Singapore legislation
Section 15
Section 15
Grounds on which General Division of High Court may refuse to recognise or enforce foreign judgment
(1)
The General Division of the High Court may refuse to recognise or enforce a foreign judgment, or may set aside an order (made pursuant to an application under section 13(1)) that recognises or enforces a foreign judgment, in any of the following circumstances:
the exclusive choice of court agreement applicable to the dispute in relation to which the foreign judgment was obtained is null and void under the law of the State of the chosen court, unless the chosen court has determined that the agreement is valid;
a party to the exclusive choice of court agreement applicable to the dispute in relation to which the foreign judgment was obtained lacked the capacity, under the law of Singapore, to enter into or conclude the agreement;
the defendant in the proceedings in which the foreign judgment was obtained was notified of the document by which the proceedings were instituted or an equivalent document, including the essential elements of the claim, in a manner incompatible with the fundamental principles in Singapore concerning the service of documents;
the foreign judgment is inconsistent with a judgment given by a Singapore court in a dispute between the same parties;
the foreign judgment is inconsistent with an earlier judgment given in another State between the same parties on the same cause of action, and the earlier judgment satisfies the conditions necessary for recognition in Singapore under the law of Singapore;
any other circumstances that the Minister may prescribe by regulations made under section 22.
(2)
The General Division of the High Court may refuse to recognise or enforce a foreign judgment, may set aside an order (made pursuant to an application under section 13(1)) that recognises or enforces a foreign judgment, or may postpone the recognition or enforcement of a foreign judgment, if —
the foreign judgment is being reviewed or appealed against in the State of origin; or
the time for applying for a review of or for appealing against the foreign judgment in the State of origin has not expired.
(3)
A refusal to recognise or enforce a foreign judgment, the setting aside of an order (made pursuant to an application under section 13(1)) that recognises or enforces a foreign judgment, or a postponement of the recognition or enforcement of a foreign judgment, under subsection (2), does not preclude a subsequent application for the recognition, or recognition and enforcement, of that foreign judgment when —
the review or appeal mentioned in subsection (2)(a) has been disposed of; or
the time for applying for a review of or for appealing against the foreign judgment mentioned in subsection (2)(b) has expired.
(4)
Where —
an exclusive choice of court agreement applies to a case;
a chosen court designated in that agreement has discretion whether to transfer the case to another court in the same Contracting State, and transfers the case to the other court; and
the other court issues a foreign judgment against a party to the case who objected in a timely manner to the transfer,the General Division of the High Court may refuse to recognise or enforce that foreign judgment against that party, or may set aside an order (made pursuant to an application under section 13(1)) that recognises or enforces that foreign judgment against that party.