ABSTRACT
This note examines the recent decision of the Singapore High Court in Hai Jiang 1401 Pte Ltd v Singapore Technologies Marine Ltd [2020] SGHC 20, in which the Singapore courts for the first time expanded the category of the traditional Angelic Grace ant-suit injunction based on breach of an exclusive forum clause, in order to allow a non-party injunction applicant to enforce an arbitration agreement against a respondent asserting rights under the contract containing that arbitration agreement in foreign proceedings.
The note provides a critical analysis of this judgment and, more generally, the trend in the UK, Hong Kong, and now Singapore, towards expanding anti-suit injunctions based on breach of exclusive forum agreements to bind non-parties on a ‘quasi-contractual’ or ‘almost contractual’ basis.
It is argued that this extension is unnecessary and unhelpful, artificially strains the boundaries of contract law, and blurs the traditional distinction between anti-suit injunctions based on contractual and non-contractual grounds. If there is no binding forum agreement between the parties, the focus ought to be firmly on whether the foreign proceedings are vexatious and oppressive. Where this is not clearly the case, it ought to raise a red flag that judicial self-restraint is indicated, out of respect for comity.
Myburgh, Paul, Non-Parties, Forum Agreements and Expanding Anti-Suit Injunctions (August 8, 2020). [2020] Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly 345-353.
First posted 2020-09-10 04:48:34
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