SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Benedict Teo, Kelvin Tan, Kong Man Er and Shumin Lin, Drew & Napier LLC
Courts. It may also hear civil appeals from the Family Courts, District Courts and Magistrates’ Courts, and from other tribunals as may be prescribed by written law – for example, the Employment Claims Tribunals. Civil appeals from decisions of the General Division of the High Court are heard by the Appellate Division of the High Court or the apex court, the Court of Appeal. With permission from the Court of Appeal, the deci- sion of the Appellate Division of the High Court can be further appealed to the Court of Appeal. The Appellate Division does not have criminal jurisdiction. The Court of Appeal has power to transfer a civil appeal ordinarily allocated to it to the Appellate Divi- sion and from the Appellate Division upwards to itself. 10.2 Rules Concerning Appeals of Judgments Restrictions on the matters that may be brought against a decision of the General Division of the High Court are set out in Sections 29 and 29A of the SCJA and its Fourth and Fifth Schedules: • The Fourth Schedule sets out orders that are non- appealable, including orders made by consent of the parties and orders refusing security of costs. • The Fifth Schedule sets out orders that are appeal- able only with leave, including orders giving secu- rity for costs and orders refusing a stay of proceed- ings. Appeals from a decision of the General Division of the High Court are allocated between the Court of Appeal and the Appellate Division of the High Court. The Court of Appeal will hear appeals for all crimi- nal appeals and civil appeals prescribed under the Sixth Schedule of the SCJA, such as constitutional or administrative law cases, appeals against SICC deci- sions, and decisions relating to arbitration proceed- ings. The Appellate Division of the High Court hears all other civil appeals. Sections 46 and 47 of the SCJA and its Ninth Schedule set out restrictions on matters that may be appealed from the Appellate Division of the High Court to the Court of Appeal.
Parties before the District Court or Magistrates’ Court may appeal to the General Division of the High Court without obtaining permission to appeal if the amount in dispute or the value of the subject matter before the lower courts exceeds SGD60,000. This is subject to the exceptions set out in the Third Schedule of the SCJA. 10.3 Procedure for Taking an Appeal Parties may need permission to appeal; see 10.2 Rules Concerning Appeals of Judgments . Appeals Against Decisions by Registrars All registrar decisions are appealable to either a district judge (for proceedings in the State Courts) or a judge of the High Court (for proceedings in the Supreme Court) in chambers without the need for permission of court. The exception to this rule is that the registrar’s direc- tions or orders incidental to appeals or applications pending before the Appellate Division of the High Court or the Court of Appeal (such as extensions of time for filing the necessary papers for appeals) can- not be the subject of an appeal to a judge of the Gen- eral Division of the High Court. A Notice of Appeal must be filed and served on the other parties within 14 days after the decision is made. Appeals Against Decisions by State Courts District Judges or Magistrates Where required, an application for permission to appeal against a decision of a district judge or magis- trate must be made to the district judge or magistrate within 14 days after the date of the relevant decision. If the district judge or magistrate does not grant per- mission to appeal, the party may apply to the General Division of the High Court for such permission and serve the application on all interested parties within 14 days after the date of the district judge’s or magis- trate’s decision not to grant permission. Where permission to appeal is granted, or where per- mission to appeal is not required, a Notice of Appeal must be filed and and served within 14 days from the date on which permission to appeal was given or
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