Natural justice and infra petita challenges: Recent case law and potential law reform in Singapore

In a trilogy of recent decisions, the Singapore Court of Appeal provides timely and instructive guidance on natural justice and infra petita challenges in the arbitration context. The cases Palm Grove Beach Hotels v Hilton, DJP v DJO, and DKT v DKU highlight the Singapore courts’ approach to safeguarding the integrity of arbitral proceedings while maintaining a high threshold for judicial intervention.

Why did only one of the three challenges succeed? Whereas the unsuccessful applications sought to re-litigate the merits under the guise of natural justice, the successful one exposed a fundamental procedural flaw that compromised the fairness of the process.

The article outlines each case and distills key takeaways, including a new four-step framework for infra petita challenges and reflections on Singapore’s ongoing arbitration law reform.

Read full article here.