Arbitration Act 2001

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In plain English

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This Act sets rules for running arbitrations. It covers arbitrations whose place of arbitration is Singapore, unless Part 2 of the International Arbitration Act 1994 applies to them. The Limitation Act 1959 and the Foreign Limitation Periods Act 2012 apply to arbitration as they do to court cases. For those time limits, a claim arises when it normally would, even if the arbitration agreement delays it until an award. The court may set aside an award on grounds such as fraud or conflict with public policy.

Summary · Drafted with AI, checked against the official text on 30 Sep 2026.

Part 1

Preliminary

Official textFrom Singapore Statutes Online, unchanged

s 1Short title

This Act is the Arbitration Act 2001.

s 2Interpretation

(1)

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“appellate court” means the court to which an appeal from a decision of the Court is to be made under section 29C of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969;

“appointing authority” means the appointing authority designated under section 13(8) or (9);

“arbitral tribunal” means a sole arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators or an arbitral institution, and includes an emergency arbitrator appointed pursuant to the rules of arbitration agreed to or adopted by the parties including the rules of arbitration of an institution or organisation;

“arbitration agreement” means an arbitration agreement mentioned in section 4;

“award” means a decision of the arbitral tribunal on the substance of the dispute and includes any interim, interlocutory or partial award but excludes any order or direction made under section 28;

“Court” means the General Division of the High Court;

“court”, in sections 6, 7, 8, 11(1), 55, 56 and 57, means the Court, a District Court, a Magistrate’s Court or any other court in which the proceedings mentioned in those sections are instituted or heard;

“party” means a party to an arbitration agreement or, in any case where an arbitration does not involve all of the parties to the arbitration agreement, means a party to the arbitration;

“the place of the arbitration” means the juridical seat of the arbitration designated by —

(a)

the parties to the arbitration agreement;

(b)

any arbitral or other institution or person authorised by the parties for that purpose; or

(c)

the arbitral tribunal as authorised by the parties,or determined, in the absence of such designation, having regard to the arbitration agreement and all the relevant circumstances.

(2)

Where any provision in this Act allows the parties to determine any issue, the parties may authorise a third party, including an arbitral institution, to make that determination.

(3)

Where any provision in this Act refers to the fact that the parties have agreed or that they may agree or in any other way refers to an agreement of the parties, such agreement includes any arbitration rules incorporated in that agreement.

(4)

Where any provision in this Act refers to a claim, it also applies to a cross‑claim or counterclaim, and where such provision refers to a defence, it also applies to a defence to such cross‑claim or counterclaim.

s 3Application of this Act

This Act applies to any arbitration where the place of arbitration is Singapore and where Part 2 of the International Arbitration Act 1994 does not apply to that arbitration.

Details

Arbitration Act 2001

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About this Act

Enacted: 2001
Current version: 2020 Revised Edition
Last change: 9 Mar 2025

Changes to this Act

6 changes in all

an amending law of 20192019
an amending law of 20162016
an amending law of 20122012
an amending law of 20092009
an amending law of 20052005

Judgments that cite this Act

No judgment we hold cites this Act yet.

Where this comes from

Singapore Statutes Online · Arbitration Act 2001, 2020 Revised Edition. Reader record updated on 7 Oct 2026.

Singapore legislation is Government copyright, used with the permission of the Attorney-General’s Chambers. Check Singapore Statutes Online for the latest version.

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Part 2