Debate - This house believes that the opening of the SICC poses a threat to the continued success of SIAC.
Program
8.30: Registration and welcome coffee
9.00: Chairs’ opening remarks
9.10: Session one: The key developments you need to know about
Alvin Yeo SC will lead a panel of stellar names in a lively discussion of the key developments in Singapore and regionally since GAR Live last visited in 2011.
Topics the panel are expected to discuss include:
- Third party funding
- Gas price disputes and their arrival in Asia
- Financial arbitrations – use of arbitration in complex financial disputes
- Magpie cases – hosted at one centre, using another centre’s rules
- Past, present and future of shipping and admiralty disputes
Moderator: Alvin Yeo SC, WongPartnership
Panel:
Jelita Pandjaitan, Linklaters
Nish Shetty, Clifford Chance
Dinesh Dhillon, Allen & Gledhill
10.40: Coffee break
11.00: Session two: Astro vs. Lippo and its progeny – are the Singaporean courts getting it right?
The courts of Singapore have long been regarded as non-interventionist and pro-arbitration. But recent decisions, notably in the Astro vs. Lippo and Sanum vs. Laos cases, have sparked debate about the courts’ willingness to reopen arbitrators’ decisions, particularly on jurisdictional issues. Some say a more recent decision by Chief Justice Menon in the AKN vs. ALC case should help allay those fears but questions remain about Singapore’s reputation as a safe seat.
A panel of leading practitioners will consider whether Singapore’s courts are taking the right approach to set-aside and enforcement. Among other things, they’ll ask:
- Is Singapore’s “de novo” standard of review for jurisdictional issues consistent with international practice?
- Should the courts be more deferential when an investment treaty is involved?
- Should we be worried about contrasting outcomes in the Hong Kong courts (where the Astro award was enforced in full)?
Moderator: Alvin Yeo SC, WongPartnership
Panel:
Edmund Kronenburg, Braddell Brothers
Loretta Malintoppi, Eversheds
Cavinder Bull SC, Drew & Napier
Bernard Hanotiau, Hanotiau & van den Berg
12.30: Networking lunch
14.00: Session three: India – how far has it come?
What has improved? And what remains to be done?
Moderator: Lucy Reed, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Panel:
Justice A. P. Shah, Chairman, 20th Law Commission of India
Sheila Ahuja, Allen & Overy
Amanda Lees, Simmons & Simmons
Shreyas Jayashima, Aarna Law
15.30: Coffee break
16.00: Session four: The GAR Live Debate
An Oxford Union-style debate, before a panel of three judges.
Motion: “This house believes that the opening of the SICC poses a threat to the continued success of SIAC”
Moderator: Lucy Reed, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Debaters:
Sapna Jhangiani, Clyde & Co
Alastair Henderson, Herbert Smith Freehills
Raja Bose, K&L Gates
Christopher Tahbaz, Debevoise & Plimpton
Judges:
Rashda Rana SC, 39 Essex Chambers
Two further judges to be announced
17.30: Chairs’ closing remarks
17.45 onwards: All delegates are invited to attend a cocktail reception kindly hosted by Clyde & Co at The China Club