Introduction
On 9 December 2024, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC“) published the 7th edition of the Arbitration Rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“2025 Rules“). Key changes include:
- new procedures, namely the Streamlined Procedure, Preliminary Determination and Coordinated Proceedings;
- revisions to the Expedited Procedure and Emergency Arbitrator procedure;
- updated appointment provisions;
- incorporation of SIAC Gateway, SIAC’s online case management system; and
- provisions guiding parties to consider mediation.
SIAC also published a revised Schedule of Fees (“Revised Schedule“). The fees have generally gone up across the board, taking into account the broader range of SIAC’s administrative services. The one exception is for the new Streamlined Procedure, where SIAC’s minimum administration fee (of S$2,500) is half of the equivalent for regular cases.
Both the 2025 Rules and the Revised Schedule took effect on 1 January 2025 and apply to arbitrations commenced on or after that date.
New Mechanisms
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Key Features |
Applicability |
| Streamlined Procedure (Rule 13 and Schedule 2) |
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Applies by default where the amount in dispute is S$1 million or below before the tribunal is constituted, unless the parties agree otherwise or the President of the SIAC Court (“President“) determines otherwise.
Parties may also agree to apply the Streamlined Procedure before the tribunal is constituted. |
| Preliminary Determination (Rule 46) |
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An application may be made where:
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| Coordinated Proceedings (Rule 17) | Allows a party to request that:
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Applies where:
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Revisions to Existing Procedures
Under the 2025 Rules, the following changes to the Emergency Arbitration Procedure under Rule 12.1 and Schedule 1 will apply:
- Early appointment of Emergency Arbitrator: Applicants may now request the appointment of an Emergency Arbitrator prior to submitting a Notice of Arbitration (“Notice“). The Notice must be filed within seven days thereafter.
- Protective preliminary orders (“PPO”): Parties may obtain a PPO directing a party not to frustrate the purpose of the emergency interim or conservatory measure requested prior to notifying any counterparties of the application to appoint an Emergency Arbitrator.
- The Emergency Arbitrator must determine the request for a PPO within 24 hours of their appointment.
- Once a PPO is issued, the applicant must transmit the PPO to any counterparties within 12 hours, failing which the PPO will expire three days after the date of its issuance.
Under Rule 14 and Schedule 3, the Expedited Procedure has been revised as follows:
- Increase in amount in dispute: The Expedited Procedure will apply to disputes that do not exceed S$10 million, an increase from the previous ceiling of S$6 million.
- No hearing by default: By default, the dispute shall be decided on the basis of written submissions and documentary evidence instead of a hearing. Any hearing shall be held virtually unless the parties agree otherwise.
Other Features
Other key features of the 2025 Rules include:
- Disclosure of third-party funding: Under Rule 38, parties must disclose the existence of any third-party funding agreement, as well as the identity and contact details of the third-party funder. Such agreements may be taken into account by the tribunal when apportioning costs. For more information on Singapore’s legislative framework on third-party funding for arbitrations, please see our June 2021 Arbitration Asia article titled “Singapore Extends Scope of Permissible Third-Party Funding“.
- Administrative conferences: Under Rule 11, the Registrar of the SIAC Court (“Registrar“) may conduct administrative conferences (including via electronic communication) to discuss procedural or administrative directions the Registrar is to make, prior to the constitution of the tribunal.
- Submission of draft awards for scrutiny: Under Rule 53, within 30 days of the close of submissions, a tribunal must provide the SIAC Secretariat with a proposed estimate of when it will submit the draft award for scrutiny. The draft award must be submitted within 90 days of the close of submissions, in contrast with the current deadline of 45 days after the date that the tribunal declares the proceedings closed.
- Appointment of tribunal secretary: Under Rule 24, the tribunal may appoint a tribunal secretary after considering the views of the parties and with the approval of the Registrar. A party who wishes to challenge the appointment of a tribunal secretary may do so on the same grounds for challenging the appointment of an arbitrator. The party shall file a Notice of Challenge within seven days from the date (i) of the notice of appointment, or (ii) that the ground(s) for challenge became known or should have reasonably been known to that party.
- Integration of SIAC Gateway: The SIAC Gateway is a cloud-based case management platform that offers electronic filing, online payment, and real-time case management. The use of the SIAC Gateway is integrated into the 2025 Rules by:
- empowering the Registrar to direct parties to upload written communications to the SIAC Gateway (Rule 4.2); and
- enabling a claimant to file the Notice of Arbitration through SIAC Gateway (Rule 6.1).
- Information security measures: Under Rule 61, a tribunal may take appropriate measures (including issuing an order or award) if a party does not take necessary steps to comply with the information security measures agreed by the parties or directed by a tribunal.
- Promotion of mediation: The 2025 Rules prompt parties to consider amicable dispute resolution methods such as mediation at various stages of the arbitration, such as at the inception of the arbitration or at the first case management conference.
- Sustainability considerations: Under Rule 32.4, the tribunal may consult with the parties on the adoption of environmentally sustainable procedures for the arbitration.
Concluding Remarks
The 2025 Rules reflect SIAC’s case management experience from administering over 3,000 international arbitrations under the SIAC Rules 2016, as well as feedback from a 2023 public consultation on the draft 7th edition rules. For more information on the public consultation, in which Rajah & Tann Singapore participated, please see our September 2023 article titled “New Mechanisms, Shortened Timelines: SIAC Consults on Draft Seventh Edition of SIAC Rules“.
Overall, the 2025 Rules provide for new mechanisms to streamline arbitrations, incorporate technological improvements such as the SIAC Gateway, and modernise the SIAC Rules by considering information security measures and environmental sustainability.
This article was drafted by Avinash Pradhan, Devathas Satianathan, Divyesh Menon. A PDF version is available here.
Avinash Pradhan
Devathas Satianathan
