The Singapore International Arbitration Center (“SIAC”) has become a prominent dispute resolution forum for a significant number of countries, particularly within the Asia-Pacific region. Indeed, no fewer than 1882 cases were hosted by the SIAC between 2005 and 2015. Last year, the SIAC managed to settle some 271 cases originating from 55 jurisdictions and with a total dispute value that ultimately topped USD 6.23 billion.[1] For business and law practitioners within Indonesia however, the SIAC is nothing new. In fact, the center has been a part of the national dispute-settlement mechanism for quite some time now and is often used by domestic parties here due to its speed, efficacy and cost efficiency.
 
In a bid to improve the efficiency of the various services that it offers, the SIAC officially launched the new SIAC Rules 2016 on 1 August 2016. These rules represent the first amendment which has been made to the center’s regulations since the SIAC Rules 2013 were introduced.  The SIAC Rules 2016 establish a number of new and novel provisions, and these address the areas of multiple contracts and consolidation, the joinder of additional parties, and also the early dismissal of any claims and defenses which have been influenced by the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (“ICSID”) Arbitration Rules. In addition, the SIAC Rules 2016 also enhance the organization’s already existing provisions, specifically the innovative emergency-arbitrators and expedited-procedures provisions, which were first introduced as part of the SIAC Rules 2010. The SIAC Rules 2016 also delocalize the seat of arbitration and several provisions which relate to arbitral fees. In order to disseminate and publicize these new rules, the SIAC has organized a number of road shows across the region, and these take in the cities of Hong Kong, Tokyo, Mumbai, Delhi, Shanghai, Jakarta and Manila.[2]
 
However, it is important for Indonesian law practitioners and businesses to realize that any arbitral awards will ultimately prove futile if they are not executable according to domestic law. Therefore, any new provisions must inevitably be compatible with the domestic arbitration law or else an arbitral award may ultimately amount to nothing more than a mere “piece of paper.” This edition of Indonesian Law Digest (ILD) will be training its microscope upon the new SIAC Rules 2016 and the likelihood that they will be implemented across Indonesia. To this end, this edition ILD will address the following areas: