Singapore Court of Appeal overturns High Court's decision to remit an award made in breach of natural justice back to tribunal

Reproduced from Practical Law with the permission of the publishers. For further information visit www.practicallaw.com.

In Vietnam Oil and Gas Group v Joint Stock Company (Power Machines – ZTL, LMZ, Electrosila Energomachexport) [2025] SGCA 50, the Singapore Court of Appeal overturned the High Court's decision to remit an award made in breach of natural justice, finding that the circumstances of the case were such as to make remission inappropriate. 

The Singapore Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision to remit an award made in breach of natural justice.

The High Court had found that the tribunal breached the fair hearing rule in its chain of reasoning leading to certain findings on liability (see Legal update, Singapore High Court finds award issued in breach of natural justice and clarifies when remission of award justified). Rather than setting aside the award, the lower court remitted it back to the tribunal to address the affected issues.

On appeal, the Court of Appeal agreed that there had been a breach of natural justice but held that it was not an appropriate case for remission to the tribunal. As a starting point, the Court of Appeal held that remission should only be considered where the defect identified in the award is capable of being remedied. It highlighted the following considerations:

• Would the defect affect confidence in the tribunal's ability to afford a fair process in considering the remitted issue(s)?
• Is the breach in respect of a single isolated or stand-alone point, or central to the award, and would remission require a party to amend its pleading?
• To what extent would there be savings in time and costs if the award were to be remitted?

On the facts, the Court of Appeal held that this was not a suitable case for remission. The tribunal had ruled on an issue that it knew bore no relationship to the parties' arguments and that had not been addressed by the parties' experts. It was a serious and material defect without which the findings on liability and damages might have been different. Even if the matter were remitted for the tribunal to receive evidence on the relevant issue, the tribunal would nonetheless be at real risk of being challenged for apparent bias or prejudgment. The respondent would also have to materially change its defence for the issue to be properly heard.

This decision demonstrates that remission of an award to remedy a breach of natural justice may not always be appropriate. It provides helpful guidance that serious breaches of natural justice can place the integrity and capability of the tribunal itself in doubt, which in turn makes it less likely that remission will be an adequate remedy.

Case: Vietnam Oil and Gas Group v Joint Stock Company (Power Machines – ZTL, LMZ, Electrosila Energomachexport) [2025] SGCA 50 (10 October 2025) (Sundaresh Menon CJ)