Inaugural SiArb National Arbitration Conference 2013

08:30	Registrations & Refreshments
08:45	Arrival of Guest-Of-Honour Ms. Indranee Rajah Senior Minister of State \| Ministry of Law and Ministry of Education
09:00 – 9:10	Opening Address by SIArb President Mr. Mohan Pillay Managing Partner \| MPillay; Joint Head of Office \| Pinsent Masons MPillay LLP
09:10 – 9:55	Keynote Address: Ms. Indranee Rajah Senior Minister of State \| Ministry of Law and Ministry of Education
09:55 - 10:30	Coffee Break / Networking
ARBITRATION AS SEEN FROM THE END-USERS’ PERSPECTIVE
	In this session, the end users’ perception and experience of arbitration will be explored. The panel will share key topics at the heart of end-users’ concerns: The costs of arbitration, Conduct of arbitration, Issues and management of experts.
10:30 – 10:45	Ms. Audrey Perez Head of Dept QSE & Maintenance \| Dragages Singapore Pte Ltd
10:45 – 11:00	Mr. Peter Lalas Principal Façade Engineer \| Janus Facades Pty Ltd
11:00 – 11:15	Mr. Ho Chien Mien Partner \| Allen & Gledhill LLP
11:15 – 11:30	Mr. Raymond Chan Partner \| Chan Neo LLP
11:30 – 12:00	Questions and Answers
12:00 – 13:30	Lunch / Networking
CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ARBITRATION LAW
13:30 – 14:00	Multiplicity of Proceedings and Third Party Issues in Arbitration This topic is one of the most challenging and arguably important contemporary areas of international arbitration. To what extent would arbitration agreements, arbitration proceedings and arbitration awards impact third parties? Globalisation has brought about an unprecedented level of sophistication in modern commercial transactions, resulting in less and less cross-border transactions being purely bilateral. It is increasingly common nowadays for multiple parties and multiple contracts to be involved in the implementation of a transaction, e.g. a construction project or a project finance arrangement. These contracts however may not always provide for arbitration, which typically only binds parties to the arbitration agreement. The talk will examine this topic as well as the current approach of the Singapore and Commonwealth courts, with reference inter alia to cases like Yeo Hong Pte Ltd v Tan Chye Hee Andrew (Ho Bee Development Pte Ltd, third party) [2005] 4 SLR(R) 398 as well as Car & Cars Pte Ltd v Volkswagen AG and another [2010] 1 SLR 625. Mr. Andre Yeap SC Senior Partner \| Rajah & Tann LLP
14:00 – 15:00	Costs & Ethics in Arbitration This topic will address: • Cost concerns in arbitration • Is there a public interest in checking the explosion of costs? • The role of tribunals, parties, and counsel in controlling costs • Best practices in assessing and fixing costs • Developing greater transparency and accountability in costs • The role of SiArb • The role of Singapore and Asian arbitrators as practitioners in thought leadership and as drivers of international arbitration developments. Mr. Steven Lim Managing Director \| Clasis LLC Mr. Francis Goh Partner \| Harry Elias Partnership LLP
15:00 – 15:15	Questions and Answers
15:15 – 16:00	Coffee Break/Networking
THE COURT’S ROLE IN SUPPORT OF ARBITRATION
16:00 - 16:25	Role of Courts in Supporting Arbitration Justice Quentin Loh Judge \| Supreme Court, Singapore
16:25 – 16:50	Role of Courts – as seen from the Tribunal’s perspective Most arbitrators expect minimal intervention and maximum support from domestic courts. What is ‘intervention’ and what ought to be properly construed as “support” may not always be clear and may even be different when seen from different perspectives. Should arbitrators be influenced by pre-arbitration court decisions arising from the same subject matter? Could res judicata or issue estoppel be raised if a court referring parties to arbitration made findings on the existence of the arbitration agreement or that a person is a party thereto? The answers to such questions may vary with courts of the seat of arbitration and courts from non-seat jurisdictions. Prof. Lawrence Boo Head \| The Arbitration Chambers
16:50 – 17:15	The Court’s Role in Support of Arbitration - What Do the Parties Want? While Singapore Courts have generally shown a great degree of judicial deference to the autonomy of arbitration, in limiting the extent of their intervention, the Honourable Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon (then Attorney-General of Singapore), at the Opening Plenary Session of the ICCA Conference in Singapore in June 2012, commented that recent international developments suggest a return to greater judicial oversight of arbitration. Has there been a change in the attitude of the Singapore Courts in light of those developments? When should the parties be turning to the Courts in respect of their arbitration proceedings? What is the balance that should be struck between ensuring arbitral finality and the need to protect parties against flawed arbitrations? Mr. Alvin Yeo SC Senior Partner \| WongPartnership LLP
17:15 – 17:30	Questions and Answers
17:30 – 17:45	Closing Remarks by Organising Committee Chairperson