High Court Refuses To Give Weight To Witness Compellability As A Factor In The Test For 'Forum Non Conveniens' Where The Witness In Question Is The Defendant's Brother

In Mann Holdings and another v Ung Yoke Hong [2016] SGHC 112, the High Court addressed the circumstances considered when assessing the weight to be given to the legal non-compellability of a witness in deciding whether to stay proceedings on the ground of forum non conveniens. In this case, the witness in question was the Defendant's own brother, and the Court decided that his non-compellability should not be accorded any weight.

Shook Lin & Bok Partner Joseph Tay and Associate Tan Aik Thong acted for the Plaintiffs in successfully resisting the application for a stay of proceedings.

This note discusses the judgment of the High Court.

Facts

The case involves a claim by the Plaintiffs, Mann Holdings and Chew Ghim Bok, for the recovery of monies that had been paid to the Defendant, Mr Ung Yoke Hong. The Plaintiffs' case is that the monies which had been disbursed to the Defendant were in the nature of a loan, and disbursed pursuant to a loan agreement between the Plaintiffs and Defendant (the "Loan Agreement"). The Loan Agreement had a governing law clause and a non-exclusive jurisdiction clause in favour of Singapore.

The disbursement of monies from the Plaintiffs to the Defendant had arisen in the broader context of negotiations between Enviro Investments Pte Ltd ("Enviro"), a Singapore company, and the shareholders of Metahub Industries Sdn Bhd ("Metahub"), a Malaysian company, for the sale and purchase of all the shares in Metahub by Enviro. The Defendant is the majority shareholder in Metahub while the Plaintiffs were investors in Enviro.

Prior to filing his Defence in the Suit, the Defendant made an application for the proceedings to be stayed in favour of...