Abstract:
The Singapore International Arbitration Centre released its new arbitration rules in July 2010. These new rules contain an innovative provision for an “Emergency Arbitrator” to hear applications for interim relief made in the time before the tribunal is constituted. Certain features of the Emergency Arbitrator may cast doubt over its legal status, and the legal effect of its orders. Also unresolved is the nature of the legal relationship between the Emergency Arbitrator and the eventual tribunal. In this article, the authors postulate that the Emergency Arbitrator and the eventual tribunal are part of the same arbitral tribunal within the meaning of the International Arbitration Act (Cap 143A, 2002 Rev Ed), and that the orders of the Emergency Arbitrator are legally enforceable under that statute.