International Singapore: Law, Disputes and Diplomacy (1952–2026)

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• September 1952: The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau is created, independent of the police.¹
• 17 June 1960: The Prevention of Corruption Act replaces the colonial ordinance.²
• 3 August 1966: Singapore becomes the 104th member of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.³
• 8 August 1967: The foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand sign the ASEAN Declaration in Bangkok.⁴
• 1976: The ASEAN states sign the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia.⁵
• 21 August 1986: Singapore accedes to the New York Convention on foreign arbitral awards.⁶
• July 1990: Singapore, a founding economy of APEC, hosts its second ministerial meeting. The APEC Secretariat begins work in Singapore in 1993.⁷
• 3 October 1990: Singapore establishes diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, after Indonesia has resumed its own relations on 8 August.⁸
• 1 July 1991: The Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) is established.⁹
• 28 January 1992: The framework agreement on the ASEAN Free Trade Area is signed in Singapore. The same year Singapore founds the Forum of Small States and joins the FATF.¹⁰
• 27 January 1995: The International Arbitration Act 1994 comes into force and adopts the UNCITRAL Model Law.¹¹
• 6 May 2003: Singapore and the United States sign their free trade agreement, in force since 1 January 2004.¹²
• 18 July 2005: Chile, New Zealand and Singapore sign the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership.¹³
• 20 November 2007: The ASEAN Charter is signed in Singapore.¹⁴
• 23 May 2008: The International Court of Justice awards Pedra Branca to Singapore.¹⁵
• 5 November 2014: The Singapore International Mediation Centre is founded.¹⁶
• 5 January 2015: The Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) is launched as a division of the High Court.¹⁷
• 31 December 2015: The ASEAN Economic Community is established.¹⁸
• 1 October 2016: The Hague Choice of Court Convention enters into force for Singapore.¹⁹
• 2017: Third-party funding of international arbitration is permitted.²⁰
• 31 August 2018: The Supreme Court of Singapore and the Supreme People’s Court of China sign a memorandum of guidance on the enforcement of money judgments.²¹
• 30 December 2018: The CPTPP enters into force for its first six ratifying states, Singapore among them.²²
• 7 August 2019: The Singapore Convention on Mediation opens for signature in Singapore. It enters into force on 12 September 2020.²³
• 2019: The BIS Innovation Hub opens its Singapore centre. The EU–Singapore free trade agreement enters into force on 21 November.²⁴
• 12 June 2020: Chile, New Zealand and Singapore sign the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement.²⁵
• 15 November 2020: Fifteen states sign the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. It enters into force on 1 January 2022.²⁶
• 2 March 2022: Singapore co-sponsors the General Assembly resolution deploring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and adopts its own sanctions.²⁷
• 7 October 2024: Former minister S. Iswaran begins his prison sentence, the first minister tried in court since Wee Toon Boon.²⁸
• 1 January 2025: The SIAC Rules 2025 take effect. SIAC records 886 new cases in 2025.²⁹
• 3 May 2025: The People’s Action Party wins 87 of the 97 elected seats in the general election.³⁰
• 5 November 2025: The Bahrain International Commercial Court, whose appeals go to an international committee in Singapore, is launched in Manama.³¹
• 26 August 2026: The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes opens its first staffed office outside Washington in Singapore.³²

Notes

1. Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, “Our Heritage”, cpib.gov.sg; see Chapter F.I. ↩
2. Prevention of Corruption Act 1960, 2020 Revised Edition, Singapore Statutes Online; see Chapter F.I. ↩
3. World Bank, “Singapore: Overview” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter F.V. ↩
4. Wikipedia, “ASEAN Declaration” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter F.IV. ↩
5. Wikipedia, “Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter F.IV. ↩
6. UNCITRAL, status table of the New York Convention; see Chapter F.II. ↩
7. Wikipedia, “Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter F.V. ↩
8. Wikipedia, “China–Indonesia relations” and “China–Singapore relations” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter F.IV. ↩
9. Wikipedia, “Singapore International Arbitration Centre” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter F.II. ↩
10. Wikipedia, “ASEAN” and “Forum of Small States”; Monetary Authority of Singapore, “International Cooperation”; see Chapters F.IV and F.V. ↩
11. International Arbitration Act 1994, Legislative History; see Chapter F.II. ↩
12. Wikipedia, “Singapore–United States Free Trade Agreement” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter F.IV. ↩
13. Wikipedia, “Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter F.IV. ↩
14. Wikipedia, “ASEAN Charter” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter F.IV. ↩
15. International Court of Justice, Sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge, judgment of 23 May 2008; see Chapter F.IV. ↩
16. SIMC, “About SIMC” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter F.III. ↩
17. Supreme Court of Singapore, “Singapore International Commercial Court”; see Chapters F.I and F.III. ↩
18. Wikipedia, “ASEAN” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter F.IV. ↩
19. Ministry of Law, press release “Singapore ratifies Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements”; see Chapter F.III. ↩
20. Civil Law Act 1909, s 5B, and the Civil Law (Third-Party Funding) Regulations 2017; see Chapter F.II. ↩
21. Memorandum of Guidance between the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme Court of Singapore; see Chapter F.III. ↩
22. Wikipedia, “Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter F.IV. ↩
23. Wikipedia, “Singapore Convention on Mediation”; UNCITRAL, status table; see Chapter F.III. ↩
24. Bank for International Settlements, “About the BIS Innovation Hub”; European Commission, “EU trade relations with Singapore”; see Chapters F.IV and F.V. ↩
25. Wikipedia, “Digital Economy Partnership Agreement” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter F.IV. ↩
26. Wikipedia, “Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter F.IV. ↩
27. Wikipedia, “Russia–Singapore relations”; Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore, press statement on sanctions; see Chapters F.IV and H.IV. ↩
28. Wikipedia, “Prosecution of S. Iswaran” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter F.I. ↩
29. Clifford Chance, “SIAC releases the SIAC Rules 2025”; SIAC, Annual Report 2025; see Chapter F.II. ↩
30. Wikipedia, “2025 Singaporean general election” (accessed November 2026); see Chapter F.I. ↩
31. Singapore Courts, media release “Singapore and Bahrain partnership”; see Chapter F.III. ↩
32. ICSID, news release (accessed November 2026); see Chapters F.III and F.V. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of October 2026.