A RECENT foreign-related arbitration award issued by the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA) gained recognition and enforcement by the Singapore High Court in accordance with the U.N. Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the New York Convention).

In this particular case, the Singapore High Court rejected respondent Zhong Sihui’s plea to deny enforcement based on alleged insufficient notice of the arbitration proceedings. Additionally, the court validated the SCIA’s cross-border electronic service through SMS (Short Messaging Service).

The original dispute involved a foreign-related loan contract overseen by the SCIA, which involved multiple respondents including Singaporean citizen Zhong Sihui.

Throughout the arbitration process, the SCIA served arbitration documents to all respondents via multiple methods, such as EMS mail, email, and SMS, using the contact information provided by the claimant.

While the other respondents appointed legal agents to represent them in the proceedings, Zhong remained unresponsive and absent at the hearing. Consequently, the arbitration tribunal issued a default judgement under the law and the SCIA’s arbitration rules, ruling that Zhong and another respondent were jointly liable as co-borrowers and the remaining respondents were jointly liable as guarantors.

After the award was issued, Zhong failed to comply with the repayment terms, prompting the claimant to seek recognition and enforcement of the arbitration award in the Singapore High Court under the New York Convention.

In the enforcement case, Zhong argued that he had not received any arbitration notice and claimed that the mobile phone number used for SMS service did not belong to him. He stated that although the number was indeed in Singapore, the phone was primarily used by his children and domestic helpers, and he was not aware of any messages on it. He thus requested that the arbitration award not be enforced.

The Singapore court, after reviewing the case and considering the SCIA’s arbitration rules regarding service and the service records, affirmed the validity of the SCIA’s service via SMS to Zhong. Consequently, the Singapore court rejected his request to block enforcement. (Liu Yangyang)