Singapore and Bahrain Sign Bilateral Treaty on Appeals from the Bahrain International Commercial Court

SINGAPORE, March 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Government of Singapore and the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain signed a bilateral Treaty on 20 March 2024 to establish a new Bahrain International Commercial Court (BICC) in Bahrain and a designated body in Singapore to hear appeals from the BICC.

The Treaty was signed by Singapore's Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law, Mr K Shanmugam SC and Bahrain's Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Waqf H.E. Mr Nawaf bin Mohamed AlMouada in a virtual ceremony on 20 March 2024.

Innovative Nature of the Collaboration

The features of the collaboration include:

a.            Cooperation between the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) and the Supreme Judicial Council of the Kingdom of Bahrain to establish the BICC; and

b.            The hearing of appeals by the SICC from the BICC, which will provide parties with a transnational commercial dispute resolution option.

The collaboration will also provide opportunities for the development of commercial jurisprudence.

Major Milestone in Bilateral Ties 

The signing of the Treaty marks another milestone since the Singapore and Bahrain judiciaries signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation and Memorandum of Guidance as to the Enforcement of Money Judgments when The Honourable the Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon (Chief Justice Menon) led a delegation to visit Bahrain in May 2023.

Minister Shanmugam said, "We welcome this collaboration with Bahrain to set up an appeal mechanism from the new Bahrain International Commercial Court to the Singapore International Commercial Court. This collaboration can advance our shared interests."

Chief Justice Menon said: "Today's signing of the bilateral Treaty between Singapore and Bahrain to establish the BICC marks a significant milestone in our ties with the Bahrain judiciary. This collaboration would not have been possible without the excellent partnership between the Working Groups set up by the respective Singapore and Bahrain teams. I am deeply grateful for their tremendous work on this project, and look forward to the launch of the BICC."

Visit https://go.gov.sg/sgcourts-singapore-bahrain-sign-bilateral-treaty for more details.

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