COT v COU and others and other matters 2023 SGHC 69 - 23 March 2023
Country
Year
2023
Summary
Arbitration - Award - Recourse against award - Setting aside - Jurisdiction - Validity of arbitration agreement - Whether validity of arbitration agreement depends on validity of contract; Arbitration - Award - Recourse against award - Setting aside - Whether tribunal breached natural justice by depriving party of reasonable opportunity to respond to case against it; Arbitration - Arbitral tribunal - Jurisdiction - Matters submitted to arbitration; Contract - Formation - Offer and acceptance
Introduction
Before me are three applications to set aside an arbitration award. The award is in favour of the sole claimant in the arbitration and against all three respondents in the arbitration. Because of a divergence of interests between the respondents (see [14] below), each respondent was separately represented in the arbitration and has brought its own application to set aside the award.
To avoid confusion, and also to avoid revealing the parties’ identities, I shall refer to all of the parties by their position in the arbitration and not by their position in the three applications before me or by their anonymised names in the title to these applications.
I have dismissed all three applications. Each respondent has appealed against my decision. I therefore now set out the grounds for my decision.