SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Foo Yuet Min, Kong Man Er, Shumin Lin and See Chern Yang, Drew & Napier LLC
Enforcement of Commonwealth Judgments Act 1921 (RECJA), which was repealed from 1 March 2023. The scope of judgments that may be recognised under the REFJA is more expansive than the RECJA. While the precise scope of enforceable judgments depends on the reciprocal agreement with the individual foreign country, the following judgments may now be recognised under the REFJA: • money and non-money judgments (including freezing orders, injunctions and orders for specific performance); • higher and lower court judgments; • interlocutory judgments; and • judicial settlements, consent judgments and consent orders. A REFJA application must be made within six years after the date of the judgment. The judg- ment creditor may commence proceedings to enforce a registered judgment after registration has been duly made, the judgment debtor has been notified, and the period within which an application may be made to set aside the regis- tration has expired. The CCAA currently applies to judgments from more than 30 jurisdictions, including European Union countries. Where the requirements set out in the CCAA are met, the Singapore Court must recognise and enforce a foreign judgment, sub- ject only to limited exceptions within the CCAA. The Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforce- ment) Act 1975 also provides for the enforce- ment of maintenance orders issued by the courts of designated countries.
Where legislation is inapplicable, a judgment creditor may bring a common law action for the recognition and enforcement of a foreign judg- ment by seeking summary judgment on the basis of the foreign judgment within six years of the date of the judgment. A foreign judgment is enforceable if it is a final and conclusive judg- ment for a definite sum of money granted by a court of competent jurisdiction. It would not be enforced only if it can be shown that the foreign judgment was procured by fraud, its enforce- ment would be contrary to public policy, or the proceedings in which the judgment was obtained were contrary to natural justice. 10. Appeal 10.1 Levels of Appeal or Review to a Litigation The General Division of the High Court has the jurisdiction to hear criminal appeals from the Dis- trict Courts, Magistrates’ Courts, Family Courts and Youth Courts. It may also hear civil appeals from the Family Courts, District Courts and Mag- istrates’ Courts, and from other tribunals as may be prescribed by written law – for example, the Employment Claims Tribunals. Appeals from 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 decision 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 Division and from the Appellate Division upwards to itself.
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