Rajah & Tann Singapore, member firm of Rajah & Tann Asia, successfully represented our client in resisting an appeal seeking the Singapore Court’s intervention to challenge a decision made by the Registrar of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.
In DMZ v DNA [2025] SGCA 52, the Court of Appeal confirmed that:
- Reaffirming the principle of minimal curial intervention under the UNCITRAL Model Law (in particular Article 5), courts do not intervene in ongoing arbitrations unless expressly permitted by the Model Law or the relevant legislation.
- A two-step inquiry applies to Article 5 of the UNCITRAL Model Law – first, whether the application for the court’s intervention concerns a “matter” governed by the Model Law ; and second, whether the intervention is expressly permitted by the Model Law or other relevant legislation.
- The contractual waiver pursuant to Rule 40.2 of the SIAC Rules 2016 is enforceable and is not an impermissible ouster of jurisdiction.
Reinforcing Singapore’s strong pro-arbitration stance, the appeal was dismissed and our team succeeded in obtaining indemnity costs against the appellant.
The respondent was successfully represented by a cross-disciplinary team from Rajah & Tann Singapore, namely our Shipping & International Trade partners Ting Yong Hong, Wu Junneng and Nathanael Lin with support from Restructuring & Insolvency Deputy Head Chua Beng Chye.
