TANIA RAPPO v ACCENT DELIGHT INTERNATIONAL LTD & Anor

[2023] SGCA 22 Court of Appeal 13 July 2023 CA/CA 110/2016 ( CA/SUM 96/2016,CA/SUM 2/2023,CA/SUM 19/2017 ) · CA/CA 113/2016 ( CA/SUM 3/2023 ) 26 min read
6 cases cited (5 SG, 1 foreign) Cited by 1 case

Outcome

Application dismissed

We dismiss the Applications.

Source: [2023] SGCA 22, Court of Appeal, decided 13 July 2023. Read directly from the judgment.

Key facts

Court Court of Appeal
Decided
Judges Andrew Phang Boon Leong, Judith Prakash, Sundaresh Menon
Charges / claim Conflict of Laws
Outcome Application dismissed
Counsel Allen & Gledhill LLP, Drew & Napier LLC, Tan Kok Quan Partnership, Abigail Anousha Fernandez, Alcina Lynn Chew Aiping, Cavinder Bull, Chua Xinying, Kenneth Michael Tan, Lea Woon Yee, Leong Yi-Ming, Lim Gerui, Mohamed Shafie Bin Allameen, Pek Aik Hin, Seah Zhen Wei Paul

Source: [2023] SGCA 22, Court of Appeal, decided — eLitigation. Updated .

Catchwords

Practice Areas

Judges (3)

Counsel (14)

Parties (4)

Case Significance

Xitrans Finance Ltd v Rappo, Tania and another matter [2023] SGCA 22 is a judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered on 13 July 2023 in Civil Appeals Nos 110 and 113 of 2016 (Summonses Nos 2 and 3 of 2023), with Sundaresh Menon CJ delivering the judgment of the court sitting with Judith Prakash JCA and Andrew Phang Boon Leong SJ. The two applications sought the partial lifting of the forum non conveniens stay ordered by the Court in Rappo, Tania v Accent Delight International Ltd and another and another appeal [2017] 2 SLR 265. Accent Delight International Ltd and Xitrans Finance Ltd are companies incorporated in the British Virgin Islands owned by the family trusts of Mr Dmitry Rybolovlev; the respondents in SUM 3 were Mr Yves Charles Edgar Bouvier and MEI Invest Limited. The court dismissed the applications.

[2023] SGCA 22 explained

TANIA RAPPO v ACCENT DELIGHT INTERNATIONAL LTD & Anor ([2023] SGCA 22) is a Singapore judgment decided by the Court of Appeal on 13 July 2023. It is categorised under Conflict of Laws. Within this corpus it has since been cited by 1 other reported Singapore judgment, a measure of how often later decisions have referred to it. This page summarises what the reported decision covers and links the primary sources — the full judgment, the statutes it cites, and the other cases it engages with — so the decision can be read in context. It is reference information, not legal advice, and it does not state the outcome or any holding beyond what the official judgment records.

What is [2023] SGCA 22 about?

TANIA RAPPO v ACCENT DELIGHT INTERNATIONAL LTD & Anor ([2023] SGCA 22) is a Court of Appeal decision from 2023. Its published catchwords are “Conflict of Laws — Natural forum — Lifting of forum non conveniens stay”, which indicate the subject matter the judgment addresses. The full reasoning and orders are in the judgment itself, linked below.

Which legislation does [2023] SGCA 22 consider?

The judgment refers to Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68). The statutes cited are listed in full on this page, each linking to its primary text.

How influential is [2023] SGCA 22?

Within this corpus, [2023] SGCA 22 has been cited by 1 later reported Singapore judgment. That count reflects references from other decisions held in this corpus only and is a conservative lower bound on how often the case has actually been cited.

Summary

Xitrans Finance Ltd, a British Virgin Islands company connected to the family trusts of Dmitry Rybolovlev, applied to partially lift a forum non conveniens stay previously ordered by the Court of Appeal in litigation involving Tania Rappo, Yves Bouvier and MEI Invest Limited over dealings in a valuable art collection. The court found no basis to revoke the stay, noting that doing so would undesirably split the litigation between Singapore and Switzerland. It dismissed both applications and ordered costs of $20,000 for each in favour of the respondents.

What was Xitrans Finance Ltd v Rappo, Tania [2023] SGCA 22 about?

It concerned two applications before the Court of Appeal, decided on 13 July 2023 with Sundaresh Menon CJ delivering the judgment, seeking the partial lifting of a forum non conveniens stay ordered in Rappo, Tania v Accent Delight International Ltd [2017] 2 SLR 265.

Who were the parties in [2023] SGCA 22?

The applicant was Xitrans Finance Ltd, a British Virgin Islands company owned by Mr Dmitry Rybolovlev's family trusts. The respondents were Tania Rappo, and in SUM 3, Mr Yves Charles Edgar Bouvier and MEI Invest Limited. The court dismissed the applications.

Statutes Cited

Cases Cited (6)

SG (2)
[2017] SGCA 24 [2019] SGHC 292
SLR (3)
[2016] 2 SLR 841 [2017] 1 SLR 907 [2017] 2 SLR 265
UK (1)
[1987] AC 460

Cited By (1)

Related cases

Other Singapore judgments involving the same parties or counsel.

Referenced in

Statutes interpreted in this judgment

Legal concepts & references

Judgment

Read the full judgment on the official Singapore Courts portal.

Read on eLitigation

Source: eLitigation ([2023] SGCA 22)