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The Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) has just launched the 7th Edition of its Arbitration Rules, which will come into force on 1 January 2025 (the “2025 Rules”). The 2025 Rules are the product of an extensive consultation process, where user feedback was gathered on the previous rules (the “2016 Rules”) and a set of draft rules - see our earlier blogpost on that consultation here. The proposals from the draft rules have largely been adopted in the final version of the 2025 Rules.
We summarise a few of the key themes and procedural innovations under the 2025 Rules.
More routes to accelerated proceedings
The 2025 Rules introduce a new “Streamlined Procedure” (Rule 13, Schedule 2) where the proceedings are heard by a sole arbitrator and must conclude within 3 months of the Tribunal’s constitution. The procedure applies to disputes valued at SGD 1 million or less (albeit with leeway for the SIAC President to decide that it should not apply in any particular case), and parties can also choose to apply it by consent (or, conversely, opt out of it altogether). The 3-month timeline is one of the shortest available under the leading arbitral rules. For disputes exceeding SGD 1 million, the 2025 Rules separately retain the previous provisions for a 6-month Expedited Procedure (Rule 14, Schedule 3), but the default upper-value threshold for this procedure has been increased from SGD 6 million to SGD 10 million, and its application has been widened from cases of “exceptional urgency” under the 2016 Rules, to where “the circumstances of the case warrant” its application. This is likely to increase the scope for application of the Expedited Procedure.
The existing procedure for Emergency Arbitration (Rule 12.1 and Schedule 1) has also been enhanced. Applications for Emergency Arbitration previously had to be filed together with or after a Notice of Arbitration was filed, but can now be sought ahead of filing a Notice of Arbitration. This is likely to significantly expedite the process of seeking emergency relief and reduce the legal costs involved. Parties can also now obtain protective preliminary orders within the Emergency Procedure on an ex parte basis. This was previously not possible as the counterparty would have been served with the Notice of Arbitration and the application for Emergency Arbitration.
Procedural innovations to increase efficiency
A number of provisions have been introduced which enhance the Tribunal’s ability to streamline the conduct of proceedings. To highlight a few of these:
Formalising requirements for funded cases (Rule 38): A significant change is the introduction of formal requirements for cases involving third party funding. Parties are required to disclose the existence of any third-party funding agreement and the funders’ identity and contact details in their Notice of Response or as soon as practicable. Tribunals may also order Parties to disclose funding details, and can take the existence of funding into account when apportioning costs. However, the disclosure and existence of a third-party funding agreement on its own is not to be taken as an indication of the financial status of a party. These provisions reflect the guidance on third party funding that was previously stated in the SIAC’s Practice Note on Cases Involving External Funding. This is welcome given the increased use of arbitration funding, and the gradual liberation of litigation and arbitration funding regimes in these jurisdictions.
Publication of awards (Rule 60)
Rule 60.1 provides that SIAC, with the agreement in writing of all parties, may publish a redacted decision, ruling, order, or award of a Tribunal. This differs from the position in its consultation draft (which proposed a form of deemed consent) and largely maintains the position in the 2016 SIAC Rules (except now with a requirement of written consent, but without the need for the tribunal to consent).
Welcome changes?
The 2025 Rules are welcome largely for the increased menu of options and flexibility they provide to arbitrating parties and Tribunals. A number of other arbitral institutions have also amended their rules in 2024, including the HKIAC, SHIAC and NAI. The SIAC reports on its case statistics annually, including the numbers of cases where specific procedural mechanisms have been used (such as Expedited Procedures, Emergency Arbitration, Early Dismissal, Joinder, and Consolidation), and it will be interesting to observe how well-utilised the mechanisms under the new Rules will be at the end of 2025.
Click here to access the 2025 Rules.