Applicable legislation as to the form of awards
- Must an award take any particular form?
Under Section 38(1) of the Arbitration Act (Cap. 10) (AA), or Article 31(1) of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration 1985 (the Model Law), which is given the force of law in Singapore under Section 3(1) of the International Arbitration Act (Cap. 143A) (IAA), an arbitration award must be made in writing and be signed by the arbitrator in person (in the case of a sole arbitrator) or at least the majority of the arbitrators (in the case of two or more arbitrators), provided that the reasons for any omitted signatures is stated.
The award must state the reasons on which it is based (AA, Section 38(2); Model Law, Article 31(2)). The award must also state the date of the award and place of arbitration (AA, Section 38(3); Model Law, Article 31(3)). After the award is made, a copy of the signed award must be delivered to each party (AA, Section 38(5); Model Law, Article 31(4)). The award is deemed to have been made at the place of arbitration (AA, Section 38(4)).
Applicable procedural law for recourse against an award
Applicable legislation governing recourse against an award
- Are there provisions governing modification, clarification or correction of an award? Are there provisions governing retractation or revision of an award? Under what circumstances may an award be retracted or revised (for fraud or other reasons)?
For international arbitrations and domestic arbitrations, the applicable provisions are Article 33 of the Model Law and Section 43 of the AA, respectively. The grounds under the AA are the same as those under the Model Law.
A party may request that the tribunal corrects clerical or typographical errors in the award, or that it provides an interpretation of a specific point or part of an award. The request must be made within 30 days of receipt of the award unless agreed otherwise. The tribunal will make the correction or clarification, if it considers it to be justified, within 30 days of receipt of the request.
A party may also request an additional award as to claims presented in the arbitration but omitted from the award, within 30 days of receipt of the award. The tribunal will make the additional award, if it considers it to be justified, within 60 days of receipt of the request.
The court may set aside an arbitral award on a number of grounds, including the arbitral award having been induced or affected by fraud or corruption (Model Law, Article 34(2); IAA, Section 24; AA, Section 48(1)).
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