CMJ v CML: Setting Aside SIAC Arbitration Award for Alleged Breach of Natural Justice

In CMJ and CMK v CML and CMM, the Singapore International Commercial Court dismissed the plaintiffs' (CMJ and CMK) originating summons seeking to set aside a Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) award. The court, presided over by Simon Thorley IJ, found no breach of natural justice in the arbitration proceedings. The underlying dispute arose from a petroleum contract, with CMJ claiming breaches of contract, agency duties, and good faith by CML, while CML counterclaimed for damages. The Tribunal dismissed CMJ's claims and upheld CML's counterclaim to a limited extent. The court ordered CMJ to pay costs to CML.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

Singapore International Commercial Court

1.2 Outcome

Originating Summons dismissed with costs.

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Judgment

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Singapore court dismisses CMJ's application to set aside an arbitration award, finding no breach of natural justice in the proceedings. The dispute concerns alleged breaches of contract and duties related to petroleum exploration.

1.7 Decision Date

29 December 2021

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
CMJ	Plaintiff	Other	Claim Dismissed	Lost	Giam Chin Toon, Lee Wei Yuen Arvin, Lyssetta Teo Li Lin, Tay Ting Xun Leon, Wan Hui Ting, Monique
CMK	Plaintiff	Other	Claim Dismissed	Lost	Giam Chin Toon, Lee Wei Yuen Arvin, Lyssetta Teo Li Lin, Tay Ting Xun Leon, Wan Hui Ting, Monique
CML	Defendant	Other	Judgment for Defendant	Won	Cavinder Bull, Foo Yuet Min, Tay Hong Zhi, Gerald, Kellyn Lee Miao Qian, Aw Wei Jie Daryn Emmanuel
CMM	Defendant	Other	Judgment for Defendant	Won	Cavinder Bull, Foo Yuet Min, Tay Hong Zhi, Gerald, Kellyn Lee Miao Qian, Aw Wei Jie Daryn Emmanuel

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Simon Thorley	International Judge	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Giam Chin Toon	Wee Swee Teow LLP
Lee Wei Yuen Arvin	Wee Swee Teow LLP
Lyssetta Teo Li Lin	Wee Swee Teow LLP
Tay Ting Xun Leon	Wee Swee Teow LLP
Wan Hui Ting, Monique	Wee Swee Teow LLP
Cavinder Bull	Drew & Napier LLC
Foo Yuet Min	Drew & Napier LLC
Tay Hong Zhi, Gerald	Drew & Napier LLC
Kellyn Lee Miao Qian	Drew & Napier LLC
Aw Wei Jie Daryn Emmanuel	Drew & Napier LLC

4. Facts

The plaintiffs sought to set aside an arbitration award.
The arbitration arose from a dispute relating to a petroleum contract.
The plaintiffs claimed breaches of contract, agency duties, and good faith.
The defendants counterclaimed for damages for the plaintiffs’ alleged breaches.
The Tribunal dismissed all of the plaintiffs’ claims but upheld the defendants’ counterclaim to a limited extent.
The plaintiffs alleged breaches of natural justice in the arbitration proceedings.
The Tribunal declined to admit a witness statement from Mr. C.

5. Formal Citations

CMJ and another v CML and another, Originating Summons No 8 of 2021, [2021] SGHC(I) 20

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2005-03-24	Petroleum contract entered into
2016-06-06	Arbitration commenced
2017-04-24	Claimant’s Statement of Claim
2017-10-16	Respondent’s Statement of Defence
2018-03-26	Claimant’s Statement of Reply
2018-06-01	Procedural Order No 1 was amended
2018-06-18	Respondent’s Statement of Rejoinder
2018-07-23	Experts of like disciplines to meet on without prejudice basis and produce joint report
2018-08-03	Pre-hearing procedural conference and notification of factual and expert witnesses
2018-09-10	Evidentiary hearing
2018-09-17	Evidentiary hearing
2020-09-09	OS was filed in the High Court
2020-06-11	Award dated
2021-04-13	Transferred to the Singapore International Commercial Court
2021-11-01	Oral hearing
2021-12-30	Judgment reserved

7. Legal Issues

Breach of Natural Justice
- Outcome: The court found no breach of natural justice.
- Category: Procedural
- Sub-Issues:
  - Denial of opportunity to present case
  - Failure to admit witness statements
  - Restriction on expert evidence
Duty to Drill for Additional Gas
- Outcome: The court found that the Tribunal had properly addressed the issue of the duty to drill for additional gas.
- Category: Substantive

8. Remedies Sought

Setting aside of arbitration award
Declarations
Damages

9. Cause of Actions

Breach of Contract
Breach of Agency Duties
Breach of Good Faith

10. Practice Areas

Arbitration
Commercial Litigation

11. Industries

Petroleum

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Soh Beng Tee & Co Pte Ltd v Fairmount Development Pte Ltd	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2007] 3 SLR(R) 86	Singapore	Summarized the general principles for setting aside an award on the basis of a breach of natural justice.
LW Infrastructure Pte Ltd v Lim Chin San Contractors Pte Ltd	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2013] 1 SLR 125	Singapore	Considered the aspect of prejudice in relation to a breach of natural justice.
China Machine New Energy Corp v Jaguar Energy Guatemala LLC and another	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2020] 1 SLR 695	Singapore	Summarized the applicable principles on the setting aside of an arbitral award for breach of natural justice.
TMM Division Maritima SA de CV v Pacific Richfield Marine Pte Ltd	High Court	Yes	[2013] 4 SLR 972	Singapore	Discussed the extent of an arbitral tribunal’s obligation to deal with every argument.
AKN and another v ALC and others and other appeals	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2015] 3 SLR 488	Singapore	Addressed the question of whether the Tribunal has, in fact, failed to consider an essential issue

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
International Arbitration Act 1994 (Cap 143A, 2002 Rev Ed)	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Arbitration
Natural Justice
Petroleum Contract
SIAC Award
UNCITRAL Rules
Joint Expert Report
Duty to Drill
Breach of Contract
People’s Republic of China law

15.2 Keywords

arbitration
natural justice
contract
petroleum
Singapore

16. Subjects

Arbitration
Contract Law
Civil Procedure

17. Areas of Law

Arbitration Law
Contract Law
Civil Procedure