Commercial conflict of laws is a significant area of legal scholarship and practice. The chief aim of the course is to examine the foundational principles of commercial conflict of laws in Singapore. First, it identifies and assesses the set of rules based on which Singapore courts decide whether to entertain international commercial disputes. Second, the unit outlines the provisions based on which Singapore courts determine the law governing the parties’ cross-border disputes. Finally, the unit outlines the rules according to which courts in Singapore give effect to foreign judgments.

This course will focus in detail on the instances in which resort to conflict of laws is necessary in the international arbitration context. The objective of this course is to allow participants to realise on how many occasions both State courts and arbitrators will need to report a conflict of laws analysis despite the claim that conflict of laws issues are not relevant in the international commercial arbitration context. Participants will first be taught to identify what conflict of laws rules may apply and will then be given hypothetical cases and will be asked to critically examine whether a solution can be found that does not require a conflict of laws approach.

This course considers the way that international adjudicators approach fact-finding and factual determinations. The course analyses essential policy questions as to the way legal systems should deal with evidence; considers comparative law perspectives; and aims to integrate these perspectives with practical consideration of the way documents and witnesses are dealt with in international arbitration.

There is no greater divergence between legal families than that pertaining to the treatment of evidence. For international adjudication to meet the needs of participants from all legal families, a proper understanding of comparative approaches and the degree of convergence, is essential to arbitrators and practitioners.

The course will cover the following issues:

• Who are the parties to the contract(s) or to the arbitration clause(s) contained therein? The theories applied by courts and arbitral tribunals.
• The extension of the arbitration clause to non-signatories: individuals, states or other companies of the group.
• The possibility of bringing together in one single proceeding all the parties who have participated in the performance of one economic transaction through interrelated contracts.
• Joinder of parties and joinder of claims: voluntary and compelled intervention of third parties, cross-claims and consolidation.
• Appointment of arbitrators in multiparty arbitration cases.
• Specific issues relating to the enforcement of an award in multiparty, multicontract cases.
• The res judicata effect of an award rendered in a connected arbitration arising from the same project.

This course introduces international arbitration's role in resolving energy disputes. Seminars will address both commercial and investment arbitration. The substantive content of national and international energy laws will be discussed together with the procedural specificities of energy disputes. The course will explore the political aspects of energy disputes, both domestic (resource sovereignty) and international (inter-state boundary disputes).

Participants will study the recent debates on the role of international arbitration vis-à-vis climate change and sustainable development.

The course incorporates practical exercises that will help participants interested in a career in international arbitration and public international law.

This course introduces students to the exciting world of intellectual property arbitration. Traditionally thought of and taught as distinct areas of law, the overlap between IP rights and recourse to arbitration for the protection of those rights has grown significantly in recent years. This pioneering course is not currently offered in any other leading law school in the world. It is designed for students with little to no knowledge of IP law. It is also designed for students with an interest in arbitration, regardless of the level of their pre-existing knowledge of arbitration.

Arbitral institutions are important stakeholders in the field of international arbitration, but the nature and importance of their role have often been overlooked. The course seeks to introduce participants to the role and function of arbitral institutions in guiding and shaping the practice and development of international arbitration, and to the complex issues that arbitral institutions face in the administration of arbitrations, including, among others, the appointment of arbitrators and the issuance of arbitral rules and practice notes. The course will be taught by visiting lecturers from the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) and other leading arbitration practitioners.

Diplomats and their legal advisers play a key role in developing the legal framework for resolving international disputes. This course will consider international dispute resolution systemically from the government negotiator’s perspective, employing case studies and group exercises to simulate such work. The course seeks to (1) understand and critically appraise key dispute-resolution tools in the diplomat’s toolbox, (2) evaluate States’ legal and policy choices more systematically, to better inform current decision making and reform options, and (3) provide useful insights for practitioners, revealing how private and public clients use or influence the development and application of these tools.