About the project

The Singapore Academy of Law’s Law Reform Committee examined whether Singapore should adopt the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements 2005. The objective of this Convention is to promote international trade through judicial co-operation by the mutual enforcement of judgments. Its practical objective is to create an international regime for litigation to replicate that which currently exists for international commercial arbitration, to provide commercial parties with more choices for resolving cross-border disputes.

The Committee felt that while there were clear potential benefits to Singapore adopting the Convention, there were also costs involved. Ultimately, it took the view that adopting the Convention did not bring significant benefits to Singapore at least for the moment, and recommended a wait-and-see attitude.

Project status: Completed

• The report was published in March 2013.
• Singapore ratified the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements 2005 on 25 March 2015, and the Convention entered into force on 1 October 2015. Speaking in Parliament during the Second Reading of the Choice of Court Agreements Bill (Bill No 14/2016), the Senior Minister of State for Law, Indranee Rajah, said that it was beneficial for Singapore to become a party to the Convention as it would improve its position as a dispute resolution hub. It would enhance the enforceability in other jurisdictions of Singapore judgments, including judgments of the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) which had been launched on 5 January 2015 as a specialist court to hear international commercial disputes. Moreover, the ability to enforce Singapore judgments more widely would be an added incentive for parties to choose Singapore courts, including the SICC, in exclusive choice of court agreements.
• To give effect to the Convention, Parliament enacted the Choice of Court Agreements Act (No 14 of 2016; now Chapter 39A, 2017 Revised Edition) on 14 April 2016. It came into force on 1 October 2016.

Areas of law

◾ Civil procedure
◾ Conflict of laws

Click on the image above to view the report

Last updated 22 May 2019