- clarifying and making explicit the tribunal’s power to make preliminary determinations and protective preliminary orders.
Parties may wish to rely on these procedures in certain circumstances where: the subject of the dispute is not particularly complicated; it may be more cost-effective to do so; or urgent interim relief is necessary. We elaborate below.
Streamlined Procedure
Pursuant to Rule 13 of the SIAC Rules 2025, an arbitration may be conducted in accordance with the Streamlined Procedure in the following circumstances:
- where parties have agreed to apply the Streamlined Procedure prior to the constitution of the tribunal; or
- the amount in dispute does not exceed the equivalent amount of SGD 1,000,000, unless the President of the SIAC Court (“President“) determines upon application of a party that the Streamlined Procedure shall not apply to the arbitration.
The Streamlined Procedure is set out in Schedule 2 of the SIAC Rules 2025. It provides, amongst other things that:
- a sole arbitrator shall be appointed for the purposes of the arbitration;
- parties may jointly nominate the sole arbitrator within 3 days from the date of the SIAC Secretariat’s notification that the Streamlined Procedure applies. If parties are unable to do so, or at the request of any party, the President shall appoint the sole arbitrator as soon as practicable;
- the tribunal shall convene a case management conference within 5 days from the date of the constitution of the tribunal;
- unless the tribunal determines otherwise, the arbitration shall be decided on the basis of written submissions and any accompanying documentary evidence; no party shall be entitled to make requests for document production; and no party shall be entitled to file any fact or expert witness evidence;
- no hearing shall be conducted unless the tribunal determines that a hearing is necessary under the circumstances or a party requests a hearing and the Tribunal accepts the request; and
- the final award shall be made within 3 months from the date of constitution of the tribunal, unless the Registrar extends the time for making such final award.
The introduction of Rule 13 of the SIAC Rules 2025 is significant as it sets out a default position where disputes not exceeding SGD 1,000,000 will be determined in accordance with the Streamlined Procedure. This would be beneficial in the event that the disputes are of lower value and complexity and when parties wish to have their dispute resolved expeditiously (i.e., within 3 months from the date of constitution of the tribunal). However, as the Streamlined Procedure would generally be decided without document production or witness evidence, and without a hearing, parties who wish to avail themselves to these mechanisms should take steps to opt out from the default position, e.g., by expressly stating in the arbitration agreement that the Streamlined Procedure shall not apply.
Coordinated Proceedings
The SIAC Rules 2025 introduce a mechanism to specifically provide for the coordinated resolution of multiple arbitrations involving common legal or factual issues where the same tribunal has been appointed. A party may make an application under Rule 17 of the SIAC Rules 2025 for the arbitrations to be coordinated such that:
- the arbitrations shall be conducted concurrently or sequentially;
- the arbitrations shall be heard together and any procedural aspects shall be aligned; or
- any of the arbitrations shall be suspended pending a determination in any of the other arbitrations.
This may be useful in cases where there are multiple related proceedings (e.g. between a developer, the main contractor and various subcontractors), and may reduce the risk of inconsistent or conflicting outcomes and avoid duplication of costs across multiple proceedings. However, it remains to be seen whether, and to what extent, evidence adduced in one arbitration may be relied on in the other arbitrations, given that Rule 17.3 further provides that, unless otherwise agreed by the parties, any coordinated arbitrations shall remain as separate proceedings, and the tribunal shall issue separate decisions, rulings, orders, and awards in each arbitration. From a practical perspective, it is possible that the tribunal may seek the parties’ prior consent and/or agreement to rely on evidence adduced in the other arbitrations.
Expedited Procedure
Pursuant to Rule 14 of the SIAC Rules 2025, an arbitration may be conducted under the Expedited Procedure upon the agreement of the parties prior to the constitution of the tribunal, or upon an application by a party where the amount in dispute does not exceed the equivalent of SGD 10,000,000.
The Expedited Procedure is set out in Schedule 3 of the SIAC Rules 2025. It provides, amongst other things that:
- a sole arbitrator shall be appointed for the purposes of the arbitration;
- the dispute shall be decided on the basis of written submissions and any accompanying documentary evidence, unless any party requests a hearing or the tribunal decides that a hearing would be appropriate;
- the tribunal may, after considering the views of the parties, decide not to allow requests for document production or to limit the number, length, and scope, of written submissions and written witness evidence; and
- the final award shall be made within 6 months from the date of constitution of the tribunal, unless the Registrar extends the time for making such final award.
The Expedited Procedure is more readily accessible under the SIAC Rules 2025. Parties can enter into prior agreements to have the arbitration conducted under the Expedited Procedure, and an increase in the monetary limit to SGD 10,000,000 from the previous limit of SGD 6,000,000 under the 6th Edition of the Arbitration Rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC Rules 2016“) makes it easier for a party to apply for the arbitration to be conducted under the Expedited Procedure. Further, the Expedited Procedure also sets out, as a general rule, that the tribunal must issue its final award within 6 months from the date of constitution of the tribunal. This provides an avenue for parties to seek an expeditious resolution of their dispute in circumstances where the Streamlined Procedure is not applicable.
Emergency Arbitrator
Pursuant to Rule 12 and Schedule 1 of the SIAC Rules 2025, a party may apply for the appointment of an Emergency Arbitrator prior to the filing of the Notice of Arbitration, although the Notice of Arbitration must be filed within 7 days from the date of the Registrar’s receipt of the application, failing which the application shall be considered withdrawn. This represents a departure from the SIAC Rules 2016, where a party wishing to seek emergency interim relief may only make such an application concurrent with or following the filing of the Notice of Arbitration (but prior to the constitution of the tribunal).
The enhancement to the Emergency Arbitrator mechanism under the SIAC Rules 2025 makes it easier for parties to make an application for urgent interim relief in circumstances where the Notice of Arbitration has not yet been filed. Parties will likely be able to prepare and submit their application for the appointment of an emergency arbitrator within a shorter timeframe given that it is no longer necessary for the Notice of Arbitration to be filed concurrently with the application for an Emergency Arbitrator. This would likely be useful in circumstances where the courts at the seat of arbitration do not have the power or are otherwise unable to grant interim relief in support of arbitration proceedings in a timely manner.
Protective Preliminary Orders
Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, a party may seek protective preliminary orders directing a party not to frustrate the purpose of emergency interim or conservatory measures requested, prior to notifying any counterparties of the application seeking the appointment of an Emergency Arbitrator (“Protective Preliminary Order Application“).
In the event the President accepts the Protective Preliminary Order Application and appoints an Emergency Arbitrator, the Emergency Arbitrator is required to determine the Protective Preliminary Order Application within 24 hours from the Emergency Arbitrator’s appointment and an applicant is required to promptly transmit any such preliminary order to any counterparties within 12 hours of the order, failing which the protective preliminary order shall expire 3 days after the date on which it was issued. Further, any protective preliminary order granted by the Emergency Arbitrator shall expire within 14 days after it was issued. The Emergency Arbitrator may issue an order or award adopting or modifying the protective preliminary order, or granting such other emergency interim relief as appropriate, after all parties have been given an opportunity to present their cases.
The availability of protective preliminary orders further enhances the ability of parties to obtain urgent interim relief within a shorter timeframe. Moreover, by allowing parties to make an application forinterim relief on an ex parte basis (i.e. without notice to the other party), the risk of the counterparty taking steps to frustrate the interim relief sought (e.g., through the dissipation of assets) is arguably mitigated. This brings the Emergency Arbitration procedure in line with equivalent procedures before the Singapore courts.
Preliminary Determination
The tribunal’s power to make a preliminary determination is now explicitly provided for under Rule 46 of the SIAC Rules 2025. Rule 46 of the SIAC Rules 2025 allows a party to make an application for a final and binding preliminary determination of any issue that arises for determination in the arbitration where:
- the parties agree that the tribunal may determine such an issue on a preliminary basis;
- the applicant is able to demonstrate that the determination of the issue on a preliminary basis is likely to contribute to savings of time and costs and a more efficient and expeditious resolution of the dispute; or
- the circumstances of the case otherwise warrant the determination of the issue on a preliminary basis.
In the event the application for preliminary determination is allowed to proceed, the tribunal shall be required to make its decision, ruling, order or award on the application within 90 days from the date of the application, unless the Registrar extends the time.
The preliminary determination mechanism may allow parties to save time and costs by dealing with threshold issues early in the proceedings, thereby potentially narrowing the issues that need to be addressed in subsequent phases of the arbitration. Moreover, the early determination of certain issues could also allow parties to reassess the costs and benefits of proceeding with the arbitral proceedings, and facilitate the amicable settlement of the dispute.
Others
Aside from the features highlighted above, the SIAC Rules 2025 also set out, amongst other things, the following new features:
- Pursuant to Rule 38 of the SIAC Rules 2025, a party is obliged to disclose the existence of any third-party funding agreement and the identity of the third-party funder. It will likely be easier for the counterparty to obtain information regarding the third-party funding arrangement as the tribunal is empowered to order the disclosure of such information (including the funder’s interest in the outcome of the proceedings and whether the funder has committed to undertake adverse costs liability) after considering the views of the parties. Significantly, the SIAC Rules 2025 also provide that the tribunal may take into account any third-party funding agreement in apportioning costs.
- The SIAC Rules 2025 envisage the possibility of parties uploading all written communications to the SIAC Gateway (i.e., SIAC’s cloud-based case management platform). This is likely to make it easier for parties and the tribunal to access the relevant case documents at any point in time, and will likely allow parties to resolve the dispute in a more cost-efficient manner.
- The SIAC Rules 2025 encourage the early settlement of disputes by inviting parties to comment on the adoption of amicable dispute resolution methods (e.g., mediation) for the settlement of all or part of the dispute when filing their Notice of Arbitration or Response to Notice of Arbitration, and by providing a cue for the tribunal to consult with parties on such issues at the first case management conference.
- The SIAC Rules 2025 also provide a cue for the tribunal to consult with parties on whether it would be appropriate to adopt environmentally sustainable procedures for the arbitration. This could potentially come in the form of relying on electronic softcopies (as opposed to the printing of physical documents) and by leveraging video-conferencing / hybrid hearings to reduce travel, particularly where parties, counsel and/or the tribunal may be located in different countries. By adopting more environmentally sustainable procedures for arbitral proceedings, parties could also potentially save on the disbursements that would otherwise have been incurred.
Conclusion
The SIAC Rules 2025 introduce various new procedures and modify existing mechanisms with a view to improving procedural efficiencies. It is important to understand how these new procedures and modifications will affect the manner in which the arbitration will be conducted, particularly given that some of these procedures / modifications set out a default position to be applied unless parties have agreed to the contrary. In the event parties wish to exclude certain procedures / mechanisms, it may also be useful to have this expressly set out in the parties’ arbitration agreement.
Please feel free to reach out to us should you require more information on the SIAC Rules 2025.
