Provisional “orders or directions” under section 12 of the International Arbitration Act 1994 (IAA) are not susceptible to being set aside under section 24 of the IAA or article 34(1) of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration. Final “awards”, on the other hand, are. But what if the “orders or directions” in question are contained in a document described as an “award”?
The General Division of the High Court of Singapore (Court) has, in no uncertain terms, affirmed that the characterisation of an arbitral tribunal’s decision as an “award” or an “order or direction” is a matter of substance, not form: DLS v DLT [2025] SGHC 61. In this case, the Court held that an order for interim payment of damages prior to a final assessment was not susceptible to being set aside despite having been made in a document labelled a “First Partial Award”.
Our Deputy Managing Partner Chou Sean Yu, Partner Frank Oh, Senior Associate Daryl Wong and Associate Neela Alagusundaram acted for the defendant in successfully resisting the claimant’s setting-aside application.
This update takes a look at the Court’s decision.
If you would like information and/or assistance on the above or any other area of law, you may wish to contact the Partner at WongPartnership whom you normally work with or any of the following Partners:
CHOU Sean Yu
Deputy Managing Partner
Head – Litigation & Dispute Resolution
d +65 6416 8133
e seanyu.chou@wongpartnership.com
Click here to view Sean's CV.
Frank OH Sheng Loong
Partner – Banking & Financial Disputes
d +65 6517 3795
e shengloong.oh@wongpartnership.com
Click here to view Frank's CV.