Boycotting an Arbitration: Is it an option?
Singapore Court of Appeal provides guidance for non-participating respondents wishing to challenge jurisdiction
The Singapore Court of Appeal in Rakna Arakshaka Lanka Ltd v Avant Garde Maritime Services (Pte) Ltd [2019] SGCA 33 (“Rakna”) has recently ruled that a respondent to arbitration proceedings who objects to the arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction, is not required to bring a jurisdictional challenge at an early stage or participate in the arbitration. The respondent is entitled to sit out of the proceedings, and subsequently seek to set aside the arbitral award on the basis of the Tribunal’s lack of jurisdiction.
This update forms the second part of our writeup on Choice of Remedies in International Arbitration. Our first writeup, “Choice of Remedies in International Arbitration”, covered the High Court decision in Rakna and the seminal decisions of the Singapore Court of Appeal and Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal in the litigation between PT First Media TBK and Astro Nusantara International BV (“Astro v Lippo”).
