SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Foo Yuet Min, Kong Man Er, Shumin Lin and See Chern Yang, Drew & Napier LLC
circumstances warrant. Where the applicant is requesting an urgent hearing, the applicant should complete (as far as possible) and file Form 14 of Appendix B of the Supreme Court Practice Directions. The applicant should also prepare and file skeletal submissions for the urgent hearing. In cases of extreme urgency, an applicant may request to have the matter heard without notice to the other side before the duty registrar/duty judge. There are requirements to give notice (to opposing parties/counsel), and all papers and draft orders of court must be ready. Parties who seek urgent relief on a without-notice basis are also under a duty of full and frank disclosure. Material non-disclosure may result in the with- out-notice order being set aside. A party usually gives discovery by serving a list of documents in chronological order, with a brief description of each document. The opposing party is entitled to inspect and obtain copies of the listed documents. For general discovery, the court may, at a case conference, order that the parties in an action must exchange a list of and a copy of all docu- ments in their possession or control that fall within one or more of the following categories, within 14 days after the date of the case confer- ence: • all documents upon which the party in ques- tion will be relying; • all documents that a party ought reasonably to know are adverse to the party’s case; and 5. Discovery 5.1 Discovery and Civil Cases
• where applicable, documents that fall within a broader scope of discovery: (a) as may be agreed between the parties or any set of parties; or (b) as ordered by the court. Parties can apply for specific discovery of docu- ments or categories of documents. The court will order specific discovery only if the requested documents are properly identified and are mate- rial to the issues in the case. The production of documents is guided by the ROC’s five Ideals (see 4.1 Interim Applications/ Motions ). The two guiding principles governing discovery and production of documents are that: • a claimant is to sue and proceed on the strength of the claimant’s case and not on the weakness of the defendant’s case; and • a party who sues or is sued in court does not thereby give up their right to privacy and confidentiality in their documents and com- munications. However, these principles do not apply if a broader scope of discovery ensues by agree- ment or an order of court. In such circumstanc- es, the court primarily considers the ROC’s five Ideals and whether such broader discovery is in the interests of justice in aiding the fair disposal of the proceedings. The court may order the parties to file and exchange affidavits of evidence-in-chief of all or some of the witnesses after the pleadings have been filed and served, but before any production of documents and before the court considers the need for any application. The rationale behind this is to avoid the possibility that witnesses may
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