And Never the Twain Shall Meet? – Nature and Extent of Overlap Necessary for a Litigation Case Management Stay in Favour of Arbitration

While litigation and arbitration are conceptually separate dispute resolution mechanisms, the Singapore Courts are empowered to order a case management stay of court proceedings in favour of either actual or anticipated arbitration proceedings in appropriate circumstances, and particularly where there is some or considerable overlap between the litigation and arbitration proceedings. In CJY v CJZ and others [2021] 5 SLR 569, the Singapore High Court considered and expounded upon how much of an overlap is sufficient, particularly as the court proceedings involved only one party to the arbitration (and five other non-parties to the arbitration).

The Court granted the stay of court proceedings sought by the First Defendant, demonstrating that a complete overlap is not required for the grant of a case management stay. The First Defendant was successfully represented by Gregory Vijayendran SC and Devathas Satianathan of Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP.