Issue estoppel: effect on third parties

It has long been settled in England under the Henderson v Henderson (1843) 3 Hare 100 principle that a party to judicial proceedings cannot in later proceedings rely upon matters that could have been but were not raised in the initial proceedings. That principle was extended in England to rulings in arbitration in Dallal v Bank Mellat [1986] QB 441 and in Singapore in AKN v ALC [2016] 1 SLR 966. The issue before the Singapore Court of Appeal in CIX v DGN [2025] SGCA 10 was whether the principle extended to proceedings involving third parties. There had been a positive answer to that question in Cachet Special Opportunities SP v Feng Shi [2023] SGHCR 16, but the Court of Appeal felt it appropriate to consider the matter in detail.

CIX: facts