Law governing Jurisdictional Issues in E-commerce
One of the major challenges posed by e-commerce is that of jurisdiction and choice of law in the event of any dispute. In general, a Singapore court will have jurisdiction over a matter if (a) the defendant is served with a claim in Singapore or (b) the court permits service on a defendant outside Singapore. Furthermore, a court judgment obtained in one country can be enforced against a defendant in another jurisdiction only in accordance with that jurisdiction’s enforcement rules. Choice of law is concerned with what legal principles will be applied in order to resolve a dispute. In other words, there is no blanket rule that in the event of a dispute, the laws of the country that claims jurisdiction over the issue will apply. If the web contract does not specify an explicit choice of law then the Singapore court will decide on which law will be applicable depending upon whichever law is most connected to the contract.
To learn more about setting up an e-commerce business in Singapore, refer to the following other articles in our five-part guide: