PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
SEPTEMBER 2017
I am coming to the end of my second term as President of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators. So much has happened in these four years. I will take this opportunity to take stock.
Some of you will remember that Intellitrain took over the running of our Secretariat at the end of 2013. It did a sterling job helping us to tidy up our internal records. Actual paid-up membership at that time was estimated to be about 665. We are now more than 900 members. I am fairly confident that we will hit the 1000 mark within a year. That will surely be a milestone to remember.
SIArb hosted the Regional Arbitral Institutes Forum (RAIF) Conference for the second time in August 2014, after the Conference had made its rounds to the homes of our fellow RAIF members. It was a tremendous success, attended by 120 lawyers from more than 10 countries.
In December 2014, SIArb signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Singapore Institute of Architects and in January 2016, with the Japan Association of Arbitrators. We are forging friendships with the aim of harmonizing good practices across sectors and borders.
In September 2016, we launched the upgraded and completely redesigned SIArb website, with new features offering convenient functionalities for members. The website now carries an integrated event calendar for SIArb and relevant third party events. Members can register and pay for events online. The integrated membership management system offers a one-stop location for membership matters, including a members' area where members can access members' only resources and update their personal profiles.
Those who have been following developments on Third Party Funding regulations will know that SIArb has launched its Guidelines for Third Party Funders on 18 May 2017. We have taken on board suggestions that SIArb should offer third party funders an opportunity to declare their support for the Guidelines. Those who do will be acknowledged on the SIArb website as being a supporter of the Guidelines. I am pleased that we already have six leading Third Party Funders on board.
A second product is on the way. A SIArb Working Group has completed its draft on the SIArb Guidelines on Party-Representative Ethics. The difficulty in harmonising this area is matched by the importance of doing so, for the integrity and success of the arbitral process. There will be public consultation on the draft before it is finalized. I thank my fellow Working Group members, Mr Mohan Pillay, Mr Rian Matthews and Ms Adriana Uson for their hard work on these guidelines.
On 6 September 2017, an appreciative audience followed with interest the observations of Ms Judith Gill QC on the topic "Arbitrator Conflicts of Interest: Are the Modern Safeguards Sufficient?" The seminar was chaired by Mr Dinesh Dhillon.
The complementary topics of Arbitrator's ethics and Party-Representative's ethics will be rounded-up in a seminar on 10 October 2017. Mr Gary Born will present his lecture on Arbitrator's ethics, after which he and the SIArb Working Group will discuss issues raised in the draft SIArb Guidelines on Party-Representative Ethics.
Before our Annual General Meeting starts on 28 September 2017, we will have a pre-AGM talk by Mr Alvin Yeo, SC with his retrospective review of Singapore Arbitration from Birth to Boomtown - The Past 25 Years.
Our flagship Fellowship Assessment Course will be conducted on 27, 28 and 30 October 2017. Non-legally trained candidates are required to attend Module 1 on 19 & 20 October 2017, which covers Contract, Tort and Evidence.
Please do attend our Annual Dinner on 1 November 2017. It will be repeated at the lovely Aura Restaurant, where we had it last year. We are excited to have as our Guest-of-Honour, the former Attorney-General of Singapore, Mr VK Rajah, SC. I can promise you will enjoy this special event.
Given the packed schedules of our members, one can never have too much advance notice. The ever popular SIArb Commercial Arbitration Symposium 2017 returns for its 8th year on 16 November 2017. As usual, the hallowed Old Parliament House will provide a distinguished setting for the lively debates.
Finally, the observant among you might have noticed that the SIArb logo now sports a slogan "Asian Sensibilities, Global Standards". This reflects a theme that I touched on at the SIArb Gala Dinner in 2016. SIArb has its roots in Asia and understands Asian cultural nuances and practices. However, we have a duty to promote the best practices globally and the highest standards in international arbitration. The SIArb Council agrees that this phrase captures the defining characteristic of SIArb as a leading Asian Arbitral Institute.
Our membership now spans the entire breadth of the globe, from US, Europe, Middle East to Asia. The diversity helps to enrich our understanding of the myriad of ways in which arbitration is practised. At the same time, it encourages us to abandon parochialism in favour of harmony. After all, one of our Objectives is the improvement of the standards of skill and expertise of arbitrators and those involved in ADR. Our collective knowledge and perspectives are a formidable asset as SIArb continues to be a focal point for thought leadership in arbitration in the coming years.
It has been a real privilege to be entrusted with the helm and a joy to serve with such congenial and diligent Council members. I am also grateful to members who turn up regularly at our events, whose words of encouragement provide such comfort to the Council. I will, of course, remain a part of the SIArb, but insofar as my last column as President is concerned, "So long, and thanks for all the fish."
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
June 2017
I trust that those who attended this year's Members' Nite in April were pleased with the venue at VLV Singapore. Our Vice-President Dinesh Dhillon held court and welcomed new and existing members. The stylish and newly renovated heritage building at Clarke Quay was a perfect place to unwind and renew acquaintances
Singapore's Third Party Funding regime is now firmly in place. The Civil Law (Amendment) Act (CLA) and the Civil Law (Third-Party Funding) Regulations 2017 are supplemented by the Law Society's Guidance Note 10.1.1 on Third Party Funding, the SIAC Practice Note on Arbitrator Conduct in Cases Involving External Funding and the SIArb Guidelines for Third Party Funders which were launched on 18 May 2017. We have taken on board suggestions that SIArb should offer third party funders an opportunity to declare their support for the Guidelines. Those who do will be acknowledged on the SIArb website as being a supporter of the Guidelines. I am pleased that some leading Third Party Funders have already come on board. I thank Dinesh Dhillon, Tay Yu-Jin and Sapna Jhangiani who worked with me on the SIArb Guidelines.
In April 2017, our dedicated faculty led by Course Director Naresh Mahtani completed training another group of candidates for our International Entry Course. Our Fellowship Assessment Course will take place in October.
In May 2017, we were fortunate to have Mr Lok Vi Ming, SC share his take on Arbitration and Mediation, which he called the "Siamese Twins for Dispute Resolution". The seminar was chaired by our Treasurer, Mr Chia Ho Choon.
Looking ahead, I invite all members to mark your calendar for our Annual General Meeting on 28 September 2017 and our Annual Dinner on 1 November 2017. We still have other important and informative events lined up, such as CPD seminars delivered by leading lights and our perennial favourite, the SIArb Symposium. You will receive details on these events in due course.
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
March 2017
The Singapore Institute of Arbitrators greeted 2017 with a flurry of activities.
SIArb continues to be blessed with the generosity of leading arbitrators sharing their knowledge through the SIArb platform. In a January 2017 seminar moderated by Mr Francis Goh, Mr David Bateson and Ms Marion Smith QC teased the audience with questions on the continuing viability of arbitration in the seminar, "Is the End of the Arbitration World Coming in 2017?" I trust it is not, well at least not this year. That was followed by a stimulated "Tylney Hall-styled” session presented by Dr Michael Hwang, SC and Prof Lawrence Boo in February 2017, where the two Singapore lights exchanged views on a range of prickly arbitration issues.
SIArb is one of the key organisations working on the new Third Party Funding framework in Singapore. Legislation governing third party funding is supplemented by guidelines or practice notes issued by industry stakeholders. Thus, SIArb has released its draft Guidelines for Third Party Funders for public consultation. The Law Society is issuing its Practice Note for Practitioners and SIAC has its Practice Note for Arbitrators. A well-attended seminar on Third Party Funding to discuss the proposed best practices in March 2017 generated a lively debate and valuable feedback from the participants. I moderated the session which was led by Dinesh Dhillon on behalf of SIArb, Mr Thio Shen Yi, SC for the Law Society and Ms Delphine Ho, the Registrar of SIAC.
In March 2017, I was invited in my capacity as President of SIArb to deliver a talk to the Japan Association of Arbitrators on the training of arbitrators and the promotion of arbitration practices. The talk was followed by an enjoyable panel discussion where we exchanged Singapore and Japanese viewpoints on arbitration. The full capacity hall with very senior arbitrators in attendance demonstrates the level of interest in the subject and augurs well for the progress of arbitration in Japan.
The same month, a group of trainers led by Mr Naresh Mahtani conducted training for delegates from the Institute of Modern Arbitration in Moscow. We thank Mr Kevin Nash, Deputy Registrar of SIAC, for helping us to conduct the training. The delegates were very knowledgeable and the panel discussions following each segment were very useful.
It is very encouraging to its Council and members that SIArb is not just a training institute, but a think -tank that is consulted on law and policy. The interaction that SIArb is fostering with the wider arbitration community beyond Singapore gives it useful perspectives. We will work to share and disseminate these perspectives to our members, wherever you are based.
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
December 2016
It has been an eventful year, full of surprises and sometimes heartache. In SIArb, we take stock amidst the uncertainties and anxieties of the world, and are thankful for what we have.
SIArb celebrated its 35th Anniversary with a lovely dinner at Aura, National Gallery on 27 October 2016. The organisers of this dinner led by Mr Chia Ho Choon and assisted as usual by our secretariat, Intellitrain put together a wonderful evening for us. We thank our Guest-of-Honour, Ms Indranee Rajah, Senior Counsel, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Law & Ministry of Finance for her insights on the state of Singapore arbitration at the dinner.
I will share here some of the points that I made during my welcome address.
SIArb was founded in 1981 with 25 founder members. Its raison d'etre was the promotion of arbitration and the improvement of standards in this field. For 35 years, dedicated SIArb volunteers have selflessly devoted time and energy to educate and train arbitrators and other professionals engaged in arbitration.
In continuing this excellent tradition, we have reached out to other stakeholders, not only in Singapore but in the wider arbitration community. As many of you know, Singapore is one of the founding members of the Regional Arbitral Institutes Forum (RAIF). The RAIF Annual Conference is rotated amongst its 7 members. This year, the Resolution Institute of Australia hosted the RAIF Conference in Sydney on 25 Nov 2016, during the recent Australia Arbitration Week.
SIArb is not only playing a regional role. From 25 founder members, it now has 872 members residing in USA, UK, Middle East, Asia and Australia. Our membership comprises over 28 nationalities from East to West.
We have our roots in Singapore and we understand Asian cultural nuances and practices. However, we are not simply a domestic organization which gazes at arbitration through myopic lenses. We are answerable to our diverse membership and to all who would come to Singapore to arbitrate. We are not the gatekeeper of arbitration, but we are an integral part of the machinery that makes Singapore worthy of its reputation as an arbitral seat of choice. We do not have a slogan, but if I may indulge in one, I would say this of SIArb: "ASIAN SENSIBILITIES, GLOBAL STANDARDS".
The Honourable the Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon spoke about party-appointed arbitrators when he delivered the Herbert Smith Freehills - SMU Asian Arbitration Lecture on 24 November 2016. It sparked a spirited discussion on the policing of arbitrators.
SIArb fully agrees that ethics and standards are not peripheral aspects of international arbitration. Without these, disenchantment sets in and users will abandon the use of arbitration. International arbitration will perish, not flourish, if cynicism takes root.
This is why the first in the series of guidebooks that SIArb intends to launch is on the conduct of party representatives in arbitration. The working group for this guidebook comprises myself, our Immediate Past President Mohan Pillay, Rian Matthews and Adriana Uson from SIAC. Rian and Adriana have been doing much hard work distilling the core principles that should inform the behavior of arbitration practitioners, whichever jurisdiction they come from. We plan to circulate these draft principles for consultation and feedback in the coming months.
As mentioned by both Ms Indranee Rajah and I during the dinner, Singapore is introducing permissive legislation on Third Party Funding. The first reading of the Bill has already taken place in November 2016, with the 2nd reading expected in end January 2017. There is a need for a code of conduct for Third Party Funders too. This will be the second in the SIArb series of guidebooks. I will be working with another SIArb working group on this Code of Conduct for Third Party Funders.
Finally, I am happy to introduce to you the new Chairs of the various SIArb Committees:
Committees |
Chairs(s) |
Activities |
Ms Tan Weiyi |
Arbitration Bar |
Mr Tay Yu-Jin |
Continual Professional Development (CPD) |
Mr Francis Goh |
Education & Training |
Mr Naresh Mahtani |
External Relations |
Mr Johnny Tan |
Membership |
Mr Yang Yung Chong |
Panel Arbitrators Review |
Mr Mohan Pillay |
Publications & Website |
Mr Yeo Boon Tat |
Scheme Arbitration |
Mr Steven Lim |
I encourage all members to participate in the numerous projects and programmes of SIArb, whether as Committee members or on ad hoc basis.
No doubt, many of you have put in long hours this year. Have a good rest during the year-end holidays and see you in 2017.
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
September 2016
For some months now, SIArb has been working on updating its website, to make it not just more visually pleasing, but also more functional and user-friendly. I thank Ms Margaret Ling for driving this revision with Intellitrain. I believe they have done an outstanding job, as you will see from the website. You can now register for courses and renew your membership online. You will also find current and useful information when you visit our site. Our thanks to Intellitrain as well.
Margaret will be leaving the Council at the end of her one-year term. She has served with distinction as Chair of the Publications Committee. In her short time with us, she has refreshed the look of the Newsletter and now the SIArb website. It is too bad that she does not stay longer to work on the look of the Council members. She has decided to leave Singapore for a while in case we try to make her serve another term. We wish her the best in Pokemon hunting in a different country.
Apart from Margaret, we will be sorry to see Professor Leslie Chew, SC finishing his service with the Council to focus on his other duties. Chief among these is his important appointment as Dean of Singapore's newest law school, the UniSIM's School of Law. Leslie is a pioneer of SIArb. I am glad that he has agreed to continue to support the activities of SIArb.
Vice-President Mr Chia Ho Choon has been working quietly but indispensably in driving miscellaneous key events for SIArb. He finishes his term too and has decided to step aside for another candidate to continue his good work. Like many stalwarts, we can count on Ho Choon to still serve SIArb in other ways.
Mr Naresh Mahtani, our Honorary Secretary, completes his term as well. The present good shape of the Institute is due in large part to his work on improving our processes. Since he is a tireless young man, he has not been given permission to fade into the night.
What is encouraging is that we have more people stepping forward to serve on committees and run for Council election. This ensures that SIArb will continue to flourish with new energy and fresh ideas.
On the subject of energy and ideas, those who were fortunate enough to attend the talk "Arbitration and Mediation - Two Mutually Exclusive Worlds" on 11 August 2016 by the two leading arbitrator and mediator, Mr Lawrence Boo and Mr George Lim, SC learnt just how much more there is to the two subjects that they thought they were already familiar with. Mr Michael Hwang, SC brought a lot to his role as Chair. The considerable insights that Michael, Lawrence and George shared were supplemented by two other very experienced practitioners, Mr Hee Theng Fong and Mr Andreas Respondek.
We have our AGM this year on 1 September 2016. I look forward to chatting with many of you there. As our customary pre-AGM talk, we are fortunate to have the Registrar of SIAC, Ms Delphine Ho, speak to our members on the features of the new SIAC Rules 2016 which came into effect on 1 August 2016.
The AGM will be followed by our successful Symposium series. This year, the SIArb Commercial Arbitration Symposium will be held on 21 September 2016. The Symposium will be held as usual at the Old Parliament House. Participants of previous symposiums told us how much they enjoyed the setting. It is an appropriate venue for the kind of stimulating and spontaneous discussions which are the hallmark of this series.
Following these events, we will have our Fellowship Assessment Course in October. The course is demanding but informative. It leads to the coveted qualification for Fellowship in the Institute. I am happy to see the number of candidates increase year on year. This is an indication of the value placed on the content of our courses, the quality of our trainers and the FSIArb accreditation.
After such hard work, let's unwind and catch up at the SIArb Annual Dinner on 27 October 2016. See you soon.
01 Jul 2024 SIArb Young Practitioners Network Mentoring Programme 2024 |
29 Aug 2024 - 29 Aug 2024 03:00PM - 07:00PM A Masterclass in Mediation Advocacy |
09 Oct 2024 - 09 Oct 2024 05:30PM - 07:15PM SIArb Lecture 2024 |
18 Oct 2024 - 19 Oct 2024 08:00AM - 12:00AM [IN-PERSON] SIArb Fellowship Assessment Course 2024 |
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