INTRODUCTION -

The sixth edition of the Arbitration Rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) comes into force today, August 1, 2016 (the “SIAC Rules 2016” or the “Rules”).2 The Rules were published in July and are the result of a two-month public consultation process headed by the SIAC Secretariat and Rules Revision Committee that considered nearly 1,000 public comments received from parties all over the world. Adopted just three years after the fifth edition, the revised Rules incorporate a number of changes that bring the SIAC in line with the procedures of other leading arbitral institutions. In addition, the revised Rules make one significant and innovative change by introducing a procedure for early dismissal of claims and defences where the claim or defence is “manifestly without legal merit” or “manifestly outside the jurisdiction of the tribunal.”

It is imperative that companies that have adopted arbitration clauses providing for SIAC arbitration or that are considering providing for SIAC arbitration in future familiarize themselves with the changes introduced by the SIAC Rules 2016, which are detailed below.