SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Benedict Teo, Kelvin Tan, Kong Man Er and Shumin Lin, Drew & Napier LLC
Drew & Napier LLC 10 Collyer Quay #10-01 Ocean Financial Centre
Singapore 049315 Tel: +65 6535 0733 Fax: +65 6535 4906
Email: mail@drewnapier.com Web: www.drewnapier.com
1. General 1.1 General Characteristics of the Legal System The Singapore legal system is based on common law for areas such as contract, equity, trusts and tort law. Statutes have been enacted for areas such as crimi- nal, company and family law. Judges apply the ratio decidendi (the operative rea- sons) of decisions of higher courts. Court of Appeal judgments are strictly binding on the High Court, Dis- trict Court and Magistrates’ Court, whereas English and other Commonwealth decisions are persuasive but not binding. The doctrine of “horizontal stare decisis” (where courts at the same level in the judi- cial hierarchy are bound by each other’s decisions) is not applicable. However, a court would be hesitant to depart from a line of previous decisions. The legal system is adversarial and conducted through both written and oral advocacy. 1.2 Court System The Singapore court system comprises the Supreme Court, State Courts and Family Justice Courts. Supreme Court The Supreme Court consists of the Court of Appeal, High Court (General Division and Appellate Division) and Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC). The Court of Appeal hears criminal appeals, post- appeal applications in capital cases, and prescribed categories of civil appeals from the decisions of the
General Division of the High Court. The Court of Appeal is the court of final appeal. Court of Appeal hearings usually feature three judges. The High Court exercises original and appellate juris- diction in civil and criminal cases. • The General Division of the High Court hears civil cases where the claim exceeds SGD250,000, admiralty matters, insolvency matters, applications for the admission of advocates and solicitors, and family proceedings involving assets of SGD5 mil- lion or more. • The General Division of the High Court tries crimi- nal cases where the offences are punishable by death or by imprisonment terms exceeding ten years. The General Division of the High Court also hears points of law in special cases submitted by a District Court or Magistrates’ Court. The Gen- eral Division of the High Court can reverse State Courts’ decisions or direct a State Court to con- duct a new trial. • The Appellate Division of the High Court hears civil appeals that are not allocated to the Court of Appeal under the Sixth Schedule of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969 (SCJA). The SICC is an international division of the Supreme Court with specialist local and international judges. It hears transnational commercial disputes. State Courts The State Courts consist of the District Courts, the Magistrates’ Courts, the Coroners’ Courts, the Small Claims Tribunals, the Community Disputes Resolu-
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