Colin Ong

Dr Colin Ong QC is a member of the Brunei, English and Singapore Bars. He is Queen’s Counsel at 36 Stone (London) and Chartered Arbitrator at Dr Colin Ong Legal Services (Brunei). He has broad experiences as counsel and arbitrator in commercial matters, including banking and finance, construction and infrastructure projects (airports, bridges, pipe-lines; ports; roads), insurance, mining and minerals disputes, energy disputes (coal mining and supply disputes, production sharing contracts, electricity supply, gas contracts and oil exploration joint ventures), information technology, shipping, telecoms, technology transfer, and general commercial trade related matters. He qualified as a barrister in England and Wales in 1991 and is a master of the Bench of the Inner Temple in England. He has acted as counsel in many arbitrations governed under civil law as well as under common law applying most major institutional rules as well as UNCITRAL rules. He was the first ASEAN national lawyer to be appointed English Queen’s Counsel. He is ranked as a Thought Leader in three fields of Arbitration, Construction and Commercial Litigation by Who’s Who Legal (“WWL”). He is also ranked as a top 30 global elite arbitration practitioner by the biennial publication Expert Guides–Best of the Best: Arbitration (2017 & 2019). Dr Ong has sat as arbitrator and acted as lead counsel in over 350 arbitrations under many arbitration rules including AAA/BANI/CIETAC/HKIAC/ICC/ICDR/ KCAB/KLRCA/ LCIA/ LMAA/OIC/ SCMA/SIAC/TAI/UNCITRAL and WIPO rules.

Dr Ong was among the first few Chartered Arbitrators in the ASEAN region. He has taught at various CIArb and SiArb fellowship courses over a 12 year period. He also teaches advocacy across various countries and has published in this area as well as on arbitration. He is also the co-author of ‘Costs in International Arbitration’ (Lexis Nexis 2013), the first specialised book on costs in international arbitration. He is also co-editor of ‘Interim Measures in International Arbitration‘ (Juris 2014). He is the author of several legal texts including chapters in leading books on the subject of advocacy and cross-examination including the Case Strategy chapter in The Guide to Advocacy (GAR) (2017 to 2019) and Take the Witness Chapter: Cross-Examination in International Arbitration (Juris 2010 and 2019). He is on the editorial boards of several international journals, including Arbitration (CIArb), Butterworths Journal of International Banking & Financial Law, Badan Arbitrase Nasional Indonesia Journal, China-ASEAN Law Review and Maritime Risk International. He is also chief editor of APRAG E-Journal.

He is the president of the Arbitration Association Brunei Darussalam; Chairman, Regional Arbitral Institutes Forum (RAIF); advisory member of the China-ASEAN Legal Research Centre; vice president of APRAG; vice chair of the IPBA arbitration committee; advisory councillor of the Indonesian National Board of Arbitration (BANI); Chairman of the International Advisory Board of the Thailand Arbitration Center (THAC); Chairman of Advisory Board, Japan Institute for International Arbitration Research and Training (JIIART); Council Member of Hong Kong Centre of International Commercial Arbitration; appointments council of the Chinese-European Arbitration Centre, Hamburg, Germany (CEAC) and Co-Chair of the International Bar Association APAG. The Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China appointed him to sit on the International Commercial Expert Committee of the China International Commercial Court. Colin was ranked by Global Arbitration Review as one of the 45 leading international arbitration practitioners under the age of 45. He has been a consultant to the ASEAN centre for energy (2002 – 2003); a panel member (nominee of Brunei Darussalam) of the ASEAN protocol on enhanced dispute settlement mechanism; former board member of the Cambodia National Commercial Arbitration Centre; a former vice chairman of the IBA arbitration committee; a former vice president of the LCIA Asia-Pacific users council; and a core drafting member of Malaysian PAM 2006 standard building forms of contract. He is a visiting professor of law or has been a visiting professor at both civil and common law jurisdictions including the National University of Malaysia (UKM), the National University of Singapore, University of Malaya, Kings College (London), Universitas Indonesia, Padjajaran University (Indonesia), Queen Mary, University of London, Academy of International Dispute Resolution (Hong Kong), City University of Hong Kong and University of Hong Kong.

He has conducted many arbitrations and also sat as arbitrator under AAA, BANI, CIETAC, HKIAC, ICC, ICDR, KCAB, KLRCA, LCIA, LMAA, SIAC, SCMA, TAI, UNCITRAL and WIPO rules under many applicable laws including Brunei, Chinese, Dutch, English, Indian, Indonesian, Malaysian, Hong Kong, New York, Philippine, Singapore, Swiss, Thai, Turkish, UAE and Vietnam law.

He is often engaged by other Singapore law firms and law firms in Brunei; England and others to act as lead counsel in arbitrations and in court matters. He is also regularly instructed as lead counsel and to provide advocacy and strategic advice to law firms in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and other countries in large quantum international arbitration matters taking place in those countries as well as in major seats of arbitration.

In 2010, he became the first non head of state or senior judge from ASEAN to be elected as a Master of the Bench of the Inner Temple. Dr. Ong is also the first ASEAN national lawyer to be appointed English Queen’s Counsel.

He is well known for his work in areas including banking and finance, construction and infrastructure projects (airports, bridges, pipe‐lines; ports; roads), insurance, energy disputes (coal mining and supply disputes, production sharing contracts, electricity supply, gas contracts and oil exploration joint ventures), intellectual property, information technology, insolvency shipping, telecoms, technology transfer, and general commercial trade related matters.

He has acted as lead counsel or counsel in many arbitrations governed under civil law as well as cases governed under common law applying most major institutional rules as well as ad hoc cases under UNCITRAL rules. Dr Ong has led teams that have included Senior Counsel in Hong Kong and Singapore, and also other English QCs in complex large quantum arbitrations pertaining to business and commercial disputes, several of which have exceeded claims of US$1 Billion.

His clients have included state owned entities, financial institutions and other major commercial corporations and high net‐worth individuals. Dr Ong is equally comfortable in acting in cases governed under Civil law as well as cases governed under Common law.

Some notable reported local cases he has been involved in include acting as lead counsel for the Indonesian national gas company before the Singapore Court of Appeal in PT Perusahaan Gas Negara v CRW [2015] SGCA 30. At the 2016 GAR Awards in Shanghai, the set of split decisions by the Court of Appeal was named runner up as the most important decision globally of 2015. Dr Ong was lead counsel in an earlier international arbitration which subsequently led to FIDIC amending the Standard 1999 FIDIC Form Contracts in April 2013 and issuing an urgent FIDIC Guidance Memorandum (http://fidic.org/node/1615). He is rated as amongst the 30 top arbitration lawyers in the World by Expert Guides Best of the Best: Arbitration (2017) and amongst the top 45 arbitration lawyers by Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders ‐ Arbitration [2017].

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy - PhD Queen Mary University of London
• Master of Laws - LLM Queen Mary University of London
• Bachelor of Laws - LLB The University of Sheffield
• Fellow Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

Companies

• Adjunct Professor City University of Hong Kong (2019)
• Appointing Authority Chinese European Arbitration Centre (CEAC) (2017)
• Vice President of Appointments Council THAILAND ARBITRATION CENTER (2015)
• Senior Partner Dr Colin Ong Legal Services (2015)
• Queen's Counsel 36 Stone (2014)
• Visiting Professor University of Indonesia (2014)
• Visiting Professor FAKULTAS HUKUM UNIVERSITAS PADJAJARAN (2014)
• Counsel Eldan Law LLP (2013)
• President Arbitration Association Brunei Darussalam (AABD) (2009)