In most countries with developed arbitration laws, the concept of partnership is typically expressed by pronouncements from the Courts that their role in acting as the supervisory court of any arbitration is to be “arbitration-friendly”. On the other hand, there still remain jurisdictions where Courts insist on reserving to themselves certain overriding powers (eg. UAE and India).
Partnership versus competition has become a topic of speculation after the announcement by the Supreme Court of Singapore of the forthcoming establishment of the Singapore International Commercial Court (“SICC”).
This lecture discussed: The implications of the SICC for arbitration in Singapore, and will compare it with the experience of a similar international court, the Dubai International Financial Centre (“DIFC”) Courts; and Impacts of a new Practice Direction for public consultation which seeks to provide a protocol for conversion of DIFC Courts judgments into arbitration awards.
Michael is a Senior Counsel of the Supreme Court of Singapore, and Chief Justice of the Dubai International Financial Centre Courts.
Michael has had a distinguished legal career, and has served as:
- Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Singapore;
- Singapore’s Non-Resident Ambassador to Switzerland;
- President of the Law Society of Singapore;
- Vice Chairman of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chambers of Commerce;
- Vice-President of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration;
- Court Member of the London Court of International Arbitration;
- Council Member of the International Council of Arbitration for Sports;
- Visiting and Adjunct Professor at the National University of Singapore; and
- Commissioner of the United Nations Compensation Commission which assessed claims against Iraq arising from the First Gulf War.
He has two law degrees from Oxford University, where he was a College Scholar, and in 2014 he was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws by the University of Sydney.