Singapore—set side-breach of natural justice; remission of awards (PVN v PM)
Arbitration analysis: In Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) v Joint Stock Company (Power Machines-ZTL, LMZ, Electrosila Energomachexport) [2025] SGCA 50, the Singapore Court of Appeal set aside an arbitral award for breach of the fair hearing rule, after a tribunal introduced a reasoning (that a second termination notice replaced an earlier one) not raised by either party, leading to a US$307m award. The court held that this unforeseeable reasoning violated natural justice, as PVN had no chance to address it and could have presented further expert evidence. While confirming the issue fell within the tribunal’s jurisdiction, the court refused remission, finding that fairness concerns and prejudgment risks outweighed procedural correction. The decision underscores Singapore’s strict adherence to natural justice and clarifies that remission is inappropriate where a tribunal’s reasoning departs materially from the parties’ cases. Written by Elodie Dulac, partner of King & Spalding (Singapore) LLP.