Interpreting the Model Law: Methodology and the Singapore Experience

Abstract

This contribution examines the Court of Appeal's approach to the interpretation of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration ('Model Law'), which Singapore has incorporated into its legal order - with only a very few modifications - through the international Arbitration Act ('IAA'). Specifically, our aim is to offer a critical analysis of the court's approach to questions of law that, although within the scope of the Model Law, are not clearly answered by its provisions or by the general principles on which it is based. We propose to do this by comparing the court's interpretative approach to the approach that, in our view, should govern the interpretation of the Model Law. This comparison will provide an opportunity to assess, more broadly, the court's contribution to the legal harmonisation project pursued by UNCITRAL. We start by setting out the salient features of the interpretative approach that Singaporean courts - as well as courts from other Model Law jurisdictions - should, in our opinion, be striving for.