Welcome to the new series on international arbitration. In this first instalment, let’s reflect on the growth and development of Singapore’s arbitration industry.

 

Remembering the words of Lord Donaldson, it was said that ‘arbitrators and judges are in the business of dispensing justice; the judge in the public sector, the arbitrator in the private sector’, aptly called “the privatisation of justice”. While the concept of arbitration is very old, the present framework of a formal regulation dates back more than a hundred years in England. In the last three decades, it has transfigured from a meagre form of alternative dispute resolution into an integral route for international business dispute resolution, forced by globalisation and rapid growth of international trade.

 

Since 1990, there has been much development locally. The first formal initiative was the Attorney-General’s formation of a committee in 1991 to examine the existing arbitration laws, followed by the Law Reform Committee’s Sub-Committee review of the laws in 1993. Next, Singapore’s Economic Development Board introduced several initiatives arising from the business development exercise it undertook.

 

In terms of legal infrastructure, Singapore enacted the International Arbitration Act in 1995 and a ‘domestic’ Arbitration Act in 2001. The latter is a combination of the UNCITRAL Model Law and English Arbitration Act of 1996. Instead of a wholesale adoption of an English Statute, it combines with an international convention statute, but has also stayed internationally competitive.

 

While we have not sent anyone to space, our law undergraduates have certainly clinched prizes at the “Willem C. Vis” international arbitration moot competition year after year.

 

Arbitration in Singapore is incomplete without mentioning the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, established in 1991. Much credit for its success goes to its Deputy Chairman, Lawrence Boo. Today, SIAC speaks the language of “Singapore Inc” to go global and internationalise. In 2004, SIAC established collaboration with the Indian Construction Industry Development Council and in 2006, a cooperation with the International Centre for Dispute Resolution.

 

Singapore is also opening up to the international arbitration arena. Important names such as the ICC International Court of Arbitration and the Permanent Court of Arbitration have been associated with Singapore recently. Additionally, by 2009, a dedicated and integrated arbitration complex will house all international arbitral centres in a conducive and neutral setting. In the next issue, I will discuss the attractive incentives dished out by the Government for the sector, as well as look at what the next 20 years hold for the industry.