Singapore High Court: anti-suit injunctions do not apply to third parties unless the arbitration agreement clearly provides otherwise

Two anti-suit injunctions were issued against Asiana at the International Commercial Court in Singapore. These applied not only to the parties to the contract, the Gate Group and Asiana, but also to two directors of the Gate Group, although they were not parties to the contract. The court justified the anti-suit injunctions on the basis that they were in breach of the arbitration agreement. Asiana appealed this decision, and the Singapore Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and set aside the anti-suit injunctions as they prevented the directors from being sued.

The Court of Appeal noted in its decision Asiana Airlines, Inc v Gate Gourmet Korea Co, Ltd [2024] SGCA(I) 8 that anti-suit injunctions against third parties are subject to strict requirements. The application of an anti-suit injunction to third parties should, in theory, only be presumed if it can be inferred from the wording of the arbitration agreement. However, this was not the case here. Only if the claims are vexatious or oppressive because they are intended to circumvent the arbitration agreement, or are brought in bad faith, does something else apply. Again, this was not the case.