Supreme Court Practice Directions 2021 (To be read with Rules of Court 2021)

Practice Directions and Registrar’s Circulars are issued by the courts to supplement the Rules of Court by regulating court practice and procedure. Court users are expected to comply with all Practice Directions and Registrar’s Circulars issued by the court.

1. Citation and application

2. Definitions

3. References to written laws

4. Commencement

5. Updating

6. Applicability of Practice Directions

• Practice Directions to apply to civil proceedings

• Proceedings using the Electronic Filing Service

7. Calculation of time

8. Forms

9. Registrar’s Circulars

1. Citation and application

(1) These Practice Directions may be cited as the Supreme Court Practice Directions 2021, and will apply, on and after 1 April 2022, to:

(a) any cause or matter, in the General Division, the Appellate Division or the Court of Appeal, that is governed by the Rules of Court 2021; and

(b) any criminal proceedings commenced, in the General Division or the Court of Appeal, on or after 1 April 2022.

(2) The Supreme Court Practice Directions as in force immediately before 1 April 2022 continue to apply, on and after 1 April 2022, to:

(a) any cause or matter, in the General Division, the Appellate Division or the Court of Appeal, that is governed by the Rules of Court (Cap 322, R 5, 2014 Ed); and

(b) any criminal proceedings commenced, in the General Division or the Court of Appeal, before 1 April 2022.

2. Definitions

In these Practice Directions, unless the context otherwise requires: “Appellate Division” means the Appellate Division of the High Court; and “General Division” means the General Division of the High Court.

3. References to written laws

In these Practice Directions, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) any reference to a repealed provision of any written law is a reference to that provision as in force immediately before the date the provision is repealed;

(b) any reference to “Rules of Court 2021” is a reference to the Rules of Court 2021 (G.N. No. S 914/2021) as in force on or after 1 April 2022; and

(c) where any legislation is cited in these Practice Directions, the citation is to be read as referring to the version of that legislation currently in force.

4. Commencement

These Practice Directions come into operation on 1 April 2022.

5. Updating

Amendments to these Practice Directions will be done on a paragraph-for-paragraph basis. These Practice Directions will be automatically updated with the new amended paragraphs. A list of amendments made will also be found on the Singapore Courts website at .

6. Applicability of Practice Directions

Practice Directions to apply to civil proceedings

(1) These Practice Directions apply to civil proceedings only, unless otherwise stated.

Proceedings using the Electronic Filing Service

(2) For proceedings using the Electronic Filing Service, Part 5 of these Practice Directions does not apply.

7. Calculation of time

Unless otherwise stated, the provisions in the Rules of Court 2021 relating to the calculation of time apply to the calculation of time in these Practice Directions.

8. Forms

The forms specified by number in the Rules of Court 2021 are set out in Appendix A of these Practice Directions. The forms specified by number in these Practice Directions are set out in Appendix B of these Practice Directions. The forms are to be used where applicable, with such variations as the circumstances of the case may require.

9. Registrar’s Circulars

Registrar’s Circulars can be found at the Singapore Courts website at

47. Application

47. Application

(1) The directions contained in this Part apply to the filing, service, delivery and conveyance of documents in criminal proceedings in the General Division and criminal proceedings in the Court of Appeal.

(2) The attention of parties is drawn to the Criminal Procedure Code (Electronic Filing and Service for Supreme Court) Rules 2022, which have effect in relation to any document which, under the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, is required to be filed with, served on, delivered or otherwise conveyed to the Supreme Court, the Registrar, or any party to any criminal matter that is to be heard in the Supreme Court.

(3) In addition, the following paragraphs of these Practice Directions apply, with the necessary modifications, to documents in criminal proceedings:

(a) 21;

(b) 37;

(c) 38;

(d) 39, save for the provisions relating to fees;

(e) 40;

(f) 41;

(g) 42;

(h) 43, save for the provision relating to fees;

(i) 58(6);

(j) 59(3)(b) and 59(3)(c);

(k) 60(2) to 60(6);

53. Overview of Amicable Resolution of Disputes (ADR) for civil cases

54. ADR Offer and Response to ADR Offer

53. Overview of Amicable Resolution of Disputes (ADR) for civil cases

(1) This Part of the Practice Directions on the amicable resolution of the parties’ disputes applies only to civil cases in the General Division, the Appellate Division and the Court of Appeal.

(2) It is the professional duty of advocates and solicitors to advise their clients to consider ADR as well as to give their clients sufficient information about the different ways in which their disputes may be resolved using an appropriate form of ADR. In this connection, the attention of the advocates and solicitors is drawn to Rule 17(2)(e) of the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2015.

(3) The guidelines in Appendix D of these Practice Directions on advising clients about ADR apply.

(4) ADR must be considered before the commencement and during the course of any action or appeal in order to facilitate the just, expeditious and economical disposal of civil cases. This is especially where ADR may save costs, achieve a quicker amicable resolution and a surer way of meeting the parties’ needs.

(5) To ensure that parties are in compliance with Order 5, Rules 1 and 2 of the Rules of Court 2021 and that the Court is apprised of the same, advocates and solicitors are required to state in the Pre-Case Conference Questionnaire (“PCQ”), in particular under Section 4 (Settlement and ADR Options), whether amicable resolution has been attempted and if so, when and the form of amicable resolution attempted by the parties. The PCQ is to be submitted before the first Registrar’s Case Conference.

(6) The attention of advocates and solicitors as well as all the parties is drawn to Order 21, Rule 4(c) of the Rules of Court 2021. Advocates and solicitors should advise their clients on potential adverse costs orders for any unreasonable refusal to engage in ADR.

54. ADR Offer and Response to ADR Offer

(1) A party who wishes to attempt mediation or any other means of amicable resolution of the dispute should file and serve on all relevant parties an ADR Offer in Form B4 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions. The party in receipt is to respond by filing and serving the Response to ADR Offer in Form B5 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions.

(2) If all the parties are willing to attempt ADR, directions may be given by the Court in relation to the relevant civil case, including an adjournment of pending proceedings in Court with stipulated timelines for the completion of the ADR process.

(3) If the Court orders a party to submit a sealed document setting out the party’s reasons for refusing to attempt ADR pursuant to Order 5, Rule 3(3) of the Rules of Court 2021, the party is to file the sealed document through the Electronic Filing Service into the electronic case file under “ADR Sealed Document” within 7 days after the date of the order of court, unless the Court otherwise directs. The “ADR Sealed Document” does not need to be served on the other party or parties to the case.

(4) The “ADR Sealed Document” will be sealed upon acceptance by the Registry. Apart from the filing party, the “ADR Sealed Document” will not be available for inspection by any other party or the trial Court, until the issue of costs of the action is to be considered.

31. Application

32. Establishment of Electronic Filing Service and appointment of electronic filing service provider

33. Appointment of agent to establish service bureau

34. Registered users and authorised users

35. Documents which must be filed, served, delivered or otherwise conveyed using the Electronic Filing Service

36. Certificate of Service

37. Form of documents

38. Pagination of documents

39. Filing documents through service bureau

55. Attendance of counsel at case conferences

56. Documents to be filed for case conferences

• Pre-Case Conference Questionnaire

• List of Issues

165. Judge Case Conference Checklist for criminal trials in the General Division

165A. Affidavit in support of criminal motion for extension of time to lodge notice of appeal or petition of appeal

166. Affidavit in support of an application for permission under section 394H of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010

167. Written submissions for criminal appeals and other criminal matters before the Court of Appeal and the General Division

168. Further written submissions for criminal matters before the Court of Appeal

168A. Submissions by leading and junior assisting counsel in appeals under this Part

165. Judge Case Conference Checklist for criminal trials in the General Division

(1) For every criminal case in the General Division that is scheduled for a Judge Case Conference before trial, unless the Defence has indicated that the accused wishes to plead guilty or the Court otherwise directs, the Prosecution and the Defence must each file, at least 7 days before the date of the Judge Case Conference, a Checklist (called the “Judge Case Conference Checklist”) in Form B44 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions.

(2) Where the accused is not legally represented, the Registry will arrange, at least 4 weeks before the date of the Judge Case Conference, for a copy of the Judge Case Conference Checklist to be sent to, or collected by, the accused.

165A. Affidavit in support of criminal motion for extension of time to lodge notice of appeal or petition of appeal

(1) Under section 407(2)(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, a criminal motion must be supported by an affidavit setting out a concise statement of the facts, the relief or remedy required and the reasons for the relief or remedy.

(2) Where the relief or remedy sought in a criminal motion is an extension of time to lodge a notice of appeal under section 377(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, or to lodge a petition of appeal under section 378(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, the affidavit supporting the criminal motion must attach as an exhibit an information sheet in Form B44A of Appendix B of these Practice Directions. The information sheet must be completed and signed by the person who makes the affidavit.

166. Affidavit in support of an application for permission under section 394H of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010

(1) Under section 394H(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 read with Rules 11(2) and (3) of the Criminal Procedure Rules 2018, the applicant in an application for permission (as defined in section 394F(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010) must file an affidavit in support of the application at the same time as the filing of the application. This affidavit is to be made by the applicant’s advocate (if the applicant is represented by an advocate when the affidavit is filed) or by the applicant (if the applicant is not represented by an advocate when the affidavit is filed). Where the applicant is represented by one or more advocates, a separate affidavit may be made by each advocate as the deponent or a joint affidavit may be made by all of the advocates as deponents.

(2) Every affidavit mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) must attach as an exhibit an information sheet in Form B45 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions. The information sheet must be completed and signed by the person who makes the affidavit.

167. Written submissions for criminal appeals and other criminal matters before the Court of Appeal and the General Division

(1) This paragraph applies to:

(a) criminal appeals and other criminal matters before the Court of Appeal; and

(b) magistrate’s appeals and other criminal matters before the General Division, except where the General Division is exercising its original criminal jurisdiction.

(2) The provisions of this paragraph are subject to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (Electronic Filing and Service for Supreme Court) Rules 2022 and these Practice Directions, requiring the electronic filing of documents in criminal proceedings.

(3) Parties in magistrate’s appeals, criminal revisions and criminal motions before the General Division should ensure that 2 hard copies each of any written submissions and bundles of authorities (if any) are tendered to the Registry, unless parties are informed that more than 2 hard copies are to be tendered.

(4) Parties in criminal appeals, criminal motions and criminal references before the Court of Appeal should ensure that 4 hard copies of any written submissions and bundles of authorities (if any) are tendered to the Registry, unless parties are informed that more than 4 hard copies are to be tendered.

(5) To avoid doubt:

(a) written submissions must still be filed electronically; but

(b) it is not necessary for bundles of authorities to be filed electronically if hard copies are tendered;

(c) hard copies of bundles of authorities must be tendered to the Registry at the same time as hard copies of written submissions;

(d) parties are strongly encouraged to print hard copies on both sides of each page.

(6) The written submissions must comply with the following requirements:

(a) the written submissions must contain cross-references to the material which the party will be relying on, e.g., the relevant pages or paragraphs in authorities, the record of proceedings, affidavits, and the judgment under appeal;

(b) all pages (including, where applicable, the cover page, table of contents, separator sheets and exhibit sheets) must be paginated such that the printed page numbers correspond to the page numbers in the soft copy Portable Document Format (PDF) version that is filed through the Electronic Filing Service, and the page number must be inserted at the top right hand corner of the page;

(c) except for content reproduced from case authorities, textbook or other commentaries, other documents filed in Court, and extracts of transcripts, which may be in Times New Roman 10 or its equivalent, the minimum font size to be used must be Times New Roman 12 or its equivalent;

(d) the print of every page must be double-spaced, except for:

(i) cover pages and tables of contents;

(ii) paragraph and section headings or sub-headings;

(iii) content reproduced from case authorities, textbook or other commentaries, and other documents filed in Court; and

(7) Subject to any written law prescribing timelines for the filing of written submissions in criminal matters to which this paragraph applies, and any Court directions:

(a) For matters heard by the Court of Appeal: the written submissions, together with any bundle of authorities, must be filed by 4.00 p.m., on the Monday 3 weeks before the start of the sitting period of the Court of Appeal within which the appeal or matter is scheduled for hearing before the Court of Appeal, regardless of the actual day (within that sitting period) on which that appeal or matter is scheduled for hearing before the Court of Appeal. (For example, if the sitting period of the Court of Appeal starts on Monday, 27 June 2022 and ends on Friday, 8 July 2022, all written submissions for appeals or matters listed before the Court of Appeal in that sitting must be filed by 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 6 June 2022.)

(b) For matters heard by the General Division: the written submissions, together with any bundle of authorities, must be filed by 4.00 p.m., at least 10 days before the day of the hearing.

(8) Written submissions which do not comply with the requirements at sub-paragraphs (6) and (7) may be rejected.

(9) For matters before the Court of Appeal, a soft copy of the bundle of authorities must be tendered in Portable Document Format (PDF) in a CD-ROM at the same time as when the written submissions under sub-paragraph (7)(a) are filed.

168. Further written submissions for criminal matters before the Court of Appeal

Where the Court of Appeal orders further written submissions to be filed for any criminal matter, such written submissions must not exceed 10 pages unless otherwise directed by the Court of Appeal. Any written submissions filed in breach of this requirement may be rejected. The written submissions must further comply with all formatting requirements prescribed in paragraph 167(6) of these Practice Directions.

168A. Submissions by leading and junior assisting counsel in appeals under this Part

(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 96 of these Practice Directions, in the event that a party is represented by more than one counsel in the conduct of appeals under this Part, junior assisting counsel are ordinarily expected to make part of the submissions at any oral hearing.

(2) Lead counsel is to inform the Court at the start of the oral hearing which issues would be addressed by the lead counsel or the junior assisting counsel.

(3) Unless otherwise directed by the Court,

(a) counsel should ensure that he or she confines himself or herself to the issues to be addressed and that there is no overlap in the issues being dealt with by different counsel for the same party; and

(b) counsel must not repeat, clarify or expand on any submissions that have been made by another counsel for the same party.

(4) Nothing in this paragraph detracts from the responsibility of lead counsel to ensure that all counsel making submissions are adequately supervised and able to handle the tasks assigned to them.

155A. Definitions in this Part

156. Applications for admission as an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court under the Old Law

156A. Applications for admission as a lawyer (non-practitioner) or an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court under the New Law

157. “Part-call” applications pursuant to section 32(3) of the Old Law

158. Electronic applications for practising certificate and provisional practising certificate

164. Reference to Actuarial Tables for the Assessment of Damages in Personal Injury and Death Claims

164. Reference to Actuarial Tables for the Assessment of Damages in Personal Injury and Death Claims

(1) In all proceedings for the assessment of damages in personal injury and death claims, the Court will refer to the “Actuarial Tables with Explanatory Notes for use in Personal Injury and Death Claims” published by Academy Publishing of the Singapore Academy of Law (the “Actuarial Tables”) to determine an appropriate multiplier, unless the facts of the case and ends of justice dictate otherwise. This is so regardless of when the accidents or incidents that gave rise to those claims occurred, and regardless of the dates on which the actions were commenced.

48. Application

49. Information to be provided in cause papers and documents that are filed in the Registry

50. Form of affidavits

• Binding of affidavits

51. Documentary exhibits to affidavits

• Dividing sheets

• More than 10 documentary exhibits

52. File inspection and obtaining hard copy extracts or certified true copies of documents

48. Application

The directions contained in this Part apply to proceedings that do not require the use of the Electronic Filing Service.

49. Information to be provided in cause papers and documents that are filed in the Registry

To facilitate the contacting of lawyers having conduct of an action or matter by members of the staff of the Supreme Court, the following information must be inserted on the cover sheet or the backing sheet of all cause papers and documents filed in the Registry in the format set out below.

(Name of lawyer(s) having conduct of action or charge of matter) (Name of law firm) (Address of law firm) Email: (Email address of lawyer / law firm) Tel: (Contact telephone number) Ref: (File reference of law firm)

The information is to be inserted as a block near the bottom of the cover sheet or near the bottom right hand corner of the backing sheet.

50. Form of affidavits

(1) In addition to the requirements set out in paragraph 78 of these Practice Directions, affidavits must be:

(a) on A4-ISO paper of durable quality; and

(b) produced by printing or typewriting, and in any case not by carbon copying. A document produced by a photographic or similar process giving a positive and permanent representation free from blemishes will be treated, to the extent that it contains an exact copy of matter produced by either of the above processes, as if it were so produced. Photographic copies which are not clearly legible will be rejected.

Binding of affidavits

(2) Affidavits of 30 pages or less (including exhibits and dividing and backing sheets) may be stapled firmly at the top left hand corner of the paper. Any affidavit (including exhibits, dividing and backing sheets) exceeding 30 pages must be bound with plastic ring binding or plastic spine thermal binding (the plastic rings or spines to be red for claimants/appellants, and blue for defendants/respondents) with a transparent plastic cover in front and at the back.

51. Documentary exhibits to affidavits

Dividing sheets

(1) The dividing sheet that separates the documentary exhibits must be in a light colour other than white, marked, typed or stamped clearly with an exhibit mark and including the certificate of the commissioner for oaths required under Order 15, Rule 27(5) of the Rules of Court 2021 as follows:

“This is the exhibit marked [letter of the alphabet or a number] referred to in the affidavit of [name of the maker of the affidavit] and sworn/affirmed before me this [date on which the affidavit is affirmed]

Before me,

(Signed) A Commissioner for Oaths”

More than 10 documentary exhibits

(2) In addition to the requirements set out in paragraph 80 (except sub-paragraph (5) of that paragraph), when there are more than 10 distinct documentary exhibits in an affidavit, each exhibit must be flagged by means of a plastic tag, marked in accordance with the exhibit reference and such flags must run vertically down the right edge of the exhibits evenly spaced out so as not to overlap one another. Where a table of contents of the documentary exhibits is required, the table of contents itself must bear the top-most flag, marked “TABLE”.

52. File inspection and obtaining hard copy extracts or certified true copies of documents

(1) In order to inspect a case file in civil proceedings that do not use the Electronic Filing Service, the following procedure should be followed:

(a) A Request should be submitted to the Registry to obtain permission to inspect the case file. The Request should state the name of the person who is to carry out the search or inspection. If this person is not a solicitor, his or her identification and contact details should also be included in the Request, and his or her identification document (including physical or digital identity card) should be produced for verification when requested. The Request should also state the interest that the applicant has in the matter, and the reason for the search or inspection. If the search or inspection is requested for the purpose of ascertaining information for use in a separate suit or matter, the Request should clearly state the nature of the information sought and the relevance of such information to the separate suit or matter.

(b) Upon confirmation of the receipt of payment of the fees payable, and once approval for inspection has been received from the Court, the inspection of the case file and Court documents will be carried out at the Registry.

(2) Applications to obtain hard copy extracts or certified true copies of documents in civil proceedings that do not use the Electronic Filing Service may be made by submitting a Request to the Registry:

(a) The intended use of the hard copy extracts or certified true copies should be clearly stated in the Request. The relevance and necessity of the hard copy extracts or certified true copies in relation to their intended use should also be clearly described.

(b) The applicant will be informed of the outcome of his or her Request and the fees payable for the provision of the certified true copies if the Request is approved. Upon confirmation of the receipt of payment of the fees payable, the certified true copies will be released to the applicant. The Registry may require verification of the identity of the applicant against his or her identification document (including physical or digital identity card) prior to release of the certified true copies.

(c) The fees prescribed by the Fourth Schedule to the Rules of Court 2021 will be payable for the provision of the above service.

(3) The Registry will only accept typewritten Requests which are printed on paper of good quality and signed by the applicant or his or her solicitors. If the Request is not typewritten, it should be handwritten in a clear and legible manner. Otherwise, the Request may be rejected.

163. Compliance with protocol

163. Compliance with protocol

(1) Parties in medical negligence claims are to comply with the Protocol for Medical Negligence Cases in the General Division of the High Court (“protocol”) at Appendix H of these Practice Directions. A breach by one party will not exempt the other parties in the claim from following the protocol insofar as they are able to do so.

(2) In exercising its discretion as to costs, the Court will consider compliance with the protocol. If non-compliance with the protocol has led to unnecessary costs, the Court may make the following orders:

(a) an order disallowing a defaulting party his or her costs, or some part of his or her costs, even if he or she succeeds;

(b) an order that the defaulting party pay the other party or parties their costs of the proceedings, or part of those costs; and

(c) an order that the defaulting party pay those costs on an indemnity basis.

(3) The Court will consider compliance with the protocol in exercising its discretion when deciding the amount of interest payable and may make the following orders:

(a) an order awarding a successful party who has complied with the protocol interest from a date earlier than the date from which he or she would otherwise have been entitled to obtain interest; and

(b) an order depriving a successful party who has not complied with the protocol of interest in respect of such period as may be specified.

107. Draft orders

108. Judgment in default

109. Judgment Interest

• Interest rates in judgments in default under Order 6, Rule 6(5), 7(7) or 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021

• Pre-judgment non-contractual interest

• Pre-judgment contractual interest

• Post-judgment interest

• Interest under an order of court made under Order 13, Rule 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021

110. Judgments or orders by consent or on agreed terms involving disposition or transfer of property

107. Draft orders

(1) Order 17, Rule 3(5) and (6) of the Rules of Court 2021 place the burden of approving the drafts of judgments and orders on the solicitors themselves. The solicitors should therefore approve the drafts and not submit these drafts to the Registrar for approval.

(2) The Registrar’s signature on a judgment or order is only for the purpose of validity and does not in any way affect the regularity or irregularity of the contents of any judgment or order.

(3) Subject to sub-paragraph (4), parties in applications with notice should proceed to engross a final copy of the draft judgment or order for signature by the Registrar after agreeing on the draft. Draft orders for applications without notice may be submitted with the application without notice and the supporting affidavit when these are filed.

(4) For draft orders in electronic form that are composed online through the Electronic Filing Service, the process for extracting judgments and orders is as follows:

(a) Parties have the option of filing a system-generated order of court through the Electronic Filing Service.

(b) Before filing the system-generated order of court, the party extracting the order must:

(i) review and edit the order of court electronic form to ensure that it accurately reflects the orders made by the Court; and

(ii) obtain the approval of all other parties to the application and provide evidence of such approval when filing the draft order of court, for example, a Portable Document Format (PDF) copy of the draft order of court signed by the solicitors of all parties to the application.

(c) The Registry will seal and issue an engrossed order of court once its terms are approved.

(5) Order 17, Rule 3(7) and (8) of the Rules of Court 2021 will apply where there is a dispute on the terms of the draft order:

(a) In such a case, the party who drew up the order may write to the Court to resolve the dispute and the letter must set out the areas of dispute.

(b) The party is responsible for including in the letter all versions of the terms of the draft in dispute between the parties and all relevant correspondence.

(c) The Court may give its decision on the dispute on the terms of the draft without the attendance of the parties or fix an appointment to hear the parties on the dispute.

(6) Where any of the other parties has no solicitor, the draft order is to be submitted to the Registrar.

108. Judgment in default

(1) The procedure for applying for judgment to be given where, within the prescribed period, (a) no notice of intention to contest or not contest is filed and served, (b) a notice stating that the defendant does not intend to contest is filed and served, (c) no defence or defence to counterclaim is filed and served, is by filing an application in Forms 11 or 14 of Appendix A of these Practice Directions, as the case may be.

(2) A party filing an application for judgment in default in Form 11 or 14 of Appendix A of these Practice Directions must also file a memorandum of service in Form 12 of Appendix A of these Practice Directions, a draft of the judgment which the party seeks to apply for, a note of costs, and, where the judgment is for possession of immovable property, a certificate by the party’s solicitor (or where the party is not legally represented, an affidavit) stating that no relief is sought in the nature of reliefs under Order 52, Rule 1 of the Rules of Court 2021.

(3) In order to satisfy itself that judgment should be given under Order 6, Rule 6(5) or 7(7) of the Rules of Court 2021, the Court may require an affidavit to be filed stating the time, place and method of service of the originating claim on the defendant, as well as the fact that the defendant had, within the prescribed period, failed to file and serve a notice of intention to contest or not contest, or a defence, as the case may be.

(4) Sub-paragraph (3) applies, with the necessary modifications, to a judgment in default under Order 6, Rule 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021.

109. Judgment Interest

Interest rates in judgments in default under Order 6, Rule 6(5), 7(7) or 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021

(1) The directions set out in sub-paragraphs (2) and (3) must be observed when applying for judgments in default under Order 6, Rule 6(5), 7(7) or 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021. In respect of post-judgment interest for such judgments in default, please refer to sub- paragraph (4).

Pre-judgment non-contractual interest

(2) For non-contractual interest:

(a) As provided for under Order 6, Rules 6(7) and 7(8) of the Rules of Court 2021, the rate of interest is 5.33% per year.

(b) The period of interest is from the date of the originating process to the date of the judgment.

(c) The total amount of interest payable need not be specified.

Pre-judgment contractual interest

(3) For contractual interest:

(a) For fixed or constant rate:

(i) The rate of interest provided for must be specified.

(ii) The period of interest must be as pleaded, except that it must end on the date of judgment and not on the date of payment.

(iii) The total amount of interest payable need not be specified.

(b) For fluctuating rate:

(i) There must be an appendix attached to the draft judgment filed together with the application for judgment in default in Forms 11 or 14 of Appendix A of these Practice Directions, as the case may be, in the following form:

(ii) The period of interest must be as pleaded, except that it must end on the date of judgment and not on the date of payment.

(iii) The total amount of interest payable must be specified in the judgment.

(c) Evidence of the agreement as to the rate of interest must be attached to the draft judgment.

Post-judgment interest

(4) In respect of post-judgment interest for judgments in default under Order 6, Rule 6(5), 7(7) or 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021, parties may refer to Order 17, Rule 5 of the Rules of Court 2021.

Interest under an order of court made under Order 13, Rule 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021

(5) If an order of court made under Order 13, Rule 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021 includes an order for interest on the sum shown by the receiver’s account as due from him or her and which the receiver has failed to pay into Court, the rate of interest applicable to such an order is 5.33% per year in accordance with Order 17, Rule 5(1)(b) of the Rules of Court 2021. Interest will accrue for the period during which the sum was in the possession of the receiver.

110. Judgments or orders by consent or on agreed terms involving disposition or transfer of property

(1) In any request or application for a judgment or order by consent or on agreed terms involving any disposition or transfer of property, parties must provide the following information to the Court:

(a) the owner of the property subject to disposition or transfer;

(b) whether the owner of the property is incapacitated by reason of insolvency from effecting a disposition or transfer of the property;

(c) whether the property is subject to any encumbrances which would affect a disposition or transfer of the property; and

(d) any other relevant information which ought to be disclosed to the Court in granting the judgment or order by consent or on agreed terms.

(2) The Court may require the information in this paragraph to be provided by way of affidavit, including exhibiting the relevant searches where applicable.

1. Application

2. Proceedings under the Simplified Process

3. Forms

172. Application

173. Request for an action to be placed on the Express Track

174. Court’s order or direction upon filing of the Request

175. Production of documents relied on by a party in pleadings

176. Case management for actions placed on the Express Track

177. Affidavits of evidence-in-chief

178. Restriction on right of appeal

172. Application

This Part provides for the placing of an action in the General Division on the Express Track in accordance with Order 46A, Rule 1(2) of the Rules of Court 2021, and for matters related to the Express Track.

173. Request for an action to be placed on the Express Track

(1) A request mentioned in Order 46A, Rule 1(2) of the Rules of Court 2021 (the “Request”) must be made by all parties to the action by consent in Form B46 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions, but may be filed by any party to the action and served on all the other parties in the action.

(2) The Request may be filed at any time no later than 2 months after the filing of the last pleading. An application for an extension of time to make the Request may be made by a letter filed using the Electronic Filing Service as an “Other Hearing Related Request”, and must state:

(a) the period of the delay in making the Request;

(b) the reasons for the delay in making the Request; and

(c) why the action should be placed on the Express Track despite the delay in making the Request.

(3) The Request is to be filed using the Electronic Filing Service as a “Form for Election (Express Track)”. Only one Request is to be filed for an action, regardless of the number of parties to the action.

174. Court’s order or direction upon filing of the Request

(1) Upon the filing of the Request, a Judge sitting in the General Division may:

(a) by order place the action on the Express Track, or decline to make an order placing the action on the Express Track, without hearing oral arguments; or

(b) fix a case conference to discuss with the parties the suitability of the action to be placed on the Express Track, despite the parties’ consent, before deciding whether to place the action on the Express Track.

175. Production of documents relied on by a party in pleadings

(1) For the purposes of Order 46A, Rule 2 of the Rules of Court 2021, a party’s list of documents must be set out in a tabular form in the following manner:

(a) the first column should state the serial number of each document included in the list;

(b) the second column should state the date of the document (if applicable);

(c) the third column should set out a general description of the document; and

(d) the fourth column should set out the relevant paragraph number(s) of the party’s pleading containing the allegation that the document is relied on to prove.

(2) The documents in the list of documents should be arranged in chronological order.

176. Case management for actions placed on the Express Track

(1) At a case conference for an action placed on the Express Track, the Court will give directions on all matters that are necessary for the action to proceed expeditiously taking into consideration the Ideals in Order 3, Rule 1 of the Rules of Court 2021.

(2) The directions given by the Court at a case conference may include:

(a) identifying and narrowing the main issues in dispute, whether factual, legal or concerning expert evidence (where applicable);

(b) the number of affidavits and witnesses;

(c) the timelines for filing and serving affidavits;

(d) the timelines relating to the bundle of documents mentioned in Order 9, Rule 25(9)(b) of the Rules of Court 2021;

(e) the date(s) and duration of the trial; and

(f) the time allocated for the examination of each witness at trial.

(3) Where appropriate, the Court may direct parties to prepare a Scott Schedule setting out the list of issues in dispute, whether factual, legal or concerning expert evidence (where applicable).

177. Affidavits of evidence-in-chief

(1) At the time the affidavits of evidence-in-chief of a party’s witnesses are filed, the party’s solicitor or the party (if self-represented) must file a Written Confirmation, in Form B47 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions, by which the party’s solicitor or party (as the case may be) confirms such of the following as may be applicable:

(a) that the affidavit of evidence-in-chief of each witness (apart from any witness mentioned in sub-paragraph (b)) does not exceed the page limit of 30 pages (excluding exhibits) under Order 46A, Rule 3(3) of the Rules of Court 2021;

(b) where the Court has ordered or allowed under Order 46A, Rule 3(3) or (4) of the Rules of Court 2021 a different page limit to apply to the affidavit of evidence-in-chief of any witness before the filing of that affidavit of evidence-in-chief, that the affidavit of evidence-in-chief of that witness does not exceed the page limit (excluding exhibits) ordered or allowed by the Court under Order 46A, Rule 3(3) or (4) of the Rules of Court 2021.

(2) A request for the Court’s permission under Order 46A, Rule 3(4) of the Rules of Court 2021 to exceed the page limit for an affidavit of evidence-in-chief must be made no later than within 3 working days before the date of filing of that affidavit of evidence-in-chief.

(3) Where the Court allows an affidavit of evidence-in-chief of a witness to exceed 30 pages (excluding exhibits), the filing party must pay the applicable fees for the additional pages under item 44A in Part 1 of the Fourth Schedule to the Rules of Court 2021, unless the Court waives, refunds or defers the payment of those fees under Order 46A, Rule 3(5) of the Rules of Court 2021.

(4) A request for permission under Order 46A, Rule 3(4) of the Rules of Court 2021 is to be filed using the Electronic Filing Service as an “Other Hearing Related Request”.

(5) Unless the permission of the Court is obtained under Order 46A, Rule 3(4) of the Rules of Court 2021, and any fees payable under item 44A in Part 1 of the Fourth Schedule to the Rules of Court 2021 are paid or waived by the Court, the Court may reject the filing of, or expunge, an affidavit of evidence-in-chief that exceeds the page limit under Order 46A, Rule 3(3) of the Rules of Court 2021, and direct that party to re-file and re-serve each affidavit of evidence-in-chief that does not comply with the page limit.

178. Restriction on right of appeal

(1) Under section 29(b) of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969 read with paragraph 4(1) of the Fourth Schedule to that Act, where an action is, with the consent of all the parties, ordered by the Court to be placed on the Express Track, an appeal cannot be brought against any decision of a Judge in the action except:

(a) in a case specified in paragraph 4(1)(a) to (i) of the Fourth Schedule to that Act; and

(b) in any such case where permission to appeal is required under section 29A of that Act read with the Fifth Schedule to that Act, subject to obtaining such permission.

(2) Under section 29(b) of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969 read with paragraph 4(2) of the Fourth Schedule to that Act, and under section 29(a) of that Act read with Order 46A, Rule 1(4) of the Rules of Court 2021, an appeal cannot be brought against any of the following decisions of a Judge:

(a) a decision of a Judge to make an order under Order 46A, Rule 1(3) of the Rules of Court 2021 for the removal of an action from the Express Track;

(b) a decision of a Judge to decline to make an order under Order 46A, Rule 1(2) of the Rules of Court 2021 for the placing of an action on the Express Track.

159. Bankruptcy applications

160. Applications to set aside statutory demands made under the Bankruptcy Rules or the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution (Personal Insolvency) Rules 2020

161. Judicial Management and winding up applications under the Companies Act (Cap. 50, 2006 Rev. Ed.) or Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018

162. Documents for use in open court trials of contested winding-up applications

• Bundles of documents

• Bundles of authorities

• Opening statements

• Timeline for tendering documents

159. Bankruptcy applications

The following arrangements will apply to hearings of bankruptcy matters:

(1) Bankruptcy matters are divided into 2 parts, namely,

(a) applications for bankruptcy orders; and

(b) other applications under the Bankruptcy Act (Cap. 20, 2009 Rev. Ed.) or Bankruptcy Rules, or under Parts 13 to 21 of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 or the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution (Personal Insolvency) Rules 2020, including:

(i) applications to set aside statutory demands;

(ii) applications to extend the time to set aside statutory demands; and

(iii) applications for interim orders.

(2) Without notice applications for substituted service in bankruptcy proceedings will be dealt with by the Duty Registrar.

160. Applications to set aside statutory demands made under the Bankruptcy Rules or the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution (Personal Insolvency) Rules 2020

(1) Rule 97 of the Bankruptcy Rules and Rule 67 of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution (Personal Insolvency) Rules 2020 allow a debtor to apply to set aside a statutory demand within such of the following periods, after the date on which the statutory demand is served or deemed to be served on the debtor, as may be applicable:

(a) 14 days; or

(b) where the demand was served outside Singapore – 21 days.

(2) Without limiting Rule 98 of the Bankruptcy Rules or Rule 68 of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution (Personal Insolvency) Rules 2020, on an application to set aside a statutory demand based on a judgment or an order, the Court will not go behind the judgment or order and inquire into the validity of the debt.

(3) When the debtor:

(a) claims to have a counterclaim, set-off or cross demand (whether or not he or she could have raised it in the action or proceedings in which the judgment or order was obtained) which equals or exceeds the amount of the debt or debts specified in the statutory demand; or

(b) disputes the debt (not being a debt subject to a judgment or order),

the Court will normally set aside the statutory demand if, in its opinion, on the evidence there is a genuine triable issue.

161. Judicial Management and winding up applications under the Companies Act (Cap. 50, 2006 Rev. Ed.) or Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018

After a winding up application has been filed, the applicant or his or her solicitor should file the necessary documents using the checklist provided in the Electronic Filing Service. Once the necessary documents under the checklist have been filed, the applicant or his or her solicitor should generate and file the winding up memorandum before attending before the Duty Registrar in compliance with Rule 32 of the Companies (Winding Up) Rules or Rule 73 of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution (Corporate Insolvency and Restructuring) Rules 2020. This requirement will similarly apply to judicial management applications under the Companies Act (Cap. 50, 2006 Rev. Ed.) or the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018.

162. Documents for use in open court trials of contested winding-up applications

(1) This paragraph applies to trials of contested winding-up applications in open court.

(2) To facilitate the conduct of contested winding-up applications and to reduce the time taken in the presentation of cases in Court, the following documents must be filed by the respective solicitors of the parties:

(a) a bundle of documents (an agreed bundle where possible);

(b) a bundle of authorities; and

(c) an opening statement.

Bundles of documents

(3) For bundles of documents:

(a) Documents to be used at trial (including, where applicable, the cover page, table of contents, separator sheets and exhibit sheets) must be paginated such that the printed page numbers correspond to the page numbers in the soft copy Portable Document Format (PDF) version of the document that is filed through the Electronic Filing Service, the page number must be inserted at the top right hand corner of the page, and, where there are multiple volumes, each separate volume must start at page 1, and every page in that volume must be numbered consecutively. An index of the contents of each bundle in the manner and form set out in Form B18 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions must also be prepared. No bundle of documents is necessary in cases where parties are not relying on any document at the trial.

(b) It is the responsibility of solicitors for all parties to agree and prepare an agreed bundle as soon as possible. The scope to which the agreement extends must be stated in the index sheet of the agreed bundle.

(c) In cases where certain documents cannot be agreed upon, these should be separately bundled as the applicant’s or claimant’s bundle or such other party’s bundle, as the case may be.

(d) The requirements set out in paragraph 102(8) to (13) of these Practice Directions must, with the necessary modifications, be complied with in respect of proceedings falling within this paragraph.

(e) The bundles of documents including the agreed bundle and core bundle, if applicable, must be filed and served on all relevant parties at least 5 working days before trial.

Bundles of authorities

(4) The requirements set out in paragraph 101(5) to (11) of these Practice Directions must, with the necessary modifications, be complied with in respect of proceedings falling within this paragraph.

Opening statements

(5) The requirements set out in paragraph 102(14) of these Practice Directions must, with the necessary modifications, be complied with in respect of proceedings falling within this paragraph.

Timeline for tendering documents

(6) Paragraph 102(2) to (4) of these Practice Directions apply, with the necessary modifications, to proceedings to which this paragraph applies.

146. Arrest of ships

147. Arrest of ships in shipyards

148. Form of undertaking

149. Release of vessel lying under arrest

150. Caveat against release

151. Filing of supporting documents

152. Hard copies at hearing of admiralty matters

153. Searches for caveats against arrest or release

154. Registration of service clerks for admiralty matters

155. Applications for appraisement and sale

146. Arrest of ships

(1) The claimant will apply to a Judge for an omnibus order in every case where a ship or vessel is arrested, giving the Sheriff discretion to take various measures for the safe and satisfactory custody of the arrested property. The usual prayers in the application for an omnibus order are prayers 7 to 11 of Annex B (Standard Appraisement and Sale Prayers and Omnibus Prayers) to the current edition of the Admiralty Court Guide issued pursuant to a Registrar’s Circular (the “Admiralty Court Guide”).

(2) Solicitors representing arresting parties in admiralty proceedings are required to provide an undertaking that the Sheriff will be indemnified and be provided with sufficient funds as and when required by the Sheriff to meet the charges and expenses that may be incurred in consequence of their request for the arrest of a vessel. If such an undertaking is not fulfilled within a reasonable time, the Sheriff may take such steps as may be necessary to enforce the undertaking against the solicitors concerned.

(3) Upon the arrest of vessel, funds are required immediately to meet the Sheriff’s expenses, such as security guard charges, port and garbage dues, and the supply of minimum victuals, domestic fuel and water to crew members where necessary. Funds to meet such expenses are not provided for by the Government.

(4) To enable the Sheriff to discharge his duties effectively, upon the arrest of a vessel, the Sheriff will require the solicitors representing arresting parties to deposit with the Sheriff a sum of $10,000. Such deposit is in addition to the usual undertaking.

(5) During the relevant period as defined in Order 33, Rule 11(5) of the Rules of Court 2021, the solicitors representing arresting parties must make reasonable efforts to notify the following persons and entities in writing of the service of the warrant of arrest or the originating claim in an action in rem as soon as practicable after the warrant of arrest or the originating claim (as the case may be) is served in accordance with Order 33, Rule 11 of the Rules of Court 2021:

(a) the owner of the ship;

(b) the demise charterer (if any) of the ship;

(c) the Master of the ship;

(d) the manager of the ship; and

(e) if the ship is in a shipyard — the shipyard.

(6) For the purposes of Order 33, Rules 11(3)(a) and (4)(a)(ii) of the Rules of Court 2021, the claimant must annex a copy of the results of a search on the ship conducted on the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore website at showing:

(a) the identity of the agent of the ship; and

(b) the location of the ship or, where the property is cargo, the ship in which the cargo was carried, within the limits of the port declared under section 3(1) of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Act 1996, on the date and at the time of the service of the warrant of arrest or the originating claim in an action in rem (as the case may be).

(7) Throughout the arrest of a vessel, the solicitors representing the arresting party must engage ship watch services and provide daily updates to the Sheriff on the location of the vessel.

(8) The Sheriff may require the arresting party to deploy a security guard on board the vessel under arrest for the whole or any part of the period when the vessel is under arrest. The circumstances in which the Sheriff may require the deployment of a security guard on board the vessel under arrest include, but are not limited to:

(a) the discharge of cargo from the vessel;

(b) the moving of the vessel from berth to anchorage, and the other way around;

(c) any actual or potential unrest on the vessel; and

(d) any other circumstance that may affect the preservation of the vessel.

147. Arrest of ships in shipyards

(1) In every case where a vessel is arrested in or within a shipyard, the claimant must, within 14 days of the arrest or within 3 days from a request by a shipyard to move the vessel (whichever is the earlier), apply to a Judge for an omnibus order giving the Sheriff discretion to take appropriate measures for the safe and satisfactory custody of the arrested property.

(2) The usual prayers in the application for an omnibus order are prayers 7 to 11 of Annex B (Standard Appraisement and Sale Prayers and Omnibus Prayers) to the Admiralty Court Guide. In addition, in circumstances where the shipyard is asserting a possessory lien against the vessel, the omnibus order should stipulate that the order is without prejudice to the shipyard’s possessory lien.

148. Form of undertaking

In order to ensure that there is no undue delay in the issuance and execution of warrants of arrest and release as well as commissions for appraisement and sale, solicitors are requested to prepare the undertaking in the manner and form set out in Form B43 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions.

149. Release of vessel lying under arrest

(1) If the arresting party requires the Sheriff to attend at the port in which a vessel is lying under arrest for the purposes of releasing the vessel from arrest, whether during or after office hours, he or she must do so by filing the Request for Attendance of the Sheriff in Form B35 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions through the Electronic Filing Service. A Request for Attendance of the Sheriff made in any other manner will not be acceded to.

(2) The fees prescribed by the Fourth Schedule to the Rules of Court 2021 will be payable in respect of any attendance by the Sheriff.

150. Caveat against release

(1) With respect to property as to which a caveat against release is in force, a party, before applying for the issuance of a release, must give at least 24 hours’ prior written notice to any party at whose instance a subsisting caveat against release has been entered to either withdraw the caveat or arrest the property in another action.

(2) A release may be issued by the Court pursuant to Order 33, Rule 13(2)(b) of the Rules of Court 2021 with respect to property as to which a caveat against release is in force if such caveat is not withdrawn or where the caveator has failed to arrest the property in another action notwithstanding that prior notice in sub-paragraph (1) has been given.

151. Filing of supporting documents

The attention of solicitors is drawn to paragraph 11 which sets out the opening hours of the Registry. Solicitors must ensure that the necessary documents are filed within the opening hours of the Registry to enable execution to be effected. The directions in paragraph 85 apply when an urgent application has to be made after the Registry’s opening hours.

152. Hard copies at hearing of admiralty matters

Order 33, Rule 27(2) of the Rules of Court 2021 provides that the party by whom an admiralty action is set down for trial must file any preliminary acts and a Request for the assessor’s attendance (where applicable) at least 14 days before the trial date, unless the Court otherwise orders. In addition to this rule, the party must tender 3 hard copies of the preliminary act(s) to the Registry.

153. Searches for caveats against arrest or release

(1) Order 33, Rule 4(2)(b) of the Rules of Court 2021 provides that the party applying for a warrant of arrest to be issued must procure a search to be made in the record of caveats to ascertain whether there is a caveat against arrest in force with respect to that property.

(2) Order 33, Rule 13(2) of the Rules of Court 2021 provides that a release must not be issued if a caveat against release is in force, unless, either (a) at the time of the issue of the release the property is under arrest in one or more other actions, or (b) the Court so orders.

(3) A party applying for either an arrest or release of a particular property must provide documentation evidencing a search for caveats against arrest or release (as the case may be) reflecting a search done no more than 15 minutes before the hearing of the application.

154. Registration of service clerks for admiralty matters

(1) Pursuant to Order 33, Rules 7(4) and 9(2) of the Rules of Court 2021, service of an originating claim or execution of a warrant of arrest may be effected by a solicitor or a solicitor’s clerk whose name and particulars have been notified to the Registrar.

(2) The attention of solicitors is drawn to paragraph 62(2) of these Practice Directions which requires solicitors to notify the Registry of the particulars of authorised process servers, who have been authorised by them to serve processes and execute warrants of arrest by submitting a request to authorise user through the Electronic Filing Service. Where such authorised process servers are no longer so authorised, solicitors are to revoke or delete the authorisation immediately by submitting a request through the Electronic Filing Service. Solicitors’ clerks do not require the authorisation of the Registrar to effect personal service of processes and documents.

(3) Paragraph 62(3) to (5) of these Practice Directions, with the necessary modifications, apply to the assignment of the Sheriff to effect service of an originating claim or execute a warrant of arrest.

155. Applications for appraisement and sale

(1) Any party applying for the appraisement and sale of any property in an admiralty action must include a prayer to the Court to appoint 1 or more appraisers to value the property. The applicant must submit with the application a list of appraisers maintained by the Sheriff.

(2) The Court appointed appraiser(s) must be named in Form 58 of Appendix A of these Practice Directions.

(3) The list of appraisers referred to in sub-paragraph (1) may be found on the Singapore Courts website at or will be provided by the Registry upon request.

139. Applying for enforcement order

140. Requests for the Sheriff’s attendance

141. Service of Notice of Seizure or Attachment on the directions of the Sheriff

142. Claims and objections to seizure or attachment

143. Sale of immovable property

144. Sheriff’s Internet Website

145. Examination of Enforcement Respondent

76. Witnesses

• Issuance of orders to attend court

• Release of witness upon completion of evidence

• Request for Registrar to produce document or Court’s records

77. Giving of evidence by person outside Singapore through live video link or live television link in any proceedings (other than proceedings in a criminal matter)

78. Form of affidavits

79. Non-documentary exhibits to affidavits

80. Documentary exhibits to affidavits

• More than 10 documentary exhibits

• Pagination

• Dividing sheets

• Bookmarks

81. Affirming and signing of affidavits in Singapore before, and completing of attestation by, commissioner for oaths through live video link or live television link

82. Affirming of documents by persons who do not understand English, are illiterate or blind

83. Effect of non-compliance

84. Objections to the contents of affidavits of evidence-in-chief

84A. Notice to Admit Hearsay Evidence

76. Witnesses

Issuance of orders to attend court

(1) A party requesting an order to attend court to be issued by the Registrar pursuant to Order 15, Rule 4(1) of the Rules of Court 2021 must file the order to attend court in the manner and form set out in Form 29 of Appendix A of these Practice Directions. An order to attend court is issued when it is sealed by an officer of the Registry.

(2) Where the issuance of an order to attend court is made under any written law for the purposes of a cause or matter that is not before the Court (e.g., before an arbitration tribunal or a disciplinary tribunal), the party must submit to the Registry 1 hard copy each of his or her Request and the order to attend court to be sealed. An order to attend court is issued when the hard copy is sealed by an officer of the Registry.

Release of witness upon completion of evidence

(3) Every witness will be released by the Court upon completion of his or her evidence and it is the duty of counsel to apply to the Court if counsel desires the witness to remain.

Request for Registrar to produce document or Court’s records

(4) A request to produce a document filed in Court or the Court’s records pursuant to Order 15, Rule 4(15) of the Rules of Court 2021 must be made in Form B12 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions.

77. Giving of evidence by person outside Singapore through live video link or live television link in any proceedings (other than proceedings in a criminal matter)

(1) Any application for permission for any person outside Singapore to give evidence by live video link or live television link in any proceedings (other than proceedings in a criminal matter) must be made expeditiously and, in any case, unless the Court otherwise directs, not later than 8 weeks before the date of commencement of the hearing at which the person is to give evidence. The application may also contain a prayer for the issue of a letter of request, to the relevant authorities of a foreign jurisdiction, for permission for evidence to be given by live video or live television link by a person located in that jurisdiction, if the laws of that jurisdiction require the issue of such a letter of request.

(2) A party applying for permission for any person outside Singapore to give evidence by live video link or live television link must take note of the relevant legislation and requirements in force in the foreign country or territory where the person is giving evidence. Certain countries or territories may impose prohibitions against, restrictions on, or requirements to obtain permission for or relating to, the giving of evidence by a person in that country or territory for Court proceedings in a different country or territory. The party applying for permission must make all necessary enquiries, and take all necessary steps, to ensure that the foreign country or territory where the person is giving evidence raises no objection, to the giving of evidence in that country or territory for Court proceedings in Singapore. This may be done by any means that the party considers appropriate, including:

(a) obtaining advice from a foreign lawyer qualified to advise on the laws of the relevant foreign country or territory;

(b) making enquiries with the relevant authorities; or

(c) obtaining permission from the relevant foreign country or territory, in accordance with any applicable procedure, for evidence to be given by a person located in that country or territory through a live video or live television link, if such permission is required.

(3) An application for the issue of a letter of request, to the relevant authorities of a foreign jurisdiction, for permission for evidence to be given by live video link or live television link by a person located in that jurisdiction, if not contained in an application mentioned in sub- paragraph (1), must be made expeditiously and, in any case, unless the Court otherwise directs, not later than 8 weeks before the date of commencement of the hearing at which the person is to give evidence.

(4) To avoid doubt, the proceedings mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) include all civil proceedings involving the examination of any person.

78. Form of affidavits

(1) Affidavits must be in Form 31 of Appendix A of these Practice Directions. In addition to the requirements under Order 15, Rule 19 of the Rules of Court 2021, affidavits must comply with the following requirements:

(a) every page must have a margin on all 4 sides, each of at least 35mm in width;

(b) the text of affidavits (as opposed to the exhibits) must be printed or typed on white paper, and the print of every page of the text of affidavits (as opposed to the exhibits) must be double-spaced, except for:

(i) cover pages and tables of contents;

(ii) paragraph and section headings or sub-headings;

(iii) content reproduced from case authorities, textbook or other commentaries, and other documents filed in Court; and

(iv) extracts of transcripts,

which may be single-spaced;

(c) the following information must be typed or printed in a single line at the top right hand corner of the first page of every affidavit:

(2) When filing affidavits for use during a hearing of an interlocutory application, the summons number of the interlocutory application must be provided in the Electronic Filing Service in addition to the case number of the suit or matter.

(3) Every affidavit which is filed in conjunction with a summons must have endorsed at the top left hand corner of the first page of the affidavit the summons number.

(4) Unless otherwise directed by the Court, hard copies of affidavits should be printed on both sides of each page.

79. Non-documentary exhibits to affidavits

(1) Non-documentary exhibits (e.g., CD-ROM, samples of merchandise, etc.) must be clearly marked with the exhibit mark in such a manner that there is no likelihood of the exhibit being separated or misplaced. The affidavit should indicate that the exhibit in question is a non- documentary exhibit and refer to it according to the relevant exhibit number.

(2) Where the exhibit consists of more than one item (e.g., CD-ROMs in a box), each and every such separate item of the exhibit must similarly be separately marked with the usual exhibit marks to ensure precise identification.

(3) Where it is impracticable to mark on the exhibit itself, such exhibit or its container must be tagged or labelled with the exhibit mark securely attached to the exhibit or its container in such a manner that it is not easily removable.

(4) Very small non-documentary exhibits must be enclosed or mounted in a sealed transparent container and tagged or labelled as referred to in sub-paragraph (3) above. An enlarged photograph showing the relevant characteristics of such exhibits must, where applicable, be exhibited in the affidavit.

80. Documentary exhibits to affidavits

(1) Every page of every exhibit must be fully and clearly legible. Where necessary, magnified copies of the relevant pages should be inserted in appropriate places.

More than 10 documentary exhibits

(2) When there are more than 10 different documentary exhibits in an affidavit:

(a) a table of contents of the documentary exhibits (enumerating every exhibit in the affidavit) must be inserted before the first exhibit in the manner of the example set out below:

and

(b) the exhibits must be set out in the sequence in which reference is made to them in the affidavit.

Pagination

(3) All pages (including, where applicable, the cover page, table of contents, separator sheets and exhibit sheets) must be paginated such that the printed page numbers correspond to the page numbers in the soft copy Portable Document Format (PDF) version of the document that is filed through the Electronic Filing Service, the page number must be inserted at the top right hand corner of the page, and, where there are multiple volumes, each separate volume must start at page 1, and every page in that volume must be numbered consecutively.

Dividing sheets

(4) The exhibits in an affidavit must be prefaced by a dividing sheet, marked, typed or stamped clearly with an exhibit mark and including the certificate of the commissioner for oaths required under Order 15, Rule 27(5) of the Rules of Court 2021 as follows:

Bookmarks

(5) Each exhibit in the affidavit must be separately bookmarked in the Portable Document Format (PDF) document that is filed. The names of the bookmarks should follow the initials of the maker of the affidavit, e.g., “TAK-1”, “TAK-2”.

Numbering

(6) Where a person affirms more than one affidavit with exhibits in the same action, the numbering of the exhibits in all subsequent affidavits must run consecutively throughout, and not begin again with each affidavit. For instance, where a person in his or her first affidavit has marked two exhibits as “TAK-1” and “TAK-2”, the first exhibit in his or her second affidavit should be marked as “TAK-3” instead of “TAK-1”.

References to exhibits in text of affidavit

(7) Where the text of an affidavit makes reference to a documentary exhibit, the page number(s) of the affidavit where the relevant portions of the documentary exhibit can be found should be set out alongside the number of the exhibit in question.

References to exhibits in other affidavits

(8) Where the maker of the affidavit wishes to refer to documents already exhibited to another person’s affidavit, he or she must exhibit them to his or her own affidavit pursuant to Order 15, Rule 27(1) to (3) of the Rules of Court 2021 which provide as follows:

Documents referred to in affidavit (O. 15, r. 27)

27.—(1) Where an affidavit refers to a document, a copy of that document must be annexed to the affidavit.

(2) If it is necessary to refer to the whole document, a copy of the document must be annexed.

(3) If it is necessary to refer to only certain portions of the document, a copy of only those portions need to be annexed.

Related documents

(9) Related documents (e.g., correspondence and invoices) may be collected together and collectively exhibited as one exhibit arranged in chronological order, beginning with the earliest at the top, paginated in accordance with sub-paragraph (3) above, and the exhibit must have a front page showing a table of contents of the items in the exhibit.

81. Affirming and signing of affidavits in Singapore before, and completing of attestation by, commissioner for oaths through live video link or live television link

(1) A remote communication technology mentioned in Order 15, Rule 22(1) of the Rules of Court 2021 must be capable of creating a live video link or live television link through which a commissioner for oaths is able to do all of the things mentioned in Order 15, Rule 22(3) of the Rules of Court 2021.

(2) For the purposes of Order 15, Rule 22(2) of the Rules of Court 2021, the maker of the affidavit and the commissioner for oaths may sign the affidavit electronically by applying a security procedure that results in a secure electronic signature under section 18 of the Electronic Transactions Act 2010.

(3) Where an affidavit is made pursuant to Order 15, Rule 22 of the Rules of Court 2021, the affidavit should be made, as far as possible, as if the maker of the affidavit were appearing before the commissioner for oaths in person, and the attestation must state that the affidavit was affirmed and signed in Singapore with the maker of the affidavit appearing before the commissioner for oaths through a live video link or live television link, or that the affidavit was signed by the maker of the affidavit and/or the commissioner for oaths electronically in Singapore, or both, as the case may be.

82. Affirming of documents by persons who do not understand English, are illiterate or blind

(1) Rule 8 of the Commissioners for Oaths Rules restricts solicitors who are appointed as commissioners for oaths to taking affidavits or statutory declarations, or administering oaths, for persons who speak and understand English, or, in the solicitor’s discretion, for persons who speak and understand a language or dialect other than English in which the solicitor is proficient.

(2) As commissioners for oaths are under a duty to ensure that the maker of the affidavit understands the document being affirmed, where the maker of the affidavit is not able to understand English, is illiterate or blind, the commissioner for oaths is obliged to ensure that the following requirements under Order 15, Rule 24 of the Rules of Court 2021 are met:

Safeguards for persons who do not understand English, are illiterate or blind (O. 15, r. 24)

24.Where the maker of the affidavit is not able to understand English, is illiterate or blind, the commissioner for oaths must certify on the affidavit that —

(a) the affidavit was read in the commissioner for oaths’ presence to the maker in a language or dialect that the maker understands;

(b) the person who did the translation was competent to do so;

(c) the maker indicated that he or she understood the affidavit and confirmed its contents; and

(d) the maker signed or placed his or her fingerprint willingly in the commissioner for oaths’ presence to affirm the affidavit.

(3) Sub-paragraph (2) also applies to persons who do not understand English, are illiterate or are blind, and who are brought before a Supreme Court commissioner for oaths. In such a case, the necessary steps referred to in Order 15, Rule 24 of the Rules of Court 2021 may take a considerable time and may cause long delays for other persons who wish to take affidavits or statutory declarations before the Supreme Court commissioner for oaths.

(4) Accordingly, solicitors who wish to bring such persons before the Supreme Court commissioner for oaths should first estimate the time that will be taken to interpret or read the documents to be affirmed. If it is estimated that the total time required for interpretation or reading of the documents will be more than 20 minutes, the solicitor must contact the appropriate Head Interpreter and arrange for a special appointment for the documents to be affirmed. The solicitor should not bring the intended maker of the affidavit before the Supreme Court commissioner for oaths without such an appointment.

(5) If such a person is brought before the Supreme Court commissioner for oaths and the interpretation or reading of the documents takes more than 20 minutes, the commissioner for oaths will refer the solicitor and the intended maker of the affidavit to the appropriate Head Interpreter for a special appointment to be made for the documents to be affirmed.

(6) The appropriate Head Interpreter may be contacted at the following telephone numbers:

(a) Head Interpreter (Chinese languages) – 6332 3940.

(b) Head Interpreter (Indian languages) – 6332 3930.

(c) Head Interpreter (Malay languages) – 6332 3970.

83. Effect of non-compliance

Any affidavit or exhibit which does not comply with the directions contained in this Part may be rejected by the Court and made the subject of an order for costs.

84. Objections to the contents of affidavits of evidence-in-chief

(1) Objections to the contents of affidavits of evidence-in-chief under Order 15, Rule 16(6) of the Rules of Court 2021 must be taken by filing and serving a notice in Form B13 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions.

(2) The notice in Form B13 should set out all the objections to the contents of affidavits of evidence-in-chief that will be raised at the hearing of the cause or matter and all the grounds of the objections.

(3) An adjudication on the material objected to in affidavits of evidence-in-chief filed pursuant to an order of court should only be sought at the trial or hearing of the cause or matter for which the affidavits of evidence-in-chief were filed, and not before. If an adjudication is sought prior to the trial or hearing of the cause or matter, the application for the adjudication will be adjourned to be dealt with at the trial or hearing of the cause or matter, and the applicant may be ordered to pay the costs of the adjournment.

84A. Notice to Admit Hearsay Evidence

(1) For the purposes of Order 15, Rule 16(9) of the Rules of Court 2021, the notice in Order 15, Rule 16(7) of those Rules must be in Form B13A of Appendix B of these Practice Directions.

(2) For the purposes of Order 15, Rule 16(10) of the Rules of Court 2021, the notice in Order 15, Rule 16(7) of those Rules must be in Form B13B of Appendix B of these Practice Directions.

111. Application of this Part

112. Request for further arguments before Judge

112A. Submissions by leading and junior assisting counsel

113. Civil Appeals from the State Courts to the General Division

• Appeals from District Judge and Magistrate to the General Division under Order 18, Rule 17 of the Rules of Court 2021

57. Originating Applications

• Form of originating applications

• Originating applications to be heard in open court

58. Identification numbers to be stated in cause papers

• Parties named in the title of the documents

• Parties not named in the title of the documents

• Documents filed by 2 or more parties

• Identification numbers for non-parties

• Special cases

• Identification numbers

• Guidelines for the selection of identification numbers

• Inability to furnish identification number at the time of filing a document

• Meaning of document

• Non-compliance

59. Endorsements on originating processes and other documents

60. Amendment of documents

• Application

• Amendment of any document

• Amendment of pleadings

• Amendment endorsements on electronic forms

61. Pleadings

62. Personal service of processes and documents

63. Application for service out of Singapore of originating process or other court document and for extension of validity of originating process

64. Court’s power to dismiss an action if no reasonable steps taken to serve originating process expeditiously

65. Substituted service

57. Originating Applications

(1) This paragraph applies to originating applications filed on or after 1 April 2022.

Form of originating applications

(2) Where any legislation requires a party to file an originating application and the form is not provided within the legislation, the originating application must be filed using either Form 15 (Originating Application) or Form 16 (Originating Application (Without Notice)) of Appendix A of these Practice Directions.

(3) The parties in Form 15 of Appendix A of these Practice Directions must be stated as “claimant” or “applicant”, and “defendant” or “respondent”, as may be appropriate.

(4) The party in Form 16 of Appendix A of these Practice Directions must be stated as “claimant” or “applicant”, as may be appropriate.

Originating applications to be heard in open court

(5) Order 15, Rule 1(1) of the Rules of Court 2021 provides that every originating application must be heard in chambers, subject to any written law or practice directions.

(6) The following are examples of originating applications to be heard in open court pursuant to written law:

(a) applications for a judicial management order (Rule 6(1)(a) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution (Corporate Insolvency and Restructuring) Rules 2020;

(b) applications to wind up a company (Rule 6(1)(b) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution (Corporate Insolvency and Restructuring) Rules 2020);

(c) applications to wind up a limited liability partnership (Rule 5(1)(a) of the Limited Liability Partnerships (Winding Up) Rules);

(d) applications to wind up a variable capital company or a sub-fund (Rule 6(1)(a) of the Variable Capital Companies (Winding Up) Rules 2020);

(e) applications for an order declaring the dissolution of a company void (Rule 6(1)(c) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution (Corporate Insolvency and Restructuring) Rules 2020);

(f) applications for an order declaring the dissolution of a limited liability partnership void (Rule 5(1)(c) of the Limited Liability Partnership (Winding Up) Rules);

(g) applications for an order declaring the dissolution of a variable capital company void (Rule 6(1)(c) of the Variable Capital Companies (Winding Up) Rules 2020) or an order declaring the dissolution of a sub-fund void (Rule 6(1)(d) of the Variable Capital Companies (Winding Up) Rules 2020);

(7) In addition to any provisions in written law, the Registrar hereby directs that the following applications made by originating application are to be heard in open court:

(a) appeals to the General Division from a tribunal under Order 20, Rule 1(a) of the Rules of Court 2021;

(b) applications to the General Division by case stated in Order 20, Rule 1(b) of the Rules of Court 2021;

(c) applications for apportionment of salvage in Order 33, Rule 32(1) of the Rules of Court 2021;

(d) applications under the Land Titles (Strata) Act 1967 in Order 49, Rule 2 of the Rules of Court 2021;

(da) applications and appeals under the Geographical Indications Act 2014 in Rules 17, 20(1) and 26(1) of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Intellectual Property) Rules 2022;

(e) applications and appeals under the Patents Act 1994 in Rules 40(1), 44(1) and 45(1) of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Intellectual Property) Rules 2022;

(ea) applications and appeals under the Registered Designs Act 2000 in Rules 55 and 58(1) of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Intellectual Property) Rules 2022;

(f) applications and appeals under the Trade Marks Act 1998 in Rules 67 and 70(1) of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Intellectual Property) Rules 2022;

58. Identification numbers to be stated in cause papers

Parties named in the title of the documents

(1) Where a party to any proceedings in the Supreme Court first files a document in such proceedings, he or she must provide his or her identification number in accordance with the Electronic Filing System data entry fields for identification number.

Parties not named in the title of the documents

(2) Where a party to any proceedings in the Supreme Court first files a document in such proceedings, and the name of the party does not appear in the title of the document but does appear in the body of the document, the identification number of the party should be provided in accordance with the Electronic Filing System data entry fields for identification number.

Documents filed by 2 or more parties

(3) Sub-paragraphs (1) and (2) apply, with the necessary modifications, to documents which are filed by more than 1 party.

Identification numbers for non-parties

(4) If any person (living or dead), any entity or any property is the subject matter of any proceedings, or is affected by any proceedings, but is not a party to the proceedings, and the name of such person, entity or property is to appear in the title of the documents filed in the proceedings, the party filing the first document in the proceedings must provide the identification number of such person, entity or property in accordance with the Electronic Filing System data entry fields for identification number. If the party filing the first document in the proceedings is unable, after reasonable enquiry, to discover the identification number of the person, entity or property, he or she may state “(ID No. Not Known)”.

Special cases

(5) The following directions apply in addition to the directions contained in sub-paragraphs (1) to (4):

(a) Where a party is represented by a litigation representative or guardian in adoption, sub-paragraphs (1) to (3) apply to the litigation representative or guardian in adoption as if he or she were a party to the proceedings, and the identification numbers of the party, the litigation representative and/or the guardian in adoption must be provided in accordance with the Electronic Filing System data entry fields for identification number;

(b) where parties are involved in any proceedings as the personal representatives of the estate of a deceased person, sub-paragraphs (1) to (3) apply to the deceased person as if he or she were a party;

(c) where more than one identification number applies to any party, person, entity or property, the identification numbers must be stated in any convenient order; and

(d) for bankruptcy matters, the creditor must, in addition to his or her own identification number, also provide the identification number of the debtor in the first document filed by the creditor in the bankruptcy proceedings.

Identification numbers

(6) When entering the identification number in the Electronic Filing Service, the full identification number, including the letters before and after the number should be entered.

Guidelines for the selection of identification numbers

(7) The following guidelines should be followed in deciding on the appropriate identification number:

NATURAL PERSON WITH SINGAPORE IDENTITY CARD

(a) For a natural person who is a Singapore citizen or permanent resident, the identification number is the number of the identity card issued under the National Registration Act 1965. The 7-digit number as well as the letters at the front and end should be stated. For example, “(NRIC No. S1234567A)”.

NATURAL PERSON WITH FIN NUMBER

(b) For a natural person (whether a Singapore citizen or permanent resident or not) who has not been issued with an identity card under the National Registration Act 1965, but has been assigned a FIN number under the Immigration Regulations, the identification number is the FIN number. The number should be preceded by the prefix “FIN No.”

NATURAL PERSON: BIRTH CERTIFICATE OR PASSPORT NUMBER

(c) For a natural person (whether a Singapore citizen or permanent resident or not) who has not been issued with an identity card under the National Registration Act 1965 or assigned a FIN number, the identification number is the birth certificate or passport number. The number should be preceded by either of the following, as appropriate: “(Issuing country) BC No.” or “(Issuing country) PP No.”

Inability to furnish identification number at the time of filing a document

(8) If a party who wishes to file a document is unable at the time of filing to furnish the necessary identification numbers required by this paragraph, the party may indicate “(ID No. Not Known)” at the time of filing. However, when the necessary identification numbers have been obtained, the party will have to furnish the necessary identification numbers to the Registry through the Electronic Filing Service.

Meaning of document

(9) To avoid doubt, the words “document” and “documents” when used in this paragraph include all originating processes filed in the Supreme Court regardless of whether they are governed by the Rules of Court 2021. The words also include all documents filed in connection with bankruptcy proceedings.

Non-compliance

(10) Any document which does not comply with this paragraph may be rejected for filing by the Registry.

59. Endorsements on originating processes and other documents

(1) Where it is necessary to include endorsements on any document, the directions in this paragraph apply.

(2) Endorsements are normally made on originating processes and other documents to show renewal and amendments. Such endorsements on originating processes and other documents do not require the Registrar’s signature as they are made pursuant to either an order of court or the Rules of Court 2021. The Registrar should therefore not be asked to sign such endorsements.

(3) For documents that are filed through the Electronic Filing Service as electronic forms composed online:

(a) Solicitors should select the appropriate endorsement, and check the accuracy of the electronic form in the preview stage before filing the originating process or other document. The acceptance by the Registry of electronic forms composed online does not affect the regularity of any endorsements on the document.

(b) Where endorsements can be made prior to the filing or issuance of a document, those endorsements must be incorporated into the document before the document is filed or issued.

(c) Where endorsements must be made on a document which has already been filed or issued, a fresh copy of the document containing the relevant endorsements must be prepared, and the document must be re-filed or re-issued, as the case may be. An example of this would be renewals of originating claims.

60. Amendment of documents

Application

(1) The directions in this paragraph apply to documents and pleadings filed in any proceedings.

Amendment of any document

(2) Where a document is required to be amended and filed in Court, a fresh copy of the document with the amendments included must be prepared, regardless of the number and length of the amendments sought to be made.

(3) The procedure for amending a document is as follows:

(a) A fresh amended copy of the document should be produced.

(b) The number of times the document has been amended must be indicated in parentheses after the name of the document. It should therefore be entitled “[document name] (Amendment No. 1)” or “[document name] (Amendment No. 2)”, or as appropriate.

(c) The changes made in the document from the latest version of the document filed in Court should be indicated in the following way:

(i) deletions must be made by drawing a single line across the words to be deleted; and

(ii) insertions must be underlined.

(4) The directions in sub-paragraph (3)(b) do not apply to originating applications and summonses amended from an application or summons to an application or summons without notice or the other way around.

(5) The directions in sub-paragraph (3)(c) do not apply to the originating processes, summonses and other electronic forms that are composed online through the Electronic Filing Service.

Amendment of pleadings

(6) The directions in sub-paragraphs (2) and (3) apply to the amendment of pleadings. A Statement of Claim which is amended for the first time should be filed as “Statement of Claim (Amendment No. 1)”, and a Defence that is amended for the second time should be filed as “Defence (Amendment No. 2)”.

COLOUR SCHEMES FOR AMENDMENTS

(7) The following colours must be used to indicate the history of the amendments in pleadings:

(a) black for the first round of amendments;

(b) red for the second round of amendments;

(c) green for the third round of amendments;

(d) blue for the fourth round of amendments; and

(e) brown for subsequent rounds of amendments.

AMENDMENT FOR THIRD TIME OR MORE

(8) From the third round of amendments onwards, the amended pleading should comprise 2 versions of the document:

(a) a clean version without the amendments shown; followed in the same document by

(b) a version showing the amendments in colour.

Only 1 amended pleading consisting of these 2 versions is required to be filed.

Amendment endorsements on electronic forms

(9) An amended pleading or other document must be endorsed with a statement that it has been amended, specifying the date on which it was amended and by whom the order (if any) authorising the amendment was made and the date of the order, and if no such order was made, the relevant provision in the Rules of Court 2021 pursuant to which the amendment was made. Where electronic forms are amended, the amendment endorsement must take either one of the following forms:

(a) By order of court made on [date order was made]; or

(b) Pursuant to Order 9, Rule [cite specific sub-rule number] of the Rules of Court 2021.

(10) The amendment endorsement must be appended to the title of the electronic form, after the amendment number as required under sub-paragraph (3)(b). Where an electronic form is amended more than once, the endorsement need only cite the basis for the most recent amendment. For example:

• Originating Application (Amendment No. 3, by Order of Court made on 1 April 2022)

• Originating Claim (Amendment No. 1, pursuant to O 9, r 14(5) of the Rules of Court 2021)

(11) The date of the electronic form must reflect the date on which the document is amended.

61. Pleadings

(1) The attention of advocates and solicitors is drawn to the pleading requirements laid down by the Court of Appeal in the case of Sembcorp Marine Ltd v PPL Holdings Pte Ltd and another and another appeal [2013] 4 SLR 193 for disputes involving a contextual approach to the construction of a contract.

(2) In particular, the Court of Appeal made the following observations at [73] of the judgment:

(a) parties who contend that the factual matrix is relevant to the construction of the contract must plead with specificity each fact of the factual matrix that they wish to rely on in support of their construction of the contract;

(b) the factual circumstances in which the facts in sub-paragraph (2)(a) were known to both or all the relevant parties must also be pleaded with sufficient particularity;

(c) parties should in their pleadings specify the effect which such facts will have on their contended construction; and

(d) the obligation of the parties to disclose evidence would be limited by the extent to which the evidence is relevant to the facts pleaded in sub-paragraph (2)(a) and (b).

62. Personal service of processes and documents

(1) The attention of solicitors is drawn to Order 7, Rule 2(2) of the Rules of Court 2021.

(2) Solicitors are required to notify the Registry of the particulars of their employees who have been authorised by them to serve processes and documents (“authorised process servers”) by submitting a request to authorise user through the Electronic Filing Service. Where such authorised process servers are no longer so authorised, solicitors are to revoke or delete the authorisation immediately by submitting a request through the Electronic Filing Service. Solicitors’ employees do not require the authorisation of the Registrar to effect personal service of processes and documents.

(3) As personal service can be effected by a solicitor, a solicitor’s employee, a litigant who is not legally represented or such a person’s employee, Court process servers will not be assigned to effect personal service of originating processes and documents unless there are special reasons.

(4) If there are special reasons requiring personal service by a Court process server, a Request for such service should be filed through the Electronic Filing Service, setting out the special reasons. The approval of the Duty Registrar should then be obtained for such service. Once approval has been obtained and the fees prescribed by the Fourth Schedule to the Rules of Court 2021 have been paid, a process server will be assigned to effect service and an appointment for service convenient to both the litigant and the assigned process server will be given.

(5) On the appointed date, the person accompanying the Court process server should call at the Registry. The party requesting service to be effected by the Court process server will be responsible for all transport charges incurred for the purposes of effecting service.

63. Application for service out of Singapore of originating process or other court document and for extension of validity of originating process

(1) Under Order 8, Rule 1(2) of the Rules of Court 2021, a claimant applying for the Court’s approval to serve an originating process or other court document out of Singapore must file a supporting affidavit stating, among others, why the Court has the jurisdiction, or is the appropriate court, to hear the action.

(2) For the purposes of showing why the Court is the appropriate court to hear the action, the claimant should include in the supporting affidavit any relevant information showing that:

(a) there is a good arguable case that there is sufficient nexus to Singapore;

(b) Singapore is the forum conveniens; and

(c) there is a serious question to be tried on the merits of the claim.

(3) For the purposes of sub-paragraph 2(a), the claimant should refer to any of the following non-exhaustive list of factors (as may be applicable) in the supporting affidavit:

(a) relief is sought against a person who is domiciled, ordinarily resident or carrying on business in Singapore, or who has property in Singapore;

(b) an injunction is sought ordering the defendant to do or refrain from doing anything in Singapore (whether or not damages are also claimed in respect of a failure to do or the doing of that thing);

(c) the claim is brought against a person duly served in or outside Singapore, and a person outside Singapore is a necessary or proper party to the claim;

(d) the claim is brought to enforce, rescind, dissolve, annul or otherwise affect a contract, or to recover damages or obtain other relief in respect of the breach of a contract, being (in either case) a contract which —

(i) was made in Singapore, or was made as a result of an essential step being taken in Singapore;

(ii) was made by or through an agent trading or residing in Singapore on behalf of a principal trading or residing out of Singapore;

(iii) is by its terms, or by implication, governed by the law of Singapore; or

(4) A claimant applying for the Court’s approval to serve an originating process out of Singapore should consider whether an application should also be made to extend the validity of the originating process. If the claimant is able to demonstrate that the originating process will not or is not likely to be served on all or any of the defendants out of Singapore before the originating process expires, the claimant is to consider making the application for the extension of the validity of the originating process in a single summons, together with the application for approval to serve the originating process out of Singapore, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 67 of these Practice Directions. In any application for an extension of the validity of the originating process, the claimant is to seek a period of extension which is appropriate by reference to the length of time which is likely to be needed to effect service on all or any of the defendants out of Singapore.

64. Court’s power to dismiss an action if no reasonable steps taken to serve originating process expeditiously

(1) Under Order 2, Rule 3(2) of the Rules of Court 2021, the claimant has to take reasonable steps to serve the originating claim with a statement of claim, or the originating application supported by affidavit, on a defendant expeditiously:

(a) Order 6, Rule 5(6) and (7) of the Rules of Court 2021 set out the relevant periods within which reasonable steps to serve the originating claim on the defendant, whether in or out of Singapore, must be made; and

(b) Order 6, Rule 11(4) and (5) of the Rules of Court 2021 set out the relevant periods within which reasonable steps to serve the originating application and the supporting affidavit on the defendant, whether in or out of Singapore, must be made.

(2) Under Order 2, Rule 6(3)(a) and/or Order 9, Rule 5(1)(a) of the Rules of Court 2021, the Court may dismiss the action if it is not satisfied that the claimant has taken reasonable steps to effect service of the originating claim or originating application expeditiously. Whether a claimant has taken reasonable steps to serve the originating claim or originating application on the defendant expeditiously would depend on the facts of the case. A non-exhaustive list of factors that may be relevant to this inquiry include:

(a) The chosen mode(s) to effect personal service on the defendant;

(b) The day and time during which personal service was attempted on the defendant;

(c) The number of times for which personal service was attempted on the defendant;

(d) The reason(s) for which each attempt at personal service was unsuccessful;

(e) Whether an application for substituted service has been or will be taken out by the claimant.

(3) Before exercising its powers under Order 2, Rule 6(3)(a) and/or Order 9, Rule 5(1)(a) of the Rules of Court 2021, the Court may require an affidavit relating to service attempts to be filed by or on behalf of the claimant. The claimant has to demonstrate in the affidavit relating to service attempts that the steps taken to serve the originating claim or originating application on the defendant are reasonable and expeditious in the circumstances.

65. Substituted service

(1) In any application for substituted service, the applicant should persuade the Court that the proposed mode of substituted service will probably be effective in bringing the document in question to the notice of the person to be served.

(2) 2 reasonable attempts at personal service should be made before an application for an order for substituted service is filed. In an application for substituted service, the applicant must demonstrate by way of affidavit why he or she believes that the attempts at service made were reasonable.

(3) The applicant should, where appropriate, also consider other modes of substituted service, such as AR registered post or electronic means (including email or Internet transmission) in addition to or in substitution for substituted service by posting on doors or gates of residential or business premises.

(4) An application for substituted service by posting at an address or by AR registered post should contain evidence (for example, relevant search results from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, the Singapore Land Authority, the Housing & Development Board or the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority) that the person to be served is resident or can be located at the property.

(5) To avoid doubt, substituted service by AR registered post is deemed to be effected when the postal service has delivered the document, or attempted to deliver the document (in cases where no one is present or willing to accept the document).

(6) If substituted service is by email, it has to be shown that the email account to which the document will be sent belongs to the person to be served and that it is currently active.

(7) An application for substituted service by advertisement (in one issue of the Straits Times if the person to be served is literate in English, or one issue of the Straits Times and one issue of one of the main non-English language newspapers where his or her language literacy is unknown) should only be considered as a last resort and should contain evidence that the person to be served is literate in the language of the newspaper in which the advertisement will be placed.

66. Filing of summonses

• Summonses without notice and “by consent” summonses

• Applications filed with the Court’s approval under Order 9, Rule 9(8) or (10) of the Rules of Court 2021

67. Filing of Distinct Applications in Separate Summonses

68. Summary Table for Applications for Further and Better Particulars or Production of Documents

130. Scope of certain paragraphs

131. Form of bill of costs

• Margin

• Pagination

• Format

• Particulars

• Goods and services tax

132. Electronic filing of bills of costs for assessment

133. Objections

134. Amount allowed as disbursements on account of use of Electronic Filing Service

135. Assessments involving the Official Assignee, the Official Receiver, the Public Trustee or the Director of Legal Aid

136. Fixing costs instead of ordering assessment

137. Costs Scheduling

138. Costs Guidelines

130. Scope of certain paragraphs

To avoid doubt, the directions contained in this Part, save for paragraph 135, do not apply to assessments governed by the Bankruptcy (Costs) Rules or the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution (Personal Insolvency) Rules 2020.

131. Form of bill of costs

The attention of solicitors is drawn to Order 21, Rules 2(2) and 20 of the Rules of Court 2021. In addition, solicitors are to abide by the following requirements:

Margin

(1) A blank margin not less than 10mm wide on all four sides is required for each page of the bill of costs.

Pagination

(2) All pages of a bill of costs (including, where applicable, the cover page, the table of contents, separator sheets and exhibit sheets) must be paginated such that the printed page numbers correspond to the page numbers in the soft copy Portable Document Format (PDF) version of the document that is filed through the Electronic Filing Service, the page number must be inserted at the top right hand corner of the page, and, where there are multiple volumes, each separate volume must start at page 1, and every page in that volume must be numbered consecutively.

Format

(3) This sub-paragraph sets out the format of a bill of costs.

PARTY-AND-PARTY BILLS

(a) For party-and-party bills:

(i) A bill of costs drawn up for assessment of costs between one party to proceedings and another should be divided into 3 separate sections as required by Order 21, Rule 20(1) of the Rules of Court 2021.

(ii) Form B30 in Appendix B of these Practice Directions should be used for contentious business in respect of work done for a trial or in contemplation of a trial.

(iii) Form B31 in Appendix B of these Practice Directions should be used for contentious business in respect of, or in contemplation of, work done other than for a trial; such as work done for an appeal or for a specific interlocutory application.

(iv) Form B32 in Appendix B of these Practice Directions should be used for non-contentious business.

SPECIMEN BILLS

Particulars

(4) Sufficient particulars must be included in the bill of costs so as to enable the Registrar to exercise his or her discretion under Order 21, Rule 2(2) of the Rules of Court 2021. Without limiting sub-paragraph (3), the Registrar may, at the assessment hearing, order the claiming or receiving party to furnish full details in support of the sums claimed under the bill.

Goods and services tax

(5) A party claiming goods and services tax (GST) in a bill of costs must comply with the directions set out in this sub-paragraph. A party who fails to comply with the directions set out in this sub-paragraph will be presumed not to be claiming GST in the bill concerned.

REGISTRATION NUMBERS

(a) For registration numbers,

(i) The GST registration number allocated by the Comptroller of Goods and Services Tax to the solicitors for the receiving party or parties should appear at the top left hand corner of the first page of the bill of costs.

(ii) The GST registration numbers, if any, allocated to the receiving parties or to any one or more of them, as the case may be, must also appear at the same location in all documents.

(iii) The GST registration numbers should be indicated as follows: “GST Reg. No. (solicitors for claimant/solicitors for 1st defendant/2nd defendant (or as the case may be)): xxxxx.”

(iv) Where no GST registration number has been allocated to a receiving party, a statement to this effect should be included after the GST registration numbers of the solicitors for the receiving parties, or the receiving parties, as the case may be, in the following manner: “1st and 2nd defendants/3rd claimant/(or as the case may be): no GST Reg. No.”

INPUT TAX ALLOWABLE

132. Electronic filing of bills of costs for assessment

(1) Each bill of costs submitted to the Court through the Electronic Filing Service must:

(a) be in Portable Document Format (PDF);

(b) comply with paragraph 131 of these Practice Directions; and

(c) be accompanied by a bill of costs summary, the electronic form of which will be composed online through the Electronic Filing Service. The information required by the Electronic Filing Service to compose the bill of costs summary includes the costs claimed under Sections 1, 2 and 3 of the bill of costs.

(2) As the Registrar’s certificate of costs under Order 21, Rule 25 of the Rules of Court 2021 will be composed online based on the summary in sub-paragraph (1)(c), solicitors should ensure that the information contained in the summary accurately reflects the information contained in the bill of costs submitted. Solicitors should also ensure that the amounts claimed for goods and services tax in the summary are correct.

(3) There is no necessity for lawyers to collect the assessed bill of costs from the Registry to prepare the Registrar’s certificate. The procedure for preparation of draft orders in paragraph 107 of these Practice Directions will, with the necessary modifications, apply to the preparation of the Registrar’s certificate.

(4) The Registrar’s certificate must be composed online through the Electronic Filing Service.

133. Objections

(1) Any objections in principle or as to quantum of the items claimed in a bill of costs must be indicated by the filing and service of a Notice of Dispute in Form B33 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions at least 14 days before the date fixed by the Registrar for the assessment of the bill of costs.

(2) The Notice of Dispute must be filed through the Electronic Filing Service in Portable Document Format (PDF) and be accompanied by a Notice of Dispute summary, the electronic form of which will be composed online through the Electronic Filing Service. The information required by the Electronic Filing Service to compose the Notice of Dispute summary includes the amounts of costs to be awarded under Sections 1, 2 and 3 of the bill of costs according to the paying party.

134. Amount allowed as disbursements on account of use of Electronic Filing Service

(1) If a document is filed using the Electronic Filing Service, $0.40 for each page of the document filed must be allowed as costs between parties to proceedings. Such costs may be claimed by a receiving party from the paying party where the receiving party is entitled to costs for the filing of the document. These costs must be allowed in addition to all other disbursements and Court fees.

(2) This paragraph applies to the assessment of costs as well as cases where the Court fixes a gross sum instead of directing an assessment.

(3) This paragraph does not apply to any document filed through the service bureau.

135. Assessments involving the Official Assignee, the Official Receiver, the Public Trustee or the Director of Legal Aid

(1) The directions contained in this paragraph must be followed in respect of all assessments in which the Official Assignee, the Official Receiver, the Public Trustee or the Director of Legal Aid is involved.

(2) For all assessments in which the Official Assignee, the Official Receiver, the Public Trustee or the Director of Legal Aid is involved:

(a) the receiving party must, prior to the filing of the bill of costs in Court through the Electronic Filing Service, send the bill of costs to be filed to the Official Assignee, the Official Receiver, the Public Trustee or the Director of Legal Aid, as the case may be;

(b) the Official Assignee, the Official Receiver, the Public Trustee or the Director of Legal Aid, as the case may be, should then inform the receiving party whether he or she agrees or disagrees with the amounts claimed in the bill of costs; and

(c) when filing the bill of costs in Court through the Electronic Filing Service, the receiving party must state whether the Official Assignee, the Official Receiver, the Public Trustee or the Director of Legal Aid, as the case may be, disagrees with the amounts claimed in the bill of costs. The bill of costs should also be served on the Official Assignee, the Official Receiver, the Public Trustee or the Director of Legal Aid, as may be applicable, on the same day that the bill of costs is filed.

(3) If the Official Assignee, the Official Receiver, the Public Trustee or the Director of Legal Aid, as the case may be, agrees with the amounts claimed in the bill of costs, then:

(a) for costs required to be assessed pursuant to the provisions of the Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks and Compensation) Act 1960:

(i) where no party-and-party bill of costs has been filed; or

(ii) where the solicitor-and-client costs is not referenced to a party-and-party bill filed early,

the receiving party and the Public Trustee need not attend at the assessment and the bill will be assessed in their absence. However, if the Registrar disagrees with the quantum of costs agreed on, he or she may nonetheless direct the attendance of the receiving party and the Public Trustee, at a later date;

(b) for:

(i) party-and-party bills filed by the creditor under the Bankruptcy (Costs) Rules or the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution (Personal Insolvency) Rules 2020, to which the estate of the bankrupt is the respondent;

(ii) party-and-party bills filed by the creditor in companies winding-up matters where the Official Receiver is appointed liquidator and to which the company in liquidation is the respondent to the bill of costs; or

(4) If costs are required to be assessed pursuant to the provisions of the Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks and Compensation) Act 1960 and the bill of costs claiming the same is referenced to an earlier party-and-party bill filed pursuant to paragraph 131(3)(d), the Public Trustee need not attend the assessment of the bill and the party-and-party and solicitor-and-client costs will be assessed in the absence of the Public Trustee. However, the Public Trustee may attend at the assessment if he or she so wishes, and must attend if an express direction is made by the Registrar that he or she attends in relation to a particular bill of costs.

136. Fixing costs instead of ordering assessment

(1) Order 21, Rule 2(3) of the Rules of Court 2021 provides that:

Powers of the Court (O. 21, r. 2)

…

(3) Subject to the provisions of this Order and any written law, the costs payable by any party to any other party in any matter must be fixed by the Court which heard the matter after an oral hearing or by way of written submissions from the parties, unless the Court thinks fit to direct an assessment of the costs.

Counsel should therefore be prepared to make submissions on the entitlement to and quantum of costs at the end of a hearing or trial, whether before or after judgment is delivered.

(2) Counsel should note that the Court may fix costs where costs have been ordered to be in the cause, or on hearing applications for dismissal or striking out pursuant to an unless order, and be prepared to make submissions accordingly.

137. Costs Scheduling

(1) The directions contained in this paragraph apply to:

(a) trials of originating claims in open court, including originating claims that were ordered to be converted from originating applications; and

(b) originating applications involving cross-examination of any maker of an affidavit.

(2) Each party to the proceedings described in sub-paragraph (1) is required to file a costs schedule using Form B34 in Appendix B of these Practice Directions. The costs schedule should set out with sufficient particularity the quantum of party-and-party costs and disbursements that the party intends to claim in the event that the party succeeds. A specimen form illustrating the use of Form B34 in Appendix B of these Practice Directions can be found in Appendix F of these Practice Directions.

(3) The relevant costs schedule will be taken into account for the purposes of assessing the quantum of costs to be awarded for the proceedings.

(4) The costs schedule for the proceedings described in sub-paragraph (2) must be filed together with the parties’ written closing submissions or, where there are no written closing submissions, before the parties’ oral closing submissions are presented.

138. Costs Guidelines

(1) Solicitors making submissions on party-and-party costs (whether at assessment hearings or otherwise) or preparing their costs schedules pursuant to paragraph 137 of these Practice Directions should have regard to the costs guidelines set out in Appendix G of these Practice Directions (the “Costs Guidelines”).

(2) The Costs Guidelines are to serve only as a general guide for party-and-party costs awards in the Supreme Court. The precise amount of costs awarded remains at the discretion of the Court and the Court may depart from the amounts set out in the Costs Guidelines depending on the circumstances of each case.

(3) To avoid doubt, nothing in the Costs Guidelines is intended to guide or influence the charging of solicitor-and-client costs.

10. Business of the Registry

11. Operating hours of the Supreme Court

12. Hours for the sittings of the Supreme Court

13. Hearings by video conferencing or telephone conferencing

14. Production of record of hearing

15. Certification of transcripts

16. Interpreters and translation

17. Access to case file, inspection, taking copies and searches

• Access by parties to a case file

• File inspection by non-parties or parties who are not registered users

• Obtaining certified true copies of documents

• Electronic cause books and registers maintained by the Registry

18. Personal Data

• Consent to collection, use or disclosure of personal data

• Access to personal data

• Correction of personal data

19. Documents creating power of attorney

20. Filing directions to the Accountant-General for payment in or payment out or furnishing security for costs by depositing monies in the Registry

• Direction to Accountant-General for Payment In or Payment Out

• Furnishing security for costs by depositing monies in the Registry

• Request for information on balance of monies paid into Court or deposited in the Registry

21. Requests and other Correspondence

21A. Waiting time for the hearing of matters

22. Requesting a hearing date through the Electronic Filing Service

23. Fixing of hearing dates

24. Adjournment or vacation of trial dates and part-heard cases

25. Adjournment or vacation of hearings other than trials

26. Authorisation for collection of Court documents or mail

27. Electronic payment of Court fees

• Implementation of electronic means for payment of Court fees

• Modes of payment by electronic means

• Scope of payment by electronic means

• Registrar’s discretion

28. Use of the Video Conference Facilities and the Mobile Infocomm Technology Facilities

29. Applications to use the Video Conference Facilities and Usage of Additional Equipment

30. Applications to use the Mobile Infocomm Technology Facilities

10. Business of the Registry

(1) Pursuant to section 71(1) of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969 and Order 26, Rule 1(1) of the Rules of Court 2021, the Chief Justice has directed that the Registry of the Supreme Court (“the Registry”) comprises the Division for the Court of Appeal and the Appellate Division, the Division for the General Division and the Division for the Singapore International Commercial Court

(2) There is to be one or more Divisional Registrars for the Court of Appeal and the Appellate Division, for the General Division, and for the Singapore International Commercial Court. The Divisional Registrar or Divisional Registrars for each division of the Registry will have control and supervision of the affairs of that division. Overall control and supervision of the Registry will remain with the Registrar of the Supreme Court.

(3) The Chief Justice may designate any Assistant Registrar as Senior Assistant Registrar. The Chief Justice may also designate the Deputy Registrar, any Senior Assistant Registrar or any Assistant Registrar as Divisional Registrar or Deputy Divisional Registrar of any division of the Registry.

(4) Appendix C of these Practice Directions sets out the names of the Registrar, Deputy Registrar, Senior Assistant Registrars, Divisional Registrars and Deputy Divisional Registrars.

(5) To avoid doubt, it is hereby declared that any instruction manuals which may be issued from time to time by the Government are not applicable to the business of the Registry.

11. Operating hours of the Supreme Court

(1) The Supreme Court operates from 8.30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. from Monday to Friday. However, various offices and counters within the Supreme Court have different operating hours.

(2) The Registry is open from 9.00 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. from Monday to Thursday. On Friday, it is open from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.

12. Hours for the sittings of the Supreme Court

The Chief Justice has directed that the General Division, the Appellate Division and the Court of Appeal are to sit from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. and from 2.15 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. Registrars are to sit from 9.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. and from 2.30 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. This is subject to the presiding Judge’s or Registrar’s discretion to commence or conclude a hearing at an earlier or later time.

13. Hearings by video conferencing or telephone conferencing

(1) Selected hearings in the Supreme Court will be conducted by video conferencing or where appropriate, telephone conferencing. Where the Court issues directions for a hearing to be conducted by way of video conferencing or telephone conferencing:

(a) Solicitors may write to the Court to raise any concerns that they may have within 2 days after receiving notification of such directions; and

(b) A party who is not legally represented is strongly encouraged to use video conferencing or telephone conferencing, but may inform the Court if he or she does not wish to do so.

(2) The Court retains full discretion to decide (a) whether to conduct any hearing by video conferencing or telephone conferencing, and (b) whether to conduct any hearing with one or more parties attending by video conferencing or telephone conferencing and any other party attending physically in Court.

(3) Unauthorised audio or visual recording of hearings is strictly prohibited and in appropriate cases, the Court may require an undertaking that no such recording will be made. The attention of parties is drawn to section 5 of the Administration of Justice (Protection) Act 2016 regarding contempt of court by unauthorised recordings.

(4) Where hearings are conducted by video conferencing or telephone conferencing, all Court rules and practices on dress and etiquette will continue to apply. However, it will not be necessary to stand and/or bow to the Court at the start or end of the hearing or to stand when addressing the Court.

14. Production of record of hearing

(1) An audio recording mentioned in Order 15, Rule 11(6) of the Rules of Court 2021 will be made by the Court in every open court trial in an action begun by originating claim, and may be made by the Court in any other hearing in the General Division. Where a hearing is conducted by means of video conferencing or telephone conferencing using a remote communication technology approved by the Chief Justice or authorised by the Court, and the Court has authorised the making of a recording of the hearing using such remote communication technology, the recording so made will, unless the Court otherwise directs, constitute the Court’s notes of proceedings for the purposes of Order 15, Rule 11(7) of the Rules of Court 2021.

(2) Without limiting Order 15, Rule 11(7) of the Rules of Court 2021, the Court may determine, for the purposes of that provision, that the Court’s notes of proceedings are to be taken down by a person other than the Court, whether by hand or through the use of any computer or electronic device.

(3) The provisions of sub-paragraphs (1) and (2) are subject to any directions made by the Court hearing the matter, or by the Registrar, whether or not upon application by the parties. Such directions may include the use of alternative means of producing transcripts.

(4) Where the Court makes directions under sub-paragraph (3) for the use of alternative means of producing transcripts:

(a) the transcript of the notes of proceedings will constitute the Court’s note of proceedings for the purposes of Order 15, Rule 11(7) of the Rules of Court 2021; and

(b) the parties must inform the Registry by letter at least 7 working days before the scheduled hearing as to the mode by which the proceedings will be recorded.

(5) The costs of engaging a service provider must be paid by the parties directly to the service provider.

(5A) A request for an audio recording mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) must be made by filing the requisite Request electronic form through the Electronic Filing Service at least 7 working days before the scheduled hearing. The release of the audio recording is subject to:

(a) the approval of the Court;

(b) the giving of the relevant undertakings as to the use of the audio recording available on the Singapore Courts website at ; and

(c) payment of the appropriate fees and charges to the service provider engaged to provide the audio recording.

(6) Requests for certified transcripts of the official record of the hearing must be made by filing the requisite Request electronic form through the Electronic Filing Service at least 7 working days before the scheduled hearing.

(7) Sub-paragraphs (5A) and (6) apply to both civil and criminal proceedings.

15. Certification of transcripts

(1) Pursuant to Order 15, Rule 11(10) of the Rules of Court 2021, the Registrar hereby directs that transcripts of the official record of the hearing may be certified by:

(a) the Judge or judicial officer having conduct of the proceedings;

(b) with the approval of the Court, the Manager or Personal Assistant, as the case may be, to the Judge or judicial officer having conduct of the proceedings; or

(c) with the approval of the Court, the service provider.

(2) The costs of producing a certified transcript of the official record of the hearing may be claimed as an item of disbursement unless otherwise ordered by the Court.

(3) A transcript of the official record of hearing must be certified in such manner as the Registrar may determine.

16. Interpreters and translation

(1) The directions set out in sub-paragraphs (2) to (8) below are to be followed in relation to all requests for interpretation services of interpreters from the Supreme Court’s Interpreters Section, whether the services are required for hearings in open court or in chambers.

(2) Not less than 7 working days before the day on which the services of an interpreter are required (“scheduled day”), the requesting party must file a Request electronic form addressed to the appropriate Head Interpreter through the Electronic Filing Service in the manner and form set out in Form B1 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions.

(3) The Request in sub-paragraph (2) must be filed for hearings of matters which have been adjourned or part-heard, even if the services of an interpreter were requested and provided at an earlier hearing of the same matter. In the event that a Request is made in respect of an adjourned or part-heard matter, the Request should state the date of the earlier hearing.

(4) The requesting party must make payment of any prescribed fees for interpretation services under the Fourth Schedule to the Rules of Court 2021 upon approval of the Request.

(5) In the event that the services of the interpreter are for any reason not required on any of the scheduled days specified in the Request, the requesting party must immediately notify the appropriate Head Interpreter either by letter or email. This will serve as a notice of cancellation.

(6) Any request for refund of the fee paid under sub-paragraph (4) must be submitted to the Registrar through the Electronic Filing Service within 1 month after the date on which the reason for the refund arose. The supporting reasons and the amount of refund sought must be clearly indicated in the request for refund.

(7) Unless otherwise decided by the Registrar, the fee paid for any scheduled day may be refunded only if a notice of cancellation under sub-paragraph (5) is given at least 1 clear working day prior to that scheduled day.

(8) The provision of interpretation services by the Supreme Court’s Interpreters Section is subject to the availability of suitable interpreters on the day that the interpretation services are required. Failure to comply with the directions set out in sub-paragraphs (2) to (4) may result in the services of interpreters not being available or provided.

(9) Engagement of private interpreters (i.e., interpreters not from the Supreme Court’s Interpreters Section):

(a) To avoid doubt, a party may engage the services of a private interpreter for interpretation services in respect of the languages listed in Form B1 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions.

(b) If a party requires the services of an interpreter in a language apart from those listed in Form B1 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions, it is the duty of the party to engage such an interpreter directly to obtain his or her services for the scheduled hearing.

(c) Interpreters who are not from the Supreme Court's Interpreters Section must be sworn in before the Duty Registrar before they may provide interpretation services for proceedings in Court.

(10) Requests for translation of documents in Chinese, Malay or Tamil for use in Supreme Court proceedings must be filed through the Electronic Filing Service at least 4 weeks before the date the translations are required. Failure to comply with the directions set out in this sub- paragraph may result in translations not being available or provided by the date they are required.

(11) In the event that the Supreme Court’s Interpreters Section is unable to accept a translation request, parties and counsel should approach a private translation service instead.

(12) A party who is not legally represented may submit his or her request for interpretation services or translation of documents for Supreme Court proceedings using the respective forms available on the Singapore Courts website at .

17. Access to case file, inspection, taking copies and searches

Access by parties to a case file

(1) All parties to a case who are registered users of the Electronic Filing Service may, subject to this paragraph and any directions of the Court, access the electronic case file made available through the Electronic Filing Service and may inspect, download soft copies or print hard copies of documents accessible to the parties in the electronic case file.

(2) Where a party to a case is not a registered user and is unable to access the electronic case file through the Electronic Filing Service, the procedure in sub-paragraph (5) below must be followed.

(3) All parties to a case have the liberty to make amendments to administrative details contained in the electronic case file through the Electronic Filing Service. Administrative details include the contact details of solicitors, the identities of the solicitors, and the nature of the claim. Where a party to a case is not a registered user of the Electronic Filing Service, he or she may attend at the service bureau to seek assistance to amend the administrative details contained in the electronic case file.

(4) The Registry may require parties to a case to provide supporting documents to substantiate proposed amendments to other details of the electronic case file before the amendment is approved. For example, amendments to add or remove a party to the case have to be supported by an order of court; and amendments to change the name, gender, identification number, or marital status of a party to the case have to be substantiated by documentary proof.

File inspection by non-parties or parties who are not registered users

(5) In order to inspect a case file, the following procedure should be followed:

(a) A Request should be made to obtain permission to inspect the file. The Request should state the name of the person who is to carry out the search or inspection. If this person is not a solicitor, his or her identification and contact details should also be included in the Request, and his or her identification document (including physical or digital identity card) should be produced for verification when requested. The Request should also state the interest that the applicant has in the matter, and the reason for the search or inspection. If the search or inspection is requested for the purpose of ascertaining information for use in a separate suit or matter, the Request should clearly state the nature of the information sought and the relevance of such information to the separate suit or matter.

(b) Once approval for inspection has been received from the Court,

(i) registered users can inspect the case file online through the Electronic Filing Service; and

(ii) parties who are not registered users can inspect the case file by presenting a copy of the approval at the service bureau. After verifying the approval, the service bureau will assign the inspecting party a personal computer for the inspection to be carried out. An inspecting party will usually be allowed 60 minutes to carry out the inspection. If a longer period is required, the service bureau may impose a charge for use of the computer. The service bureau may impose additional charges for downloading soft copies or printing hard copies of documents from the case file being inspected.

(6) Solicitors must communicate to the Registrar in writing the names of their employees who have their authority to make searches and inspections. Such authority may be in respect of a specific search or inspection or for a specified period.

(7) All copies of documents taken in the course of inspection should not be used for purposes other than those stated in the Request to inspect. Solicitors are responsible for informing their clients of this. To avoid doubt, a non-party that has obtained approval to inspect a case file may take and retain a soft copy of any document that is available for inspection.

Obtaining certified true copies of documents

(8) Users are encouraged to use the Authentic Court Order system to validate orders of court issued after 2 January 2020 by going to . However, certified true copies of orders of court will still be available upon application.

(9) Applications to obtain certified true copies of documents should be made by way of filing a Request through the Electronic Filing Service.

(a) The intended use of the certified true copies should be clearly stated in the Request. The relevance and necessity of the certified true copies in relation to their intended use should also be clearly described.

(b) The applicant will be informed of the outcome to his or her Request and the fees payable for the provision of the certified true copies if the Request is approved. Upon confirmation of the receipt of payment of the fees payable, the certified true copies will be released to the applicant. The Registry may require verification of the identity of the applicant against his or her identification document (including physical or digital identity card) prior to the release of the certified true copies.

(c) The fees prescribed by the Fourth Schedule to the Rules of Court 2021 will be payable for the provision of the above service.

Electronic cause books and registers maintained by the Registry

(10) For the purposes of Order 26, Rule 3(1) of the Rules of Court 2021, the Registry must maintain the following Court records:

(a) details of all originating processes, including:

(i) details of interlocutory applications filed in the originating processes;

(ii) details of appeals filed in the originating processes;

(iii) details of admiralty proceedings;

(iv) details of caveats filed against arrest of vessels;

(v) details of probate proceedings, including wills and caveats filed in the probate proceedings;

(vi) details of bankruptcy proceedings; and

(vii) details of winding up proceedings against companies and limited liability partnerships;

(b) details of enforcement orders, writs of distress and warrants of arrest;

(11) Searches for any Court records mentioned in sub-paragraph (10) may be conducted through the Electronic Filing Service at a service bureau or at the Registry. The fees prescribed by the Fourth Schedule to the Rules of Court 2021 will be payable for such searches.

(12) An application may be made by any person for a licence to use any information contained in any electronic cause book or register subject to such terms and conditions as the Registrar may determine. Successful applicants will be required to enter into separate technical services agreements with the Electronic Filing Service provider. Applications under this sub-paragraph must be made in writing, identifying the data fields sought and providing details of how the information will be used.

18. Personal Data

(1) For the purposes of the following paragraphs:

(a) “personal data” has the same meaning as defined in the Personal Data Protection Act 2012; and

(b) “data subject” means a person whose personal data appears in any document filed in the Registry or an electronic cause book or register maintained by the Registry.

Consent to collection, use or disclosure of personal data

(2) Consent for the collection, use or disclosure of personal data contained in any document filed with, served on, delivered or otherwise conveyed to the Registrar need not be obtained.

(3) Pursuant to Order 26, Rule 3(1) to 3(3) of the Rules of Court 2021, the Registry may compile and maintain electronic cause books and registers by extracting information, including personal data, contained in any document filed with, served on, delivered or otherwise conveyed to the Registrar.

Access to personal data

(4) Contained in documents filed with, served on, delivered or otherwise conveyed to the Registrar. A data subject who wishes to access his or her personal data contained in any document filed with, served on, delivered or otherwise conveyed to the Registrar must comply with the applicable provisions in the Rules of Court 2021 and these Practice Directions relating to the access to and inspection of case files. A data subject is not entitled to request information about the ways in which his or her personal data contained in any document filed with, served on, delivered or otherwise conveyed to the Registrar has been used or disclosed.

(5) Contained in electronic cause books and registers maintained by the Registry. A data subject who wishes to access his or her personal data contained in any electronic cause book or register must conduct a search through the Electronic Filing Service at a service bureau or at the Registry and must pay the fees prescribed by the Fourth Schedule to the Rules of Court 2021. A data subject is not entitled to request information about the ways in which his or her personal data contained in any electronic cause book or register has been used or disclosed.

Correction of personal data

(6) Contained in documents filed with, served on, delivered or otherwise conveyed to the Registrar. A data subject who wishes to correct any error or omission in his or her personal data in any document filed with, served on, delivered or otherwise conveyed to the Registrar must comply with the applicable provisions in the Rules of Court 2021 and these Practice Directions relating to the amendment of the relevant document.

(7) Contained in electronic cause books and registers maintained by the Registry. A data subject who wishes to correct any error or omission of his or her personal data in any electronic cause book or register maintained by the Registry must comply with the following procedure:

(a) The request to correct the error or omission must be made in writing by the data subject or by his or her solicitor, together with the reason for the requested correction. The request must clearly identify the record and the personal data to be corrected;

(b) If the data subject is not represented, his or her identification and contact details should also be included in the request, and his or her identification document (including physical or digital identity card) should be produced for verification when requested; and

(c) The following documents should accompany the request:

(i) recent copy of the record identifying the error or omission; and

(ii) supporting document(s) to substantiate the proposed correction.

(8) Where a correction is made pursuant to a request under sub-paragraph (7), any information that is licensed for use under paragraph 17(12) will be updated accordingly with the corrected personal data.

19. Documents creating power of attorney

(1) To deposit a document creating a power of attorney under Order 26, Rule 4(1) of the Rules of Court 2021, the document and other supporting documents, if any, are to be filed, served, delivered or otherwise conveyed to the Registry through the Electronic Filing Service or the service bureau.

(2) The directions set out in sub-paragraph (1) will also apply to a party who wishes to file a document which alters the powers created in a document that is filed, served, delivered or otherwise conveyed to the Registry on or after 28 May 2002. If the document relates to a document that is presented for deposit before 28 May 2002, the document must be filed manually in hard copy.

(3) The Registry will not accept a document named as a deed of revocation if the deed only seeks to partially revoke the powers created in a document.

(4) Where the document creating a power of attorney is executed by a corporation and the corporation does not have a common seal, an affidavit in support of an application to deposit the document in the Registry under Order 26, Rule 4(1) of the Rules of Court 2021 should be filed on behalf of the corporation:

(a) to affirm the requirements for a valid execution of the power of attorney in accordance with the laws and practices of the corporation’s country of incorporation; and

(b) to satisfy the Court that the requirements have been complied with.

(5) A party may rely on the same affidavit in a subsequent filing of separate documents on behalf of the same corporation by indicating on the top right hand corner of the document the following statement: “Reference is made to affidavit of [name] filed on [date] in PA No. (xxxxxx) of (xxxx).”

(6) A party seeking to file a document creating a power of attorney executed before a notary public or under a corporate seal must produce the original document to the Registry within 1 working day after filing the document. An application to deposit the document in the Registry will be processed only after the original document is produced.

20. Filing directions to the Accountant-General for payment in or payment out or furnishing security for costs by depositing monies in the Registry

(1) Where monies are to be paid into Court pursuant to a judgment or order of court, a copy of the judgment or order must be attached to the draft Direction to Accountant-General for Payment In and filed into the case file via the Electronic Filing Service for approval by the Court. The Direction to Accountant-General for Payment In must be in Form 44(a) of Appendix A of these Practice Directions.

(2) Where monies are to be paid out of Court, a copy of one of the following documents must be attached to the draft Direction to Accountant-General for Payment Out and filed into the case file via the Electronic Filing Service for approval by the Court:

(a) a copy of the judgment or order of court; or

(b) the Notice of Acceptance of Money Paid into Court in Form 28 of Appendix A of these Practice Directions.

The Direction to the Accountant-General for Payment Out must be in Form 44(b) of Appendix A of these Practice Directions.

(3) Each draft Direction to Accountant-General for Payment In or Payment Out must contain amounts in a single currency. Where monies in different currencies are to be paid into or out of Court, separate draft Directions must be prepared for each currency in which payment is to be made.

Direction to Accountant-General for Payment In or Payment Out

(4) Where the Direction to Accountant-General for Payment In has been approved, the party or his or her solicitors (as the case may be; collectively “the Payment In Party”) must send a copy of the approved Direction to Accountant-General for Payment In and the relevant judgment or order of court to VITAL by email to . Upon successful receipt of the documents, VITAL will provide instructions on how electronic payment is to be effected. A receipt will be issued by VITAL to the Payment In Party when payment is received by the Accountant-General.

(5) Where the Direction to Accountant-General for Payment Out has been approved, the party or his or her solicitors (as the case may be; collectively “the Payment Out Party”) must send a copy of the approved Direction to Accountant-General for Payment Out and the relevant judgment or order of court to VITAL by email to . Upon successful receipt of the documents, VITAL will provide instructions on the process for the release of the monies.

Furnishing security for costs by depositing monies in the Registry

(6) Where a party wishes to furnish security for costs for an appeal or an application filed in the Supreme Court by depositing monies in the Registry, he or she must deposit the monies in one of the following manners:

(a) By electronic payment: The party is to send his or her case details by email to the Finance Division of the Judiciary at . The party will be provided with a QR code or the bank account details for electronic payment to be made. Upon receipt of monies, a receipt will be emailed to the party by the Finance Division of the Judiciary.

(b) By making payment at the Supreme Court: The party will be required to complete a requisite form when he or she attends at the Supreme Court. The accepted payment modes are Cash, Cashier’s Order (made payable to “Registrar Supreme Court/AG”), NETS and credit card. Upon payment at the counter, a receipt will be issued to the party.

The party must provide proof of such deposit when filing the appeal or application.

(7) Where security for costs is to be paid out to any party pursuant to the Rules of Court 2021 or an order or direction of the Court, the party entitled to payment of the security may write to the Registry to request payment out. Once the request for payment out is approved by the Registry, the party entitled to the payment must send a copy of the Registry’s approval to the Finance Division of the Judiciary at . The Finance Division of the Judiciary will provide instructions on the documents to be furnished to process the release of the monies.

Request for information on balance of monies paid into Court or deposited in the Registry

(8) Where a party wishes to request information on the balance of monies paid into Court or deposited in the Registry, the party or his or her solicitors may send the request, accompanied by the case details and reasons for the request, by email to:

(a) , if the monies were lodged with the Accountant-General; or

(b) , if the monies were deposited in the Registry.

21. Requests and other Correspondence

(1) All Requests relating to or in connection with any pending cause or matter are to be made using the electronic forms available through the Electronic Filing Service. Where an electronic form is available through the Electronic Filing Service for the Request that is sought, the Registry has the discretion to refuse acceptance of other forms of written correspondence (including letters) and to refuse to act on such correspondence.

(2) All correspondence to the Court relating to or in connection with any pending cause or matter must be copied to all other parties to the cause or matter or to their solicitors unless there are good reasons for not doing so. Solicitors are further reminded that the Court should not be copied on correspondence between parties or their solicitors. The Registry has the discretion to reject or refuse to act on any inappropriate correspondence or correspondence that is not copied to all other parties to the cause or matter or to their solicitors unless there are good reasons for not doing so.

(3) Apart from Requests coming within sub-paragraph (1), all correspondence relating to or in connection with any cause or matter before the Court of Appeal, the Appellate Division, the General Division or a Judge must be addressed to the Registrar.

(3A) Apart from Requests coming within sub-paragraph (1), all correspondence to the Court relating to or in connection with any pending cause or matter must have a minimum font size of Times New Roman 12 or its equivalent, unless there are good reasons for using a smaller font size.

(4) In addition, all letters should be captioned with the number of the case to which they relate and the names of the parties. For example:

SUIT NO. 1 OF 2021 (if an action begun by originating claim);

Between AB (and ANOR or ORS, if there are 2 or more claimants, as the case may be) and CD (and ANOR or ORS, if there are 2 or more defendants, as the case may be)

If the letter relates to an interlocutory application, the reference number of that application should be stated in the caption below the parties’ names. For example:

SUMMONS NO. 1 OF 2021

(5) Compliance with the directions in this paragraph will facilitate the expeditious processing of the request.

(6) A letter may be sent to the Court by a law firm using the Electronic Filing Service only. If a letter is sent to the Court by a law firm in any other way, it is liable to be rejected. If a letter is sent to the Court by a law firm without the information specified in sub-paragraph (4), it is also liable to be rejected.

(7) Sub-paragraph (6) does not apply to a party who is not legally represented.

(8) Registrar’s Directions and Notices from the Registry will be sent to law firms who are registered users of the Electronic Filing Service through the Electronic Filing Service. Registered users are to ensure that the inbox of their Electronic Filing Service account(s) are checked and cleared regularly.

21A. Waiting time for the hearing of matters

(1) The average waiting times for certain types of proceedings are set out in Appendix CA of these Practice Directions. Solicitors are directed to take note of these waiting times, as they must be ready to proceed at the end of the relevant periods. The average waiting times in Appendix CA do not apply to special date fixings.

(2) This paragraph applies to both civil and criminal proceedings.

22. Requesting a hearing date through the Electronic Filing Service

(1) When filing applications through the Electronic Filing Service, solicitors may be permitted to make a request for a preferred hearing date for the following classes of applications:

(a) interlocutory applications to be heard before Registrars;

(b) bankruptcy applications; and

(c) winding up applications.

(2) Solicitors should confer with all parties to the application before selecting a preferred hearing date. Counsel arguing the application for all parties should be available to attend the hearing on the date selected.

(3) In the event that it is not possible to confer with opposing counsel on a preferred hearing date, whether due to the nature or urgency of the application or otherwise, solicitors must select a date where counsel arguing the application for the applicant will be available.

23. Fixing of hearing dates

(1) To assist the Registrar in the fixing of hearing dates, solicitors should provide updated information as to the current status of the cause or matter, including the prospects of settlement and any other developments which are likely to affect the length of the trial. In order to facilitate a more realistic assessment of the time required for the hearing, they will also be required to inform the Registrar of the number of witnesses they intend to call, whether any witness will require interpretation services, the estimated amount of time required for each party to cross- examine all the opposing party’s witnesses and the estimated total length of hearing.

(2) Solicitors who attend before the Registrar for the fixing of hearing dates should be fully acquainted with the cause or matter being fixed for hearing. They should preferably be the solicitor having conduct of the cause or matter.

(3) It is the duty of all parties to an action to furnish without delay to the Registrar all available information as to the likelihood of the action being settled, or affecting the estimated length of the trial, and, if the action is settled or withdrawn, to notify the Registrar of the fact without delay.

(4) Further, parties are to note that any request for an early hearing date for any application, cause or matter is subject to the discretion and availability of the Court. In deciding when to fix an application, cause or matter for hearing or render its decision in any application, cause or matter, the Court is not obliged to give effect to any private agreement between parties on timelines and hearing dates.

24. Adjournment or vacation of trial dates and part-heard cases

(1) Where dates have been fixed for the trial of any cause or matter, any request for an adjournment or vacation of the trial dates must be made to the Court by way of summons with a supporting affidavit, even in those cases where there is consent to the adjournment or vacation of the trial dates.

(2) Subject to any directions of the Court, when a case is adjourned, the Registrar will assign such days as are available for the hearing of the case, and counsel will be expected to take the dates at short notice.

(3) In the event that the hearing of a case is not concluded within the number of days allotted, the Court may direct the hearing of the case to continue beyond the allotted time, rather than adjourning the case part-heard to another date. Counsel for parties in all cases should therefore be prepared to continue with the hearing of the matter despite the fact that the time originally allotted may have expired.

25. Adjournment or vacation of hearings other than trials

(1) Before any party makes a Request through the Electronic Filing Service to the Court for an adjournment or vacation of any hearings other than trials, he or she should seek the consent of the other party or parties to the matter. Unilateral requests made without first seeking the consent or views of the other party or parties to the matter will not be entertained, except in the most exceptional circumstances.

(2) Subject to sub-paragraph (3) below, the Request electronic form should be filed through the Electronic Filing Service at least 2 working days before the hearing, setting out the reasons for the requested adjournment or vacation of the hearing.

(3) Where an adjournment of any matter before the Court of Appeal or the Appellate Division is sought, the Request electronic form should be filed through the Electronic Filing Service as soon as practicable after the sitting in which the matter is scheduled to be heard has been assigned and notified to the parties. Where there is a delay in the making of the Request, the reason or reasons for the delay must be provided with the Request. Any request for an adjournment solely on account of counsel’s unavailability will not be acceded to readily.

(4) If the consent of all other parties to the matter is obtained, a letter stating that all parties have consented to the requested adjournment or vacation of hearings may be attached to the Request electronic form. However, this does not mean that the Request will be granted as a matter of course. The Court will still evaluate the merits of the Request before making its decision.

(5) If the consent of one or more of the other parties is not obtained, the letter should set out the reasons for the other parties’ objections, or explain why the consent of one or more of the other parties cannot be obtained. Any relevant correspondence between the parties should also be attached to the Request electronic form. The Court will then evaluate the contents of the Request and the relevant correspondence before deciding whether the requested adjournment or vacation of hearings should be allowed.

(6) In any other case, parties must attend before the Court to make an application for an adjournment. See also paragraph 88 of these Practice Directions.

26. Authorisation for collection of Court documents or mail

(1) Without limiting sub-paragraphs (3) and (4), all law firms are required to notify the Registry of the particulars of person(s) authorised to collect Court documents or mail from the Supreme Court on their behalf by submitting a request to authorise user through the Electronic Filing Service.

(2) Where such authorised persons are no longer so authorised, law firms are required to revoke or delete the authorisation immediately by submitting a request through the Electronic Filing Service. Until receipt of such notification of revocation or deletion, Court documents and mail will continue to be released to such authorised persons upon production of evidence of identification.

(3) Any solicitor may collect Court documents or mail on behalf of his or her firm and any person who is not legally represented may collect Court documents or mail intended for him or her in any matter in which he or she is a party.

(4) A law firm may authorise a courier service provider to collect Court documents or mail from the Supreme Court on their behalf. At the time of collection, the courier service provider should produce a letter of authorisation which is printed on the law firm’s letterhead and addressed to the courier service provider. The said letter of authorisation should clearly state the case number, the name of the courier service provider appointed to collect and the Court documents or mail to be collected. An employee or representative of the courier service provider collecting the Court documents or mail may be requested to provide evidence that will allow the Registry to verify that he or she is an employee or representative from the courier service provider, and will have to acknowledge receipt of the Court documents or mail collected.

27. Electronic payment of Court fees

Implementation of electronic means for payment of Court fees

(1) Subject to these Practice Directions, all Court fees not paid using the Electronic Filing Service must be paid by electronic means.

Modes of payment by electronic means

(2) Payment by electronic means includes payment effected by Interbank GIRO (IBG), NETS and selected credit cards. For law firms with standing GIRO arrangements with the Supreme Court, payment by IBG would be the most appropriate mode of electronic payment where Court fees are paid over the counter. A law firm using IBG for such purposes will authorise the Supreme Court to deduct the fees from its bank account upon lodgement of the prescribed form.

Scope of payment by electronic means

(3) The electronic means of payment cover all Court fees previously collected over the counter and hearing fees in the Supreme Court.

Registrar’s discretion

(4) Unless otherwise approved by the Registrar, payment of Court fees collected over the counter must be made by electronic means. The Registrar may, in any case, waive the requirement for the payment to be effected by electronic means, on such terms and conditions as the Registrar deems fit.

28. Use of the Video Conference Facilities and the Mobile Infocomm Technology Facilities

(1) The video conference facilities and the Mobile Infocomm Technology Facilities (“MIT facilities”) may, at the discretion of the Registrar, be used:

(a) for the hearing of any matter, whether before a Judge or Registrar, in open court or in chambers; or

(b) for any other dispute resolution process.

(2) The Registrar may refuse any request for the use of any of the services described in this Part at any time owing to the unavailability of staff or equipment or for any other reason. The Registrar need not give any reasons for the refusal of such a request.

29. Applications to use the Video Conference Facilities and Usage of Additional Equipment

(1) A request to use the video conference facilities for the hearing of any matter before a Judge or Registrar must be made by filing a Request electronic form in the manner and form set out in Form B2 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions through the Electronic Filing Service at least 14 working days before the hearing at which those facilities are to be used.

(2) An application to use the video conference facilities for any other dispute resolution process must be made by submitting Form B2 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions to the Registrar, through the relevant person-in-charge at the organisation at which the dispute resolution process is carried out, at least 14 working days before the dispute resolution proceedings at which it is to be used.

(3) Upon a successful request to use the video conference facilities,

(a) prior arrangements for equipment testing have to be made at least 5 working days before the first day fixed for the hearing, in order to ensure equipment compatibility;

(b) applicants will be informed of the number for video conferencing during the testing session; and

(c) as a matter of general practice, the remote site will connect to the number and it is the responsibility of the party requesting the video conference to coordinate the booking and calling in from the remote site.

(4) Any person who desires to use audio-visual and computer equipment additional to those provided in a courtroom will be asked to provide details of such equipment. The applicant must also be prepared to have the equipment available for testing with the audio-visual system of the courtroom at least 3 working days before the first day fixed for the hearing. It is the responsibility of the applicant to provide equipment that is compatible with the audio-visual system of the courtroom.

30. Applications to use the Mobile Infocomm Technology Facilities

(1) A request to use the MIT facilities for the hearing of any matter in open court or in chambers before a Judge or Registrar must be made by filing a Request electronic form in the manner and form set out in Form B2 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions through the Electronic Filing Service at least 14 working days before the hearing at which the MIT facilities are to be used.

(2) An application to use the MIT facilities for any other dispute resolution process must be made by submitting Form B2 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions to the Registrar, through the relevant person-in-charge at the organisation at which the dispute resolution process is carried out as soon as practicable, as availability of the resources is on a first-come, first-served basis.

(3) MIT facilities are available for use in both open court and in chambers.

(4) Any applicant desiring to use MIT facilities is required to provide details of the type of evidence to be presented and media format in the application form. The applicant must also be prepared to have the presentation material or media available for testing with the MIT facilities at least 5 working days before the first day fixed for the hearing. It is the responsibility of the applicant to provide presentation materials or media format that is compatible with the equipment provided by the Court.

85. Urgent applications outside of the Court’s office hours

86. Duty Registrar

87. Request for urgent hearing before Judge

88. Attendance of solicitors in Court and mentioning on behalf of other solicitors

89. Absence from Court on medical grounds

90. Attendance at hearings in chambers

91. The Central Display Management System

92. Precedence and preaudience of Senior Counsel

93. Court dress

94. Forms of address

95. Citation of Case Numbers

96. Submissions and examination by leading and junior assisting counsel

97. Use of electronic and other devices

98. Publication of and reports and comments on Court cases

99. Lead counsel’s statement on trial proceedings

100. Late filing fees

101. Filing of documents and authorities for use in Court generally

• Time for filing of documents

• General requirements as regards documents filed for use in Court

• Bundle of authorities

102. Documents for use in trials of originating claims in open court

• Time for filing of documents under Order 9, Rule 25(9) of the Rules of Court 2021

• Mode of filing documents

• Bundles of documents

• Core bundle of documents

103. Bundles of authorities for other open court hearings

104. Hearings in chambers

105. Written submissions and bundles of authorities for special date hearings and hearings of originating applications

106. Citation of judgments

• Use of judgments as authorities in submissions

• Use of judgments from foreign jurisdictions

• Citation practice

• The neutral citation system for local judgments

85. Urgent applications outside of the Court’s office hours

(1) When an applicant files an application for any civil matter (including applications for interim injunctions or interim preservation of subject matter of action, evidence and assets to satisfy judgments) or criminal matter, and the application is so urgent that it has to be attended to outside of the hours specified in paragraph 86(2) of these Practice Directions, the applicant’s counsel or the applicant (if not legally represented) must contact the Registrar on duty at 6332 4351 or 6332 4352.

(2) When the applicant seeks an urgent hearing for the application, all the papers required for the application must have been prepared, together with the appropriate draft order(s) of court. Where the documents (including the originating process) have yet to be filed in Court when counsel seeks the urgent hearing, he or she must give an undertaking to the Registrar processing the application to have these documents filed in Court by such time as the Registrar may direct and, in any event, no later than the next working day.

(3) In seeking an urgent hearing, counsel is to ensure that all applicable notice requirements prescribed by these Practice Directions are complied with. For all civil and criminal matters which have to be served on other parties or non-parties, notice must be given to the other party or non-parties (as the case may) be prior to the applicant seeking an urgent hearing.

(4) The Registrar will only arrange for the matter to be heard outside of office hours if it is so urgent that it cannot be heard the next working day. The hearing may take place in the Registrar’s chambers in the Supreme Court or at any place as directed by the Judge or Registrar hearing the matter.

(5) If the application is of sufficient urgency, the Registrar may also direct counsel to send the application and supporting documents by email. The Judge or Registrar has the discretion to decide whether to deal with the application by email or to hear oral arguments from counsel.

86. Duty Registrar

(1) The duties of the Duty Registrar are to:

(a) hear consent applications or applications without notice;

(b) grant approval for any matter pertaining to the administration of the Registry, including giving early or urgent dates and allowing inspection of files; and

(c) sign and certify documents.

(2) On Mondays to Fridays (excluding public holidays), the duty hours are from 9.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and from 2.30 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.

(3) Only advocates and solicitors or litigants (if they are not legally represented) may appear before the Duty Registrar.

(4) Except where the attendance of the advocate and solicitor is required under sub- paragraph (6) below, the filing of the relevant documents will be sufficient for the Duty Registrar to dispose of any application or matter. Documents will be returned to the advocate and solicitor through the Electronic Filing Service to the inbox of the law firm’s computer system or through the service bureau.

(5) All Court fees for the filing of documents should be duly paid before presentation of the documents to the Duty Registrar for his or her signature and/or decision.

(6) The advocate and solicitor’s attendance is compulsory only:

(a) when he or she is requesting an early or urgent date for a hearing before the Registrar or Judge;

(b) when an application or document is returned with the direction “solicitor to attend”; or

(c) when his or her attendance is required by any provision of law.

(7) A solicitor may, if he or she wishes to expedite matters, attend before the Duty Registrar even if his or her attendance is not ordinarily required.

(8) A solicitor or a litigant who is not legally represented (collectively, “parties”) who wishes to attend before a Duty Registrar and to refer him or her to documents filed must either:

(a) file the documents at least 1 hour before attending before the Duty Registrar, so that the documents would already be in the electronic case file for the Duty Registrar’s reference. Parties should as far as possible only attend before the Duty Registrar after they have received notification from the Court that the documents have been accepted. Parties should also check with the Registry that the documents have been routed to the Duty Registrar before attending before the Duty Registrar; or

(b) attend before the Duty Registrar with the hard copy documents. The Duty Registrar will require the relevant party to give an undertaking to file all the documents by the next working day before dealing with the matter.

(9) A solicitor or a litigant who is not legally represented (collectively, “parties”) who wishes to attend before a Duty Registrar by way of video conferencing must call the Case Management Officer (“CMO”) to notify the Court of the following:

(a) when the application and all related documents were filed;

(b) the case number;

(c) if there is no case number assigned, the name(s) of the parties and names of the counsel and law firm(s) acting for such parties;

(d) whether any natural person or business corporate entity involved in the case is unrepresented, and if so, the name of that person or entity;

(e) explain briefly the nature of the application and directions sought from the Duty Registrar;

(f) the time and date that he or she wishes to attend before Duty Registrar;

(g) whether he or she wishes to send in any documents via the Electronic Filing Service ahead of the hearing or during the hearing before the Duty Registrar;

(h) whether he or she wishes to tender any hard copy documents ahead of the hearing before the Duty Registrar;

(i) the name(s) of all the parties who will be attending the hearing before the Duty Registrar, and the email address and telephone number of these parties.

If parties wish to tender any hard copy documents ahead of the hearing before the Duty Registrar, parties should as far as possible provide the hard copies and ensure that they have been placed before the Duty Registrar at least 1 hour before the scheduled hearing. Parties should check with the CMO that the documents have been placed before the Duty Registrar before the scheduled hearing.

87. Request for urgent hearing before Judge

(1) Before an applicant attends before the Duty Registrar to request an urgent hearing before a Judge of any application for any civil matter, the applicant should complete (as far as possible) and file Form B14 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions. A copy of Form B14 should be served on each respondent to the application at the time of filing, unless the application is an application without notice and service of Form B14 would or might defeat the purpose of the application.

(2) The applicant should prepare skeletal submissions for the urgent hearing before the Judge, and file the skeletal submissions at the same time as Form B14 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions. A copy of the skeletal submissions should be served on each respondent to the application at the time of filing, unless the application is an application without notice and service of the skeletal submissions would or might defeat the purpose of the application. If the skeletal submissions are not filed, the applicant should inform the Duty Registrar whether the skeletal submissions will be filed and served by the time of the urgent hearing before the Judge.

(3) If, due to urgency, the applicant is unable to file or serve Form B14 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions and/or the skeletal submissions before attending before the Duty Registrar, the applicant should provide a copy each of Form B14 and the skeletal submissions to each respondent to the application when the parties attend before the Duty Registrar. Each such copy of Form B14 or the skeletal submissions must be a hard copy, if the parties attend before the Duty Registrar physically, or in soft copy, if the parties attend before the Duty Registrar by video conferencing. Thereafter, Form B14 and the skeletal submissions should be filed as soon as possible and, in any event, no later than the next working day after the attendance before the Duty Registrar, unless the Court otherwise directs. If any respondent does not attend before the Duty Registrar, Form B14 and the skeletal submissions should be served on that respondent as soon as possible after the hearing before the Duty Registrar, and, in any event, before the urgent hearing before the Judge, unless the Court otherwise directs.

(4) In cases of extreme urgency where the applicant is unable to comply with the requirement to file or provide a copy of the skeletal submissions by the time of the urgent hearing before the Judge, the applicant should inform the Duty Registrar of the applicant’s intention to seek a dispensation of that requirement at the hearing before the Judge, and provide supporting reasons for the dispensation.

(5) The applicant’s skeletal submissions should contain the following:

(a) the relevant facts;

(b) the applicable law;

(c) the reason(s) for requesting an urgent hearing; and

(d) a summary of arguments.

(6) The applicant’s skeletal submissions must be in the following format:

(a) all pages (including, where applicable, the cover page, table of contents, separator sheets and exhibit sheets) must be paginated such that the printed page numbers correspond to the page numbers in the soft copy Portable Document Format (PDF) version of the document that is filed through the Electronic Filing Service, the page number must be inserted at the top right hand corner of the page, and, where there are multiple volumes, each separate volume must start at page 1, and every page in that volume must be numbered consecutively;

(b) the skeletal submissions should not exceed 10 pages (excluding the cover page);

(c) except for content reproduced from case authorities, textbook or other commentaries, other documents filed in Court, and extracts of transcripts, which may be in Times New Roman 10 or its equivalent, the minimum font size to be used must be Times New Roman 12 or its equivalent;

(d) the print of every page must be double-spaced, except for:

(i) cover pages and tables of contents;

(ii) paragraph and section headings or sub-headings;

(iii) content reproduced from case authorities, textbook or other commentaries, and other documents filed in Court; and

88. Attendance of solicitors in Court and mentioning on behalf of other solicitors

(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2), a solicitor appearing in any cause or matter may mention for counsel for all other parties provided that:

(a) the solicitor obtains confirmation of his or her authority to mention on their behalf for the purpose of the hearing; and

(b) parties have agreed on the order sought.

(2) However, where an adjournment of the hearing date of any cause or matter is sought, solicitors for all parties must attend the hearing. See also paragraphs 24 and 25 of these Practice Directions.

(3) Solicitors appearing in any cause or matter should be punctual in attending Court, as delay in the commencement of the hearing leads to wastage of judicial time. Appropriate sanctions may be imposed for solicitors who do not arrive for hearings on time.

89. Absence from Court on medical grounds

(1) If:

(a) any party to proceedings;

(b) any witness;

(c) any counsel; or

(d) the Public Prosecutor or the Public Prosecutor’s deputy,

is required to attend Court and wishes to absent himself or herself from Court on medical grounds, he or she must provide the Court with an original medical certificate. The medical certificate must be in the proper form and contain the information and particulars required by sub-paragraphs (2) to (5).

(2) A medical certificate issued by a Government hospital or clinic may be in the pre-printed form produced by the Ministry of Health, a sample of which may be found at Form B15 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions. A medical certificate issued by a restructured hospital or specialist centre may also be in a pre-printed form similar to the sample which appears at Form B15. The pre-printed medical certificate must:

(a) be completely and properly filled in;

(b) contain the name of the medical practitioner who issued the medical certificate;

(c) state the name of the hospital or clinic in which the medical practitioner practises;

(d) indicate that the person to whom the certificate is issued is unfit to attend Court, and specify the date(s) on which he or she is unfit to attend Court;

(e) be signed in full by the medical practitioner (and not merely initialled); and

(f) be authenticated by a rubber stamp showing the medical practitioner’s full name and designation in the hospital or clinic, as the case may be.

(3) If a medical certificate is not in Form B15 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions, the medical certificate should:

(a) be addressed to “Registrar, Supreme Court” (and not “whoever-it-may-concern”);

(b) identify clearly the medical practitioner who issued the certificate;

(c) state the name of the hospital or clinic at which it was issued;

(d) be signed in full by the medical practitioner (and not merely initialled);

(e) be authenticated by a rubber stamp showing the medical practitioner’s full name and designation;

(f) contain a diagnosis of the patient concerned (unless the diagnosis cannot or should not normally be disclosed);

(g) contain a statement to the effect that the person to whom the certificate is issued is medically unfit to attend Court, and specify the date(s) on which he or she is unfit to attend Court; and

(h) bear the date on which the medical certificate was written and, where this differs from the date of consultation, this fact must be disclosed and clearly stated.

(4) If any portion of the information set out in sub-paragraph (3) is not found in the medical certificate itself, such information may be included in a memorandum which should be attached to the medical certificate. This memorandum must:

(a) identify clearly the medical practitioner who issued the memorandum;

(b) contain the name of the hospital or clinic at which it was issued;

(c) be signed in full by the medical practitioner (and not merely initialled); and

(d) be authenticated by a rubber stamp showing the medical practitioner’s full name and designation.

(5) All information and details in any medical certificate or memorandum must be clearly and legibly printed.

(6) If the directions set out in sub-paragraphs (2) to (5) are not complied with, the Court may reject the medical certificate and decline to excuse the attendance of the person to whom the medical certificate was issued. The Court may then take any action it deems appropriate.

(7) This paragraph applies to all hearings in the Supreme Court, whether in open court or in chambers.

(8) This paragraph applies to both civil and criminal proceedings.

90. Attendance at hearings in chambers

(1) To avoid doubt, the general rule is that hearings in chambers in civil proceedings are private in nature, and that members of the public are not entitled to attend such hearings.

(2) However, subject to any written law, the Court may, in its discretion, allow any person such as instructing solicitors, foreign legal counsel and parties to the matter, to attend any hearing in chambers subject to space, security and the interests of justice. In exercising its discretion, the Court may consider a broad range of factors including: (a) the interest that the person seeking permission has in the matter before the Court; (b) the interests of the litigants; (c) the reasons for which such permission is sought; and (d) the Court’s interest in preserving and upholding its authority and dignity.

91. The Central Display Management System

(1) The Central Display Management System (CDMS) is used for the following types of hearings:

(a) hearings before a Registrar (including matters before a Duty Registrar); and

(b) hearings before a Judge in chambers, if so directed by the Judge.

(2) Before taking a CDMS queue number, solicitors are to have conferred with their opponent(s) and enter the estimated duration of their own submissions. The number of minutes entered should be an accurate reflection of the actual duration of submissions expected to be made by each of the solicitors. Solicitors should indicate in the CDMS that they are ready for hearing only when the solicitors for all the parties concerned are present.

(3) The Judge or Registrar has full discretion to manage the queue and call cases in the CDMS in a manner which he or she deems fit.

(4) Senior Counsel will continue to be given the precedence and the right of preaudience in accordance with paragraph 92.

92. Precedence and preaudience of Senior Counsel

(1) By virtue of section 31 of the Legal Profession Act 1966 and existing custom and usage, Senior Counsel are given precedence and the right of preaudience.

(2) In order to give substance to the principle of precedence and preaudience to Senior Counsel, the Chief Justice has directed that Senior Counsel who intend to appear before Judges or Registrars for summonses should inform the Registrar in writing not later than 2 clear days before the scheduled hearing date. Senior Counsel should indicate their presence in the Central Display Management System (CDMS), and will be given precedence and the right of preaudience, subject to the Judge’s or Registrar’s overriding discretion.

(3) All other counsel, including those who appear on behalf of their Senior Counsel, will be heard according to the order in which their matters appear on the CDMS, subject to the Judge’s or Registrar’s overriding discretion.

93. Court dress

(1) The attire for male advocates and solicitors appearing in open court will be the existing gown worn over an ordinary long-sleeved white shirt with a turn-down collar, a tie of a subdued or sober colour, a dark jacket, dark trousers and black or plain coloured shoes.

(2) The attire for female advocates and solicitors appearing in open court will be the existing gown worn over a long-sleeved white blouse high to the neck, a dark jacket, a dark skirt or dark trousers and black or plain coloured shoes. Conspicuous jewellery or ornaments should not be worn.

(3) When appearing in open court proceedings that are conducted through a live video link or live television link:

(a) if the proceedings are conducted solely through the live video link or live television link and do not take place in any courtroom, the attire for an advocate and solicitor will be the same as for open court, except that a gown need not be worn;

(b) if one or more Judges hear the proceedings in a courtroom, unless the Court otherwise directs, every advocate and solicitor in the proceedings will wear the usual attire for open court proceedings;

(c) if the Judge conducts proceedings through the live video link or live television link, and the parties attend the proceedings in the courtroom, unless the Court otherwise directs, every advocate and solicitor in the proceedings will wear the usual attire for open court proceedings.

(4) When appearing before the Judge or Registrar in chambers, the attire for an advocate and solicitor will be the same as for open court, except that a gown need not be worn.

(5) The attire for Senior Counsel must be as described in sub-paragraphs (1) to (4), save that for hearings in open court, they may, instead of the existing gown, wear a gown in the design of those worn by Queen’s Counsel of England and Wales and made of the following material:

(a) silk;

(b) silk and wool mix; or

(c) artificial silk.

94. Forms of address

The Chief Justice has directed that the following forms of address apply:

(a) The Chief Justice, the Justices of the Court of Appeal, the Judges of the Appellate Division, the Judges of the High Court, the Senior Judges, the International Judges and the Judicial Commissioners must, when sitting in open court or in chambers, be addressed as “Your Honour”, and on social occasions or other extra-judicial occasions, as “Chief Justice” or “Judge”, as the case may be.

(b) The Chief Justice, the Justices of the Court of Appeal, the Judges of the Appellate Division, the Judges of the High Court, the Senior Judges, the International Judges and the Judicial Commissioners must, in all cause lists, orders of court, correspondence and other documents, be described in the following manner without any accompanying gender prefix.

95. Citation of Case Numbers

(1) All originating processes and summonses filed in the Supreme Court must bear case numbers in the following format:

Description of Court/ Type of Application [Case number]/ Year filed

For example:

(2) Parties are to cite the case number in full in all documents and correspondence which are submitted to the Court.

96. Submissions and examination by leading and junior assisting counsel

(1) In the event that a party is represented by more than one counsel at a hearing, whether in open court or in chambers, more than one counsel (including junior assisting counsel) may undertake part of the oral advocacy including the making of submissions and the questioning of witnesses.

(1A) Lead counsel are strongly encouraged to give junior assisting counsel more opportunities for oral advocacy at a hearing. This contributes to their development as advocates and promotes renewal of the Bar. Lead counsel should apprise the client of the potential benefits of allocating certain advocacy tasks to junior assisting counsel, including reduced legal costs and increased focus by lead counsel on the main advocacy tasks, and to therefore obtain instructions to conduct the proceedings in accordance with sub-paragraph (2).

(2) If a party would like certain portions of the submissions, or examination, cross-examination or re-examination of witnesses to be conducted by different counsel in the same case, lead counsel should inform the Court as early as is practicable at a Case Conference, and in any event by no later than the commencement of the trial or hearing. The following information should be provided to the Court:

(a) the issues on which each counsel will be making submissions; and/or

(b) the witnesses to be examined, cross-examined or re-examined by each counsel, or the portions of their evidence for which each counsel will conduct the examination, cross-examination or re-examination.

(3) If the Court has been informed of the allocation of oral advocacy tasks in accordance with sub-paragraph (2), unless otherwise directed by the Court,

(a) counsel should ensure that he or she confines himself or herself to the issues or portions of evidence as allocated to him or her and that there is no overlap in the issues or the examination being dealt with by different counsel for the same party; and

(b) counsel must not repeat, clarify or expand on any submissions that have been made by another counsel for the same party, or examine, cross-examine or re-examine witnesses on portions of their evidence dealt with by another counsel for the same party.

(4) Nothing in this paragraph detracts from the responsibility of lead counsel to ensure that all counsel making submissions, or having conduct of any portion of the examination, cross-examination or re-examination of witnesses, are adequately supervised and able to handle the tasks assigned to them.

(5) [deleted]

(6) This paragraph applies to both civil and criminal proceedings but does not apply to any proceedings for which specific directions are provided in Part 13, Part 14 or Part 22 of these Practice Directions.

97. Use of electronic and other devices

(1) In order to maintain the dignity of Court proceedings, the Chief Justice has directed that in all hearings in open court or in chambers before a Judge or Registrar, video and/or image recording is strictly prohibited.

(2) Additionally, audio recording during a hearing is strictly prohibited without prior approval of the Judge or Registrar hearing the matter.

(3) Court users are permitted to use notebooks, tablets, mobile phones and other electronic devices to:

(a) take notes of evidence and for other purposes pertaining to the proceedings in open court or in chambers; or

(b) communicate with external parties in all hearings in open court, provided that such use does not in any way disrupt or trivialise the proceedings.

(4) The attention of Court users is also drawn to section 5 of the Administration of Justice (Protection) Act 2016.

(1) This paragraph applies to solicitors, litigants (whether represented by solicitors or not), the media and all other persons reporting on or commenting about cases which are before any Court (“Court cases”). All categories of persons mentioned above are collectively referred to as “all concerned”.

(2) All concerned are reminded that reports or comments in public on Court cases must not flout any existing law or order of court or be calculated to affect, or be reasonably capable of affecting, the outcome of any decision by the Court. The attention of all concerned is drawn to section 3 of the Administration of Justice (Protection) Act 2016.

(3) All concerned are not to publish, report or publicly comment on any affidavit or statutory declaration which has not been adduced as evidence or referred to in any hearing in open court or in chambers or any other court document which has not been served on the relevant party or parties in the Court proceedings.

(4) All concerned are not to publish, report or publicly comment on any statements made in chambers by anyone which is expressly stated to be confidential or is impliedly confidential. Solicitors may inform their clients of statements made in chambers when it is necessary for them to render proper advice to their clients.

98. Publication of and reports and comments on Court cases

(1) This paragraph applies to solicitors, litigants (whether represented by solicitors or not), the media and all other persons reporting on or commenting about cases which are before any Court (“Court cases”). All categories of persons mentioned above are collectively referred to as “all concerned”.

(2) All concerned are reminded that reports or comments in public on Court cases must not flout any existing law or order of court or be calculated to affect, or be reasonably capable of affecting, the outcome of any decision by the Court. The attention of all concerned is drawn to section 3 of the Administration of Justice (Protection) Act 2016.

(3) All concerned are not to publish, report or publicly comment on any affidavit or statutory declaration which has not been adduced as evidence or referred to in any hearing in open court or in chambers or any other court document which has not been served on the relevant party or parties in the Court proceedings.

(4) All concerned are not to publish, report or publicly comment on any statements made in chambers by anyone which is expressly stated to be confidential or is impliedly confidential. Solicitors may inform their clients of statements made in chambers when it is necessary for them to render proper advice to their clients.

99. Lead counsel’s statement on trial proceedings

For every case proceeding to trial in the General Division, each party must file and serve a lead counsel’s statement in Form B16 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions to provide a list of issues for trial and an accurate estimation of the trial days needed after taking into account the time needed for the examination of each witness. The lead counsel’s statement must be filed and served within 1 week after objections to the contents of the affidavits of evidence-in-chief are due to be taken, unless the Court otherwise directs.

100. Late filing fees

The attention of parties is drawn to Order 3, Rule 2(4)(e) of the Rules of Court 2021 which provides that:

General powers of Court (O. 3, r. 2)

…

(4) Where there is non-compliance with these Rules, any other written law, the Court’s orders or directions or any practice directions, the Court may exercise all or any of the following powers:

…

(e) impose a late filing fee of $50 for each day that a document remains unfiled after the expiry of the period within which the document is required to be filed, excluding non-court days; …

For example, where a document is required to be filed by 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 4 April 2022 pursuant to the Court’s order, but is only filed at 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 11 April 2022, the Court may order late filing fees of $250 to be paid by the filing party.

101. Filing of documents and authorities for use in Court generally

Time for filing of documents

(1) Subject to any directions in these Practice Directions, in particular paragraph 102(2), or by the Court to the contrary, all documents for use at any hearing in Court must be filed using the Electronic Filing Service at least 1 clear day in advance of the hearing. These documents include written submissions, skeletal arguments, bundles of documents, bundle of pleadings, bundles of affidavits, core bundles and opening statements.

(2) In the event that it is not possible to file the documents in advance of the hearing, counsel may apply to the Judge or Registrar conducting the hearing for permission:

(a) to use hard copy documents during the hearing. Without limiting paragraph 102(11) of these Practice Directions, parties are strongly encouraged to print hard copies on both sides of each page; or

(b) to display a soft copy of the document by sharing his or her screen during the hearing (if the hearing is conducted by video-conferencing).

The solicitor must explain why it was not possible to file the documents in advance of the hearing, and must also give an undertaking to file using the Electronic Filing Service all the documents used at the hearing by the next working day after the hearing. Any document not filed using the Electronic Filing Service will not be included in the Court’s case file.

General requirements as regards documents filed for use in Court

(3) Without limiting any directions in these Practice Directions, the following requirements apply to all documents filed for use in Court:

(a) The cover page and table of contents are to be included in the page count for the purposes of determining whether a document is within the prescribed page limit (if any).

(b) Cover pages are mandatory for all documents.

(c) A table of contents is mandatory for all documents for which the prescribed page limit is 20 pages or higher.

(d) Where a document consists of more than 1 volume:

(i) the table of contents of all volumes of the document must be placed at the beginning of Volume I; and

(ii) each volume must have a table of contents indicating the items that are contained in that volume.

(4) If the filing of a document is to be done by submitting only a hard copy of the same to the Registry in accordance with these Practice Directions or the Court’s direction:

(a) Any fees payable pursuant to the Fourth Schedule to the Rules of Court 2021 must be paid over the counter at the same time as when the hard copy document is submitted to the Registry.

(b) Parties should, when making payment over the counter, indicate to the cashier the precise number of pages which comprise the documents.

(c) The hard copy of the document filed in Court should show, on the first page of the document, the amount of fees that have been paid on the document.

(d) To avoid doubt, this sub-paragraph does not apply where:

(i) a document is filed, and the fees payable pursuant to the Fourth Schedule to the Rules of Court 2021 are paid, through the Electronic Filing System; and

(ii) the party chooses to tender hard copy of the document to the Registry.

(4A) Pleadings, the text of affidavits (as opposed to the exhibits), opening statements and written submissions filed in or submitted to the General Division of the High Court must comply with the following requirements:

(a) all pages (including, where applicable, the cover page, table of contents, separator sheets and exhibit sheets) must be paginated such that the printed page numbers correspond to the page numbers in the soft copy Portable Document Format (PDF) version of the document that is filed through the Electronic Filing Service, the page number must be inserted at the top right hand corner of the page, and, where there are multiple volumes, each separate volume must start at page 1, and every page in that volume must be numbered consecutively;

(b) except for content reproduced from case authorities, textbook or other commentaries, other documents filed in Court, and extracts of transcripts, which may be in Times New Roman 10 or its equivalent, the minimum font size to be used must be Times New Roman 12 or its equivalent;

(c) the print of every page must be double-spaced, except for:

(i) cover pages and tables of contents;

(ii) paragraph and section headings or sub-headings;

(iii) content reproduced from case authorities, textbook or other commentaries, and other documents filed in Court; and

(iv) extracts of transcripts,

which may be single-spaced;

(4B) Sub-paragraph (4A) does not apply to any documents for which specific directions on formatting are provided for in these Practice Directions.

Bundle of authorities

(5) Where bundles of authorities are required to be filed under these Practice Directions or by the Court, the following directions, unless otherwise provided by these Practice Directions or ordered by the Court, apply.

(6) Bundles of authorities may be filed, served, delivered or otherwise conveyed using the Electronic Filing Service. A party may also choose not to file the bundle of authorities into the electronic case file and instead submit a hard copy of the bundle of authorities for hearings according to the directions in this Part.

(7) The party using the hard copy of the bundle of authorities must produce the bundle at every hearing at which it is required. Parties are strongly encouraged to print hard copies on both sides of each page. The Court will neither retain nor undertake to produce for hearings the hard copy of the bundle. The Judge or Registrar may, if he or she so chooses, retain the hard copy of the bundle of authorities for his or her own reference. The hard copy so retained will not, however, form part of the Court’s record in respect of the proceedings in which it was used.

(8) Counsel must adhere to the following directions when preparing bundles of authorities for use in Court. These requirements also apply to paragraphs 102 to 105 of these Practice Directions:

(a) The bundle of authorities must contain all the authorities, cases, statutes, subsidiary legislation and any other materials relied on.

(b) The bundle of authorities must be arranged in the following order – statutes in alphabetical order of the title, subsidiary legislation in alphabetical order of the title, cases in alphabetical order of the case name, secondary materials (such as textbooks and articles) in alphabetical order of the last name of the author, and any other materials in alphabetical order of the title or last name of the author as is appropriate.

(c) The bundle of authorities must have a table of contents immediately after the cover page. Where the bundle of authorities consists of more than 1 volume:

(i) the table of contents of all volumes of the bundle of authorities must be placed at the beginning of Volume I; and

(ii) each volume must have a table of contents indicating the authorities that are contained in that volume.

(d) The items in the table of contents must be numbered sequentially, and bound in the order in which they are listed.

(e) The table of contents must contain a concise statement of the relevance of each authority to the specific issues before the Court. The relevance of each authority must be succinctly expressed and comprise no more than 3 sentences. The statement must be set out immediately after the name of the case. For example:

(9) The Court may reject bundles of authorities that are not in compliance with sub-paragraph (8) above, and in exercising its discretion as to costs, take such non-compliance into account.

(10) Only authorities which are relevant or necessary for the trial or hearing may be included in the bundle. No bundle of authorities is necessary in cases where parties are not relying on any authority at the trial or hearing. In cases where the Court is of the opinion that costs have been wasted by the inclusion of unnecessary authorities, the Court will have no hesitation in making a special order for costs against the relevant party.

(11) Where bundles of authorities are filed through the Electronic Filing Service, the following applies:

(a) A bookmark should be created in the Portable Document Format (PDF) file for each authority in the bundle.

(b) The name given to each bookmark should be the same as the corresponding authority in the table of contents.

(c) All pages (including, where applicable, the cover page, table of contents, separator sheets and exhibit sheets) must be paginated in the manner provided for in sub-paragraph (8)(h).

102. Documents for use in trials of originating claims in open court

(1) This paragraph applies to trials of originating claims in open court, including originating claims that were ordered to be converted from originating applications.

Time for filing of documents under Order 9, Rule 25(9) of the Rules of Court 2021

(2) Order 9, Rule 25(9) of the Rules of Court 2021 requires the affidavits of evidence-in- chief of all witnesses or other affidavits, the bundles of documents and the opening statements to be filed and served as directed by the Court. Parties are to note that the timeline given pursuant to the Court’s directions under Order 9, Rule 25(9) of the Rules of Court 2021 is to be adhered to strictly, and that the timeline will apply to the filing of the documents into the electronic case file and, if applicable, the submission of the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM (containing the documents in Portable Document Format (PDF)) to the Registry.

(3) At the trial of the cause or matter, an adjournment may be ordered if:

(a) the documents or any of them (save for the opening statement in cases where it is not required or dispensation was granted) were not filed and served within the prescribed time or at all; or

(b) one party seeks to tender any of the above documents or supplements to such documents (except for supplements to the opening statement at the trial of the cause or matter).

(4) If an adjournment is ordered for any of the reasons set out in sub-paragraph (3), the party in default may be ordered to bear the costs of the adjournment.

Mode of filing documents

(5) The opening statement, the affidavits of the evidence-in-chief of all witnesses or other affidavits, and the bundle of documents must be filed in Court as separate documents using the Electronic Filing Service, and, if required, each of the opening statement, the affidavits of the evidence-in-chief of all witnesses or other affidavits, and the bundle of documents in Portable Document Format (PDF) stored on optical media (CD-ROM or DVD-ROM) may be tendered to the Registry. The documents must comply with the provisions of this paragraph.

(6) The parties may tender the documents referred to at sub-paragraph (5) above to the Registry in hard copy. The hard copy must tally in all respects with the soft copy, and all pages (including, where applicable, the cover page, table of contents, separator sheets and exhibit sheets) must be paginated such that the printed page numbers correspond to the page numbers in the soft copy Portable Document Format (PDF) version of the document that is filed through the Electronic Filing Service, the page number must be inserted at the top right hand corner of the page, and, where there are multiple volumes, each separate volume must start at page 1, and every page in that volume must be numbered consecutively. Parties should adhere as far as possible to the guidelines set out on the eLitigation website at on the resolution to be used when scanning documents into PDF.

Bundles of documents

(7) Under Order 9, Rule 25(10) of the Rules of Court 2021, parties are required to file and serve bundles of documents which must contain:

(a) the last pleading (which incorporates all the previous pleadings);

(b) the orders of the Court given at the case conferences which are relevant for the trial; and

(c) the documents which the parties are relying on at the trial, separating them into sections for documents of which authenticity is not in dispute and documents of which authenticity is in dispute.

Where directed by the Court, the claimant’s solicitors are to prepare a table in the manner and form set out in Form B17 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions. The table seeks to provide an overview of the parties’ positions reflected in the last pleading (which incorporates all the previous pleadings).

(8) The bundles of documents must be prepared in an electronic format. The contents of the bundle of documents must be agreed on between all parties as far as possible. If there are other documents, the relevance of which is uncertain, these documents should be included and any objections taken before the trial Judge. Only documents which are relevant or necessary for the trial may be included in the bundles. In cases where the Court is of the opinion that costs have been wasted by the inclusion of unnecessary documents, the Court will have no hesitation in making a special order for costs against the relevant party. No bundle of documents is necessary in cases where parties are not relying on any document at the trial.

(9) The following directions apply to the electronic creation of bundles of documents:

(a) An index of contents of each bundle in the manner and form set out in Form B18 of Appendix B of these Practice Directions must also be prepared. Bookmarks should be created in the Portable Document Format (PDF) file for each such reference in the index. There should be as many bookmarks in the PDF file as there are references in the index to documents in that PDF file.

(b) The name given to each bookmark should be the same as the corresponding reference in the index.

(c) It is the responsibility of the solicitors for all parties to agree and prepare a bundle of agreed documents. The scope to which the agreement extends must be stated in the index sheet of the bundle of agreed documents. If the parties are unable to agree on the inclusion of certain documents, those documents on which agreement cannot be reached must be prepared by the party that intends to rely on or refer to those documents. It is the responsibility of the solicitors for the party filing the bundle of documents under Order 9, Rule 25(10) of the Rules of Court 2021 to separate the documents into sections for documents of which authenticity is not in dispute and documents of which authenticity is in dispute and to indicate in the index sheet the documents of which authenticity is in dispute and by whom. Apart from the above, the various PDF documents should be arranged chronologically or in some logical order.

(d) All pages (including, where applicable, the cover page, table of contents, separator sheets and exhibit sheets) must be paginated in the manner provided for in sub-paragraph (6).

(10) For proceedings using the Electronic Filing Service, a bundle of documents may be created online and filed through the Electronic Filing Service. The electronic bundle must be created in Portable Document Format (PDF). The electronic bundle may contain:

(a) documents in the electronic case file; and

(b) documents that have been uploaded into the electronic case file by solicitors or other persons given access to the shared folder in the electronic case file.

(11) The following directions apply to hard copies tendered to the Registry or the Court:

(a) All pages of the bundles of documents (including, where applicable, the cover page, table of contents, separator sheets and exhibit sheets) must be paginated in the manner provided for in sub-paragraph (6), the page number must be inserted at the top right hand corner of the page, and parties are strongly encouraged to print hard copies on both sides of each page.

(b) Where the bundle of documents consists of more than 1 volume:

(i) the index of contents of all volumes of the bundle of documents must be placed at the beginning of Volume I; and

(ii) each volume must have an index of contents indicating the documents that are contained in that volume.

(c) The documents in the bundles should:

(i) be firmly secured together with plastic ring binding or plastic spine thermal binding. The rings or spines should be red for claimants and blue for defendants with a transparent plastic cover in front and at the back;

(ii) have flags to mark out documents to which repeated references will be made in the course of hearing. Such flags must bear the appropriate indicium by which the document is indicated in the index of contents. Flags must be spaced out evenly along the right side of the bundle so that, as far as possible, they do not overlap one another; and

Core bundle of documents

(12) In addition to the bundles of documents required to be filed and served under Order 9, Rule 25(9) of the Rules of Court 2021, parties should endeavour to file a core bundle of documents for trial, unless one is clearly unnecessary. This core bundle should comprise only the most important documents that are relevant to the hearing in question, or which will be repeatedly referred to in the course of the hearing.

(13) The documents in the core bundle of documents should not only be paginated but should also be cross-referenced to copies of the documents included in the main bundles. The core bundle of documents must be prepared in an electronic format and also tendered to the Court in a loose-leaf file which can easily have further documents added to it if required. Where the core bundle of documents consists of more than 1 volume:

(a) the table of contents of all volumes of the core bundle of documents must be placed at the beginning of Volume I; and

(b) each volume must have a table of contents indicating the documents that are contained in that volume.

Opening statements

(14) A proper opening statement is of great assistance to the Court as it sets out the case in a nutshell, both as to facts and law. It is intended to identify both for the parties and the Judge the issues that are, and are not, in dispute. It enables the Judge to appreciate what the case is about, and what he or she is to look out for when reading and listening to the evidence that will follow. The need for brevity is emphasised as opening statements that contain long and elaborate arguments, and citations from and references to numerous authorities, do not serve this purpose:

(a) Opening statements will be required from all parties in all originating claims in the General Division, except where dispensation has been granted by the Court and in motor vehicle accident actions.

(b) All opening statements must include the following:

(i) the nature of the case generally and the background facts insofar as they are relevant to the matter before the Court and indicating which facts, if any, are agreed;

(ii) the precise legal and factual issues involved are to be identified with cross- references as appropriate to the pleadings. These issues should be numbered and listed, and each point should be stated in no more than one or two sentences. The object here is to identify the issues in dispute and state each party’s position clearly, not to argue or elaborate on them;

(iii) the principal authorities in support of each legal proposition should be listed, while the key documents and witnesses supporting each factual proposition should be identified;

(iv) where there is a counterclaim or third party action, the opening statement must similarly address all issues raised therein; and

(v) an explanation of the reliefs claimed (if these are unusual or complicated).

Bundle of authorities

(15) In addition to the documents required to be filed and served under Order 9, Rule 25(9) of the Rules of Court 2021, the Court may direct parties to file and serve bundles of authorities.

103. Bundles of authorities for other open court hearings

In all civil and criminal proceedings, including civil and criminal appeals, heard in open court in the General Division, counsel must submit their own bundle of authorities. To avoid doubt, paragraph 101(5) to (11) of these Practice Directions applies, with the necessary modifications, to a bundle of authorities under this paragraph.

104. Hearings in chambers

(1) In all hearings in chambers before a Judge or Registrar, counsel must submit their own bundles of documents (where necessary) and bundles of authorities. Order 9, Rule 25(10) and (11) of the Rules of Court 2021 and the requirements of paragraphs 101(5) to (11) and 102(7) to (11) of these Practice Directions must, with the necessary modifications, be complied with in this regard. Except where paragraph 105(1) of these Practice Directions applies, the bundles may be submitted at the hearing itself before the Judge or Registrar, as the case may be.

(2) The party using a hard copy of the bundle of authorities for the hearing must, if directed by the Court, file the list of authorities (that corresponds to the table of contents of the hard copy of the bundle of authorities) into the case file using the Electronic Filing Service at least 1 clear day in advance of the hearing. In the event that it is not possible for the party to do so, he or she must explain to the Judge or Registrar conducting the hearing why it was not possible for him or her to do so and must also undertake to file the list of authorities using the Electronic Filing Service by the next working day after the hearing.

105. Written submissions and bundles of authorities for special date hearings and hearings of originating applications

(1) For any contested special date hearing and any hearing of an originating application before a Judge sitting in the General Division, subject to the Rules of Court 2021 and unless otherwise directed by the Court, each party must:

(a) submit to the Court and serve on the other party a hard copy of the following documents at least 1 clear day before the hearing:

(i) written submissions (with a cover page and a table of contents); and

(ii) bundle of authorities (which are in compliance with the requirements under paragraph 101(5) to (11) of these Practice Directions); and

(b) file a soft copy of the written submissions into the electronic case file using the Electronic Filing Service at least 1 clear day before the hearing.

(2) Written submissions for originating applications should not exceed 35 pages (including the cover page, table of contents and all annexes and appendices). All written submissions for originating applications must include a cover page and a table of contents. Parties are to note that where the Court allows the prescribed page limit to be exceeded, fees are payable under the Fourth Schedule to the Rules of Court 2021.

(3) The party using a hard copy of the bundle of authorities for the hearing must, if directed by the Court, file the list of authorities (that corresponds to the table of contents of the hard copy of the bundle of authorities) into the case file using the Electronic Filing Service at least 1 clear day before the hearing. Where the bundle of authorities (whether in hard copy or soft copy) consists of more than 1 volume:

(a) the table of contents of all volumes of the bundle of authorities must be placed at the beginning of Volume I; and

(b) each volume must have a table of contents indicating the authorities that are contained in that volume.

(4) If any party does not intend to rely on written submissions at the contested hearing referred to in sub-paragraph (1) (e.g., where the hearing does not involve complex issues), the party should seek the Court’s approval for a waiver by way of a Request using the Electronic Filing Service at least 7 days before the hearing.

(5) This paragraph does not apply to any hearing before a Judge which is fixed on the normal list. However, parties are encouraged to adhere to the directions set out in sub- paragraph (1) if the application will be contested. In the event that this is not done, the Judge may adjourn the hearing to enable the filing of written submissions or bundle of authorities if appropriate.

(6) For any special date hearing and any hearing of an originating application before a Registrar, any party who wishes to rely on written submissions at the hearing is required to comply with sub-paragraph (1).

(7) This paragraph does not apply to any hearings for which specific directions on the filing of written submissions or bundle of authorities are provided for in these Practice Directions.

106. Citation of judgments

(1) The Chief Justice has directed that counsel who wish to cite a judgment as authority in support of their oral or written submissions must adhere to the following directions. These directions are intended to provide guidance to advocates and solicitors as to (a) the extent to which it is necessary to rely on local and foreign judgments in support of their case; and (b) the practice of citing such judgments.

Use of judgments as authorities in submissions

(2) Counsel who cite a judgment must state the proposition of law that the judgment establishes and the parts of the judgment that support that proposition. Such statements should not excessively add to the length of the submission but should be sufficient to demonstrate the relevance of that judgment to the argument made. Where counsel wish to cite more than 2 judgments as authority for a given proposition, there must be a compelling reason to do so, and this reason must be provided by counsel in the submissions.

(3) The Court will also pay particular attention to any indication in the cited judgment that the judgment (a) only applied decided law to the facts of the particular case; or (b) did not extend or add to the existing law.

Use of judgments from foreign jurisdictions

(4) Judgments from other jurisdictions can, if judiciously used, provide valuable assistance to the Court. However, where there are in existence local judgments which are directly relevant to the issue, such judgments should be cited in precedence to foreign judgments. Relevant local judgments will be accorded greater weight than foreign judgments. This will ensure that the Courts are not unnecessarily burdened with judgments from jurisdictions with differing legal, social or economic contexts.

(5) In addition, counsel who cite a foreign judgment must:

(a) draw the attention of the Court to any local judgment that may be relevant to whether the Court should accept the proposition that the foreign judgment is said to establish; and

(b) ensure that such citation will be of assistance to the development of local jurisprudence on the particular issue in question.

Citation practice

(6) Counsel who cite a judgment must use the official series of the law report(s) or, if the official series is not available, any other law report series in which the judgment was published. Counsel should refrain from referring to (or including in the bundle of authorities) copies of judgments which are printed out from electronic databases, unless (a) such judgments are not available in any law report series; or (b) the print-outs are the exact copies of the judgments in the law report series.

The following are examples of law reports that should be used for citation:

(7) Counsel should, where possible, make specific citations by referring to the paragraph number of the judgment, and not to the page number of the judgment or report. For consistency, square brackets ([xx]) should be used to denote paragraph numbers.

The neutral citation system for local judgments

(8) A neutral citation is a Court-approved system of citation which is independent of the series of law reports or other publication, and unique to each written judgment. Each written judgment from a particular level of Court is assigned a sequential number, starting from 1 at the beginning of each calendar year. The application of the system is as follows:

(a) Cases reported in the Singapore Law Reports must be cited using their Singapore Law Reports citations, in priority to their neutral citations.

(b) Unreported decisions must be cited using their neutral citations.

COURT DESIGNATORS

SGCA – Singapore Court of Appeal

SGHC(A) – Singapore High Court (Appellate Division)

SGHC(I) – Singapore High Court (Singapore International Commercial Court)

SGHC – Singapore High Court (before 2 January 2021) or Singapore High Court (General Division) (on or after 2 January 2021)

SGHCR – Singapore High Court Registrar (before 2 January 2021) or Singapore High Court (General Division) Registrar (on or after 2 January 2021)

EXAMPLE AND EXPLANATION

Ancillary Provisions

(9) The Court in exercising its discretion as to costs may, where appropriate in the circumstances, take into account the extent to which counsel has complied with this paragraph.

(10) It will remain the duty of counsel to draw the attention of the Court to any judgment he or she is aware of, not cited by an opponent, which is adverse to the case being advanced.

(11) In addition, counsel should also comply with paragraph 101(5) to (11) of these Practice Directions when preparing bundles of authorities for use in trials of originating claims in open court.

(12) This paragraph applies to all hearings, whether in open court or in chambers, in the Supreme Court.

116. Application of this Part

117. Whether an appeal to the Court of Appeal is to be heard by 5 or any greater uneven number of Judges

117A. Applications that may be made either to the General Division or an appellate Court

117B. Submissions by leading and junior assisting counsel

118. Appeals Information Sheet for civil appeals to the Appellate Division and the Court of Appeal

119. Page limits

120. Formatting requirements for written Cases and written submissions

121. Preparation of records of appeal, written Cases, written submissions and core bundles

Appendix A: Forms prescribed in the Rules of Court 2021

Appendix B: Forms prescribed in the Supreme Court Practice Directions 2021

Appendix C: Registrar, Deputy Registrar, Senior Assistant Registrars, Divisional Registrars and Deputy Divisional Registrars

Appendix CA: Waiting Times

Appendix D: Guidelines for Advocates And Solicitors Advising Clients About ADR

Appendix E: Sample Bills of Costs

Appendix F: Sample Costs Schedule

Appendix G: Guidelines for Party-and-Party Costs Awards in the Supreme Court of Singapore

Appendix H: Protocol for Medical Negligence Cases in the General Division of the High Court

Appendix I