A sign of how important Singapore has become as a centre of international commercial arbitration is the increasing number of works being published on the arbitration rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, and, as in the case of this book, Singapore’s arbitration legislation and related materials.  The quality of those works, and of the legal practitioners in Singapore who have produced them, is one testament to why Singapore has, and deserves, that status.  That is certainly the case with Timothy Cooke’s excellent new book International Arbitration in Singapore: Legislation and Materials (Sweet & Maxwell, 2018).  It is a super-useful compendium and commentary which deserves a place on the shelf of any practitioner who sits as an arbitrator, or acts as counsel, in Singapore-seated arbitrations, and especially for those in the international arbitration community for whom Singapore is not their home jurisdiction.

The format of the work is not a novel one: rather, it uses a tried and tested formula, but executed, in this case, by Mr Cooke with the greatest skill and learning. The core of the work is Part I which contains, in Chapter 1, the text of Singapore’s International Arbitration Act (CAP 143A), together with the author’s insightful commentary, section by section.  Chapter 2 of Part 1 contains excerpts from Order 69A of Singapore’s Rules of Court, dealing with arbitration-related applications, again with the author’s commentary.  The remainder of the book is taken up with Part II (containing the text of other pertinent legislation, including, most importantly, the recent amendments to the Civil Law Act (CAP 43) and the Legal Profession Act (CAP 161), with supporting delegated legislation and other background materials, which paved the way for third-party funding in arbitrations in Singapore), and Part III (a well-chosen selection of materials—earlier arbitration statutes, excerpts from Parliamentary debates, and law reform reports—of great use in gaining a better insight into Singapore’s approach to arbitration policy).

The varied materials in Parts II and III will clearly be of great use to practitioners, and Mr Cooke is to be congratulated on the care and dedication involved in assembling them, and on their presentation in such a user-friendly way.  For this reader, however, the jewel in the crown is the commentary, in the first two hundred and twenty-odd pages, on the International Arbitration Act itself. The commentary is learned, succinct, and absolutely to the point, with copious references to Singaporean authorities relevant to the points under discussion.  The sections dealing with the circumstances in which the Singapore court may set aside an arbitration award under section 24 of the Act, and will refuse enforcement of a foreign award under section 31 of the Act, give particularly crisp overviews of the applicable principles involved in what can be thorny areas. Throughout, however, the commentary is just what a reader wants to pick up, quickly, a clear understanding of the provisions of the Act, and the context to them.  The work offers eBook functionality, too, through Thomson Reuters’ ProView platform. 

In the preface to this book, the author confesses to his work having started out as the transcript of hand-written annotations, cross-references and case notes on his well-thumbed copy of the International Arbitration Act.  It is very much to be hoped that Mr Cooke continues to annotate away busily so that we can look forward to further editions of this excellent book in due course.

By Stephen Moriarty QC, Fountain Court Chambers, London