The Courts
Source of Laws
Jurisdiction, Registration and Enforcement
Timeframes
Changes to Court Procedures
Technology and the Courts
Singapore has an international reputation as a world-class forum for litigation and dispute resolution. Its judicial system was rated by the Foundation for Prevention and Early Resolution of Conflict's Annual Comparative Country Risk Report as the top in Asia, and its legal framework ranked first with a score of 8.5 out of 10 in the Institute for Management Development's World Competitiveness Yearbook 2002. Also, in its 2002 Index of Economic Freedom Report, the US-based Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal ranked Singapore number 1 in six of 10 factors, one of which was property rights. The report stated that "the court system is very efficient and strongly protects private property, and there is no threat of expropriation. The Constitution authorizes an independent judiciary".
Singapore has many advantages as a litigation forum - an efficient case management system, relatively low cost, the availability of a wide range of dispute resolution alternatives, and ease of enforcement of its judicial awards in other jurisdictions. This, coupled with its aggressive reforms in the implementation of technology in the courts by way of the new Electronic Filing Service (EFS), and its progressive judicial mindset, makes Singapore a strong regional centre for legal services.
Singapore is common law-based, and its court system consists of the subordinate courts (comprising the district court, magistrates' courts, coroners' courts, juvenile courts and small claims tribunal) and the Supreme Court (which comprises the Court of Appeal and the High Court). The Court of Appeal is the highest appellate court in Singapore after the abolition of the Privy Council in 1994.
The courts' jurisdictional limits and the hearing fees for trial are set out in the table below.
| High Court | District Court | Magistrates' Court | |
| Jurisdictional limits | Generally above S$250,000 | S$60,001 to S$250,000 (and probate matters not exceeding S$3 million) | Up to S$60,000 |
| Hearing fees for trial per day | First day free; S$2,000 for second to fifth days; S$3,000 for sixth to tenth day; S$5,000 for each subsequent day | First day free; S$500 per day | First day free; S$250 per day |
On November 27 1826 all English law (common law, equity and statute law) was received in Singapore via the Second Charter of Justice. In conjunction with the abolition of the Privy Council in 1994, the Application of English Law Act was passed cutting off the reception of English law with effect from November 12 1993. However, the common law of England continues to be highly persuasive in Singapore courts, although the courts do have the authority to depart from such decisions and do so on occasion.
Since then, Singapore has adopted other laws where they have been found to be applicable to local circumstances.
Jurisdiction, Registration and Enforcement
In general, Singapore courts have jurisdiction in respect of matters where originating process is served in accordance with prescribed rules or where a person submits to its jurisdiction.
Summary judgment may be obtained for an unchallenged foreign award. Alternatively, monetary judgments given in designated Commonwealth countries, and judgments of superior courts of Hong Kong made on or after July 1 1997, may be registered and enforced as local judgments under the Reciprocal Enforcement of Commonwealth Judgments Act and the Reciprocal Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act respectively.
There is also recourse to the courts for the enforcement of monetary judgments given in foreign countries that do not fall under these acts. The courts have recognized that enforcement in this case can be by way of summary proceedings based on the earlier foreign judgment.
Most actions in Singapore are commenced by writ and since 2000 have been fixed for trial within two weeks of the date of close of pleadings (ie, after all formal pleadings have been filed) in the High Court. Where a case discloses no triable issues, a case may be summarily determined within six weeks of the date of filing of the writ. Judgments may also be entered in default of a defendant's appearance or defence. (In terms of efficiency, the Supreme Court attained International Organization for Standardization ISO 9001:2000 certification at an organizational level in April 2001 and was conferred the Organizational Excellence Award for 2001.)
The current speed of litigation is the result of case management, where short timeframes for discovery, exchange of affidavits and setting down are stipulated from the time pleadings are closed. In a recent comparative study it was found that Singapore had the highest case clearance rate of all the countries surveyed, although it is one of the countries with the fewest judges per head. An example of this can be seen in the number of cases disposed of by the subordinate courts in 2002: this included 246,960 criminal cases, 78,220 civil matters, 16,510 family and matrimonial cases, 2,480 juvenile cases and 36,890 small claims disputes, the average caseload per judicial officer being approximately 5,220.
Recent changes to court procedure have further enhanced court efficiency.
Amendments to discovery procedures have reduced the previously wide-ranging scope of discovery and provided for closer court supervision. In addition, actions will be automatically discontinued if no step is taken for one year since the last proceeding in the action.
In December 2002 two new regimes were introduced by the courts. Firstly, a new fixed-scale cost and case management regime for non-injury motor accident cases, which previously accounted for one-quarter of the total civil writs filed, was introduced in the courts' first attempt to introduce pre-action protocol in Singapore's civil practice. This has reduced the number of writs filed for such cases and resulted in savings in litigation costs. Secondly, the provision of a fixed-indemnity costs scale in judgment in default cases has accelerated the litigation process.
EFS has also revolutionized court proceedings by allowing all case papers in writ actions to be filed electronically at any time of day, and for hearings to be conducted using electronic rather than paper documents. Singapore recently became the first national paperless court system in the world as, since May 2002, all classes of civil actions commenced in the Supreme Court are filed via web-based EFS. The Supreme Court also provides Short Message Service for mobile phone users to enable them to find out details of hearings.
June 2002 saw the launch of Justiceonline, a web-based video-conferencing system which provides a multi-party communication platform that connects the courts to the attorney general's chambers, law firms and other government bodies concerned with the administration of justice. It has also been used for settlement conferences and virtual pre-trial conferences, and can be used in registrar's appeals. This system also enables solicitors to book their online hearings on the Web, queue virtually and appear at hearings from the convenience of their office boardrooms, resulting in cost and time savings. The implementation of this system of e-litigation facilitates international business litigation and the participation of witnesses from all around the world.
Finally, plans are in motion to construct the new and fully paperless Supreme Courthouse, which features state-of-the-art technological systems and courtrooms of the future. Slated to be completed in 2005, the new building will house 23 courtrooms and auxiliary court facilities.
For further information on this topic please contact Edwina Taylor at Wong Partnership by telephone (+65 6416 8000) or by fax (+65 6532 5722) or by email ([email protected]).