The CIArb YMG Arbitration Conference 2025 was successfully hosted by Ciarb Singapore Branch Young Members Group. It’s a second annual conference drawing 112 participants from the judiciary, legal profession, and private sector. The conference took place at Maxwell Chamberson on 19 June 2025The event was packed with opportunities for young arbitration practitioners to learn, collaborate, and connect with peers and seasoned practitioners.
The day began with a fireside chat with the Honourable Justice Judith Prakash. Drawing upon her distinguished and diverse legal career, Justice Prakash offered invaluable insights for young lawyers—from the importance of cultivating meaningful human connections in an era of remote work, to the need to disconnect to maintain mental wellbeing in a hyperconnected world. Equally importantly, Justice Prakash proposed a more locally resonant alternative to the term “fireside chat” (in a country where fireplaces are more fantasy than fixture): “Kopitiam chat”, in tribute to Singapore’s beloved coffee shop culture. She recommended such chats as a channel for mentorship between senior lawyers and their teams.
Participants of “CIArb YMG Arbitration Conference 2025” then each engaged in interactive workshops to analyse and resolve issues that commonly arise during the lifecycle of an arbitration. Participants had the opportunity to identify deficiencies in an arbitration clause, assess whether to bifurcate a dispute into merits and quantum phases, prepare document production requests, and argue for and against the grant of interim relief.
Three experienced panels then discussed challenges and objections commonly brought in arbitration.
🔸The first panel (Jelita Pandjaitan and Ivy Yeung; moderated by Joshua Hiew) canvassed the distinction between jurisdictional and admissibility challenges as well as the importance of bringing such challenges at an early stage of proceedings.
🔸The second (Christine Artero; moderated by Sherly Gunawan) reviewed recent challenges to arbitrator appointments and discussed whether there is a need for greater harmonisation of the rules on arbitrator challenges.
🔸The final panel (Jaikanth Shankar; moderated by Monica Chong Wan Yee) outlined strategies parties have adopted to make an award either “enforcement proof” or “challenge proof”. They discussed topical issues such as how enforcement strategy might be influenced if the Singapore Court were to accord primacy to the decisions of a seat court in award challenges.
We concluded the CIArb YMG Arbitration Conference 2025 with a forward-looking and thought-provoking discussion on navigating AI ethics in arbitration (Aditya Singh, Shaun Pereira, Eddy Lee, Pooja Chakraborty; moderated by Daryl Larry Sim)—a timely conversation as our field continues to intersect with emerging technologies and novel ethical considerations.
Huge thanks to our sponsors, speakers, organisers, and participants for making this conference a big success. See you next year!
Special credits to our rapporteurs Sean Koh and Haiyi Liu for preparing this update.
