SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Foo Yuet Min, Kong Man Er, Shumin Lin and See Chern Yang, Drew & Napier LLC
ported by the facts on record, and may assess the credibility of witnesses based on internal inconsistencies in their testimony, or on the external inconsistency between their evidence and the extrinsic objective facts. A judge in chambers decides appeals from reg- istrar’s decisions as though the matter is before the court for the first time. In procedural mat- ters, the appellate court will allow the lower court maximum autonomy and intervene only if sub- stantial injustice will be caused otherwise. New Points on Appeal An appellate court would only allow a new point to be argued in exceptional circumstances. A party wishing to introduce a new point should clearly state so in its appeal. An appellate court would not decide in favour of an appellant on a ground put forward for the first time on appeal unless it is satisfied beyond doubt that it has before it all the facts bearing upon the new contention and that no satisfactory explanation could have been offered by the persons whose conduct is impugned. New Evidence on Appeal New evidence may only be admitted on appeal (with permission of the Court of Appeal) if the party can show that: • the evidence could not have been obtained with reasonable diligence for use at the trial; • the evidence would probably have an impor- tant influence on the result of the case; and • the evidence is presumably to be believed. The court may also admit new evidence (without permission of the Court of Appeal) if it relates to matters that have occurred after the date of the decision from which the appeal is brought and
such evidence materially affects the basis of the earlier decision. 10.5 Court-Imposed Conditions on Granting an Appeal Aside from matters such as obtaining permission of court and the requirement to provide secu- rity for costs, there are no general conditions imposed by the court on granting appeals. 10.6 Powers of the Appellate Court After an Appeal Hearing An appellate court has extensive powers when granting orders after hearing an appeal, includ- ing: • giving any judgment; • making any order that ought to have been given or made; • making such further orders as the case may require; and • even ordering a new trial. These orders may be granted in favour of a par- ty, notwithstanding that no notice of appeal has been given in respect of any particular part of a decision, or by that particular party to the pro- ceedings. The court’s powers are not restricted by any interlocutory orders that have not been appealed against. 11. Costs 11.1 Responsibility for Paying the Costs of Litigation Two sets of costs are relevant: party-and-party costs (payable between parties to litigation) and solicitor-and-client costs (payable by parties to their solicitors). Costs are typically paid by the losing party to the prevailing party. The quantum of costs payable may be determined by parties’
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