District Courts and Magistrate Courts
The District Courts and Magistrate Courts hear both civil and criminal cases.
Family Court
The Family Court deals with various family-related matters. One aspect it covers is maintenance orders. For example, if a husband neglects to maintain his wife, she can apply to the Family Court for an order that her husband makes monthly contributions to maintain her.
The wife can also apply to the Family Court for a Protection Order for herself and/or her children if violence or threats of violence have been used against her and/or her children by her husband. In certain circumstances, the Family Court can grant a Domestic Exclusion Order to prevent the abusive husband from entering the matrimonial home.
The Family Court also deals with divorce proceedings, which includes matters such as division of matrimonial property, custody of children, as well as maintenance of the wife and/or children. In addition, it also covers adoption cases.
Coroner’s Court
The Coroner’s Court holds inquiries to ascertain the cause of a person’s death and whether anyone is criminally responsible. Such inquiries are held if the cause of the death is unnatural, caused by violence, sudden, or appears to have been caused unlawfully ie not caused by illness or failure of body function.
Juvenile Court
The Juvenile Court deals with offences committed by persons below 16 years of age.
Community Court
The Community Court was established to deal with the following categories of cases: youthful offenders (aged 16 to 18), offenders with mental disabilities, neighbourhood disputes, attempted suicide cases, family violence cases, carnal connection offences committed by youthful offenders, abuse and cruelty to animals, cases which impact on race relations issues and selected cases involving offenders aged 65 years and above.
Small Claims Tribunal
If you have a claim arising from a sale or purchase of goods, the provision of services (eg repairs renovation works), tortious damage to property (but not including damage arising because of a motor vehicle accident) or any contact relating to a lease of residential property for a period of less than 2 years, and your claim does not exceed $10,000, you can file a claim in the Small Claims Tribunal. However, you can also file a claim more than $10,000 but not exceeding $20,000 if both parties consent to it in writing. You must file your claim at the Small Claims Tribunal within 1 year from the date on which the incident you are complaining of took place.
The procedure is informal, easy and inexpensive. You will first attend a Consultation before the Registrar, who will mediate the claim and assist the parties in resolving the dispute. If a claim is not settled at the Consultation before the Registrar, it will generally be fixed for hearing before a Referee within 7 days from the date of Consultation. The Referee will also explore the possibility of settling the claim before adjudicating on it.
If you choose to bring a claim to the Small Claims Tribunal, your lawyer will not be allowed to come with you, as lawyers are not permitted to represent any of the parties in proceedings before the Tribunal.
You may appeal against decisions in the Small Claims Tribunal to the High Court on points of law. You will first have to apply to the District Judge for leave to appeal within 14 days of the Referee’s order, and only if the application is granted can you then file a Notice of Appeal to the High Court. This Notice of Appeal must be filed within 1 month of the District Judge’s order granting leave.
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court consists of the High Court and the Court of Appeal.
High Court
The High Court exercises original and appellate jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases. It hears cases in the first instance as well as cases on appeal from the Subordinate Courts. In civil cases, except for probate matters, the High Court has the power to try all claims above $250,000. Probate matters take place in the High Court only if the deceased’s estate is above $3,000,000, or if the case involves the resealing of a foreign grant. In addition, ancillary matters in family proceedings involving assets of $1,500,000 or more are heard in the High Court.
In criminal cases, the High Court has the power to try all cases. In general, the High Court tries cases where the offences are punishable with death or with imprisonment for a term which exceeds 10 years.
The High Court can also hear points of law in special cases submitted by a District Court or Magistrate Court. The High Court can reverse decisions from the Subordinate Courts, or ask a Subordinate Courts to conduct a new trial on the matter.
Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal hears appeals of civil and criminal cases from the High Court. The Court of Appeal is usually made up of three Judges.
Civil Cases
General
If you have a civil case (eg a claim for breach of contract, or damage caused by negligence), the amount of your claim will determine which court you commence your action in.
Civil cases involving claims not exceeding $60,000 are dealt with by the Magistrate Courts. Claims of more than $60,000 but not exceeding $250,000 are dealt with by the District Courts. Claims above $250,000 are dealt with by the High Court.
The law does not require you to be represented by a lawyer unless you are a body corporate (eg a limited company or a private limited company).
Procedure
Anyone who has a claim against you may issue a Writ of Summons and have it served on you. The person making the claim is known as the Plaintiff and you are the Defendant. If you do not dispute the Plaintiff's claim, you may wish to get in touch with either the Plaintiff or his Lawyer and settle the claim immediately. By doing so, you would incur less legal costs.
If you dispute the claim, you should consult your lawyer as soon as possible. Your Lawyer will then file a document (Memorandum of Appearance) in Court on your behalf to dispute the claim. This has to be done within 8 days of your receipt of the Writ of Summons. You may wish to file the Memorandum of Appearance yourself by attending at the Registry of the appropriate Court
You should note that refusing to acknowledge service of a Writ of Summons when it is served on you does not make the service of the Summons invalid. It also does not prevent the Plaintiff from proceeding further.
The Plaintiff can obtain an Order of Court (Judgment) to compel you to pay up the amount claimed if you do not file the Memorandum of Appearance in time.
You or your lawyer must subsequently file your Defence to the claim in Court and also serve of a copy of your Defence on the Plaintiff’s address of service or the Plaintiff’s Lawyers at their office address within 22 days from the date you were served with the Writ of Summons. If you have any counterclaim against the Plaintiff, you can also make it in the same action brought by the Plaintiff.
The Plaintiff may serve on you his reply (and defence to a counterclaim, if any) within 14 days after your Defence (and counterclaim) has been served on him.
Appeals
You may appeal against any decision given by a District Judge or Magistrate to the High Court. From the High Court, you may appeal to the Court of Appeal unless your claims are barred from appeal under the law.
Departmental Summons
When you receive a departmental summons from a government body or statutory board, you ought to ascertain the facts on which the charge is based. You could find out more about the case against you by contacting the relevant government body or statutory board, such as the Inland Revenue Authority, the Registry of Companies and Businesses, the Ministry of Environment, the Traffic Police or the Central Provident Fund Board.
For less serious offences, if you admit to the offence, you may request the relevant authority to compound the matter by allowing you to pay a composition fine. The charge against you would then be withdrawn. You would normally be required to remedy your default first.
However, if you are not guilty of the offence, you may claim trial and either defend yourself in person or engage the services of a lawyer.
