The National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru and Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) are organising the third edition of the Annual Arbitration Lecture on Saturday, April 25, 2026, from 10 am to 12 noon. The venue of the lecture will be shared soon.

This event is open to the public. Please note if you are outside of the NLS community, it is mandatory to register for the event. Kindly RSVP on the form.

This year, we have Mr. V K Rajah SC, Former Attorney General and Judge of Appeal of Singapore speaking on: “Ethical Theatre: Soft Law, Hard Truths The Present Challenge of Arbitration Ethics.”

Abstract

International arbitration has built a gilded library of ethical codes. Without enforcement, it is pageantry—ornate in form, hollow in force. Proliferation is not control. What binds is law, not exhortation.

The fiction that arbitration is purely private, insulated from public scrutiny, has run its course. Its authority is borrowed from the public legal order: state recognition, judicial supervision and mandatory norms no agreement can displace. Confidentiality should not be a licence for impunity. If impropriety is not policed with credibility, legitimacy will decay, then the process will be policed from outside, or bypassed altogether. State-driven reforms of investor–state arbitration were the first warning shot. India’s retreat from arbitration in high-value public contracts was the next. The signal is global.

Three structural defects endure: no democratic anchor, no uniform enforceability, no centralised discipline. Soft law soothes institutions, but institutions compete and hard enforcement risks market share. Competition invites accommodation, not accountability.

Reform requires four commitments: consequences that bite, transparency in challenge decisions, structural checks on repeat conflicts, and institutional courage. Ethical lapses must have consequences. Otherwise, it is theatre.

About the Speaker

Mr V K Rajah SC is Former Attorney General and Judge of Appeal of Singapore.

Mr Rajah SC is an international arbitrator with extensive experience and has served as both Chair and Panel Arbitrator in a wide range of high-profile international cases. He is highly sought after for commercial arbitrations across Asia.

His career spans significant contributions to the legal sector, including public service as a Judge of Appeal and Attorney-General of Singapore. He has played an influential role in shaping the country’s legal landscape.

Among the many committees he led, the 2007 Committee to Develop the Singapore Legal Sector was perhaps the most significant. It proposed transformative reforms that have since significantly shaped the legal landscape. Key recommendations included liberalising legal services to allow select foreign firms to practice Singapore law, enhancing market diversity and competitiveness; strengthening legal education through the establishment of the Singapore Institute of Legal Education and mandatory Continuing Professional Development; and taking steps to establish Singapore as a leading global dispute resolution hub.

He has been Chairman of the National Advisory Council on the Ethical Use of AI and Data since 2018. In 2024 the Medical Faculty of the National University of Singapore established a professorship on medical ethics in his name.

Please note:

• All press/media invitees who are interested to cover the talk are requested to please carry their ID cards.