Part XIX: Proceedings Before the Community Courts and Tribunals Cluster

PART XIX: PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMUNITY COURTS AND TRIBUNALS CLUSTER For the complete documentation index, see llms.txt. Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending .md to page URLs; this page is available as Markdown.

PART XIX: PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMUNITY COURTS AND TRIBUNALS CLUSTER 127. Application 128. Community Justice and Tribunals System Establishment of Electronic Filing and Case Management System Document format Limit on document size Limit on scanning resolution Pagination of documents Applications and other correspondence 129. Forms for Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings Location of forms Filing of application or document in Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings Filing of hearing checklist Filing of witness statements 130. Documents which must be filed in hard copy Documents which cannot be converted into an electronic format Documents filed electronically directed to be filed in hard copy Bundling of documents filed in hard copy Audio or video recordings 131. Attendance at Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings 132.The Community Courts and Tribunals Friend Scheme Eligibility Scope of assistance by CCT Friend Procedure

127. Application The following apply to Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings (as defined in Practice Direction 2(3)), with the necessary modifications:

127. Application Parts: (i) I (Introduction); (ii) II (General Matters), except Practice Direction 10 (Hearing of urgent applications during weekends and public holidays); (iii) VI (Injunctions and Certain Other Applications) (where the Rules of Court apply to Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings); (iv) VII (Remote Hearings); (v) XIII (Enforcement Matters); and (vi) XIX (Proceedings before the Community Courts and Tribunals Cluster); and (b) Practice Directions: (i) 16 (Submissions and examination by leading and junior assisting counsel);&x20; (ii) 25 (Identification numbers and name to be stated in cause papers);&x20; (iii) 26 (Citation of case numbers / new Court forum prefix); (iv) 33 (Access to case file, inspection and taking copies of documents and conducting searches); (v) 46 (Adjournment or vacation of hearings); (vi) 50 (Filing of Distinct Applications in Separate Summonses); (vii) 58 (Witnesses); (viii) 59 (Giving of evidence by person outside Singapore through live video, live television or live audio link in any proceedings (other than proceedings in a criminal matter)); (ix) 66 (Request for Court interpreters); and (x) 71 (Application for Court records for civil matters).

128. Community Justice and Tribunals System Establishment of Electronic Filing and Case Management System

128. Community Justice and Tribunals System For the purposes of the following rules:

128. Community Justice and Tribunals System Rule 8A of the Small Claims Tribunals Rules; (b) Rule 3A of the Employment Claims Rules 2017; (c) Rule 4A of the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals Rules 2015; and (d) Rule 7 of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Protection from Harassment) Rules 2021,

128. Community Justice and Tribunals System In relation to paragraph (1), for the purpose of Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings, the applicable electronic filing and case management system shall be CJTS.

128. Community Justice and Tribunals System Despite paragraphs (1)–

128. Community Justice and Tribunals System Appeals to the General Division of the High Court from: (i) the Small Claims Tribunals, under Part VIII of the Small Claims Tribunals Rules; (ii) the Employment Claims Tribunals, under rules 26–32 of the Employment Claims Rules 2017; (iii) the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals, under rule 17 of the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals Rules 2015; and (iv) simplified proceedings before the Protection from Harassment Court, under rules 41–47 of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Protection from Harassment) Rules 2021; (b) Applications for a stay of execution: (i) to the General Division of the High Court (but not the District Courts or Small Claims Tribunals), under section 42 of the Small Claims Tribunals Act 1984 and rule 28A of the Small Claims Tribunals Rules; (ii) to the General Division of the High Court (but not the District Courts), under section 24 of the Employment Claims Act 2016 and rule 33 of the Employment Claims Rules 2017; (iii) to the General Division of the High Court (but not the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals), under section 27 of the Community Disputes Resolution Act 2015; and (iv) to the General Division of the High Court (but not the Protection from Harassment Court), under rule 48 of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Protection from Harassment) Rules 2021,

128. Community Justice and Tribunals System Despite paragraphs (1)–

128. Community Justice and Tribunals System applications to transfer proceedings under: (i) section 10 of the Small Claims Tribunals Act 1984; (ii) section 17 of the Employment Claims Act 2016; (iii) section 20 of the Community Disputes Resolution Act 2015; and (iv) rules 79(1)(a), (b), (c), (e) and (g) of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Protection from Harassment) Rules 2021 read with section 16J Protection from Harassment Act 2014; and (b) standard proceedings (as defined in the Supreme Court of Judicature (Protection from Harassment) Rules 2021) before the Protection from Harassment Court; (c) enforcing any order: (i) in Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings, for the payment of money; and (ii) of the Small Claims Tribunals, for the delivery of vacant possession of premises; and (d) any searches relating to the proceedings in paragraphs (4)–

128. Community Justice and Tribunals System Each document filed on CJTS must be in a Portable Document Format (PDF) file.

128. Community Justice and Tribunals System The size of each document filed on CJTS must not exceed 5 mega-bytes. If a document exceeds 5 mega-bytes, it must be split up into the fewest possible number of files and filed accordingly.

128. Community Justice and Tribunals System Practice Direction 86(3) applies to documents filed on CJTS.

128. Community Justice and Tribunals System Practice Direction 88 applies to documents filed on CJTS.

128. Community Justice and Tribunals System Practice Direction 95(1)–

128. Community Justice and Tribunals System Where no specific form is provided in these Practice Directions or on CJTS for an application, the application may be filed using the “General Application” Form on CJTS.

129. Forms for Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings Location of forms

129. Forms for Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings The forms set out on the Internet website of the Community Justice and Tribunals System (“CJTS”) are:

129. Forms for Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings the appropriate Forms (as defined in rule 3 of the Small Claims Tribunals Rules); (b) the relevant Forms (as defined in rule 1A of the Employment Claims Rules 2017); (c) the relevant Forms (as defined in rule 2A of the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals Rules 2015); and (d) the appropriate Forms (as defined in rule 2 of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Protection from Harassment) Rules 2021),

129. Forms for Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings Unless a Tribunal/Court (including a Registrar, Deputy Registrar or Assistant Registrar) directs otherwise:

129. Forms for Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings An application or document for which an electronic form is provided must be filed using that electronic form. (b) An application or document for which a form is provided in a Word document format on CJTS must be made by filing, respectively, a General Application or Supporting Document on CJTS, with the form duly completed and attached to the filing in Portable Document Format. (c) An application that must be made by summons, or for which no specific form is provided, may be made by a General Application on CJTS.

129. Forms for Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings An application filed by a person who is not named as a claimant/plaintiff (as the case may be) or respondent in the claim on CJTS must, in addition to containing the application, its basis, and the grounds and documents in support thereof:

129. Forms for Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings identify the claim number; and (b) contain, in the field meant to explain the application or grounds thereof: (i) any application or order number in respect of which the application is made/document is filed (as the case may be); (ii) the Court or Tribunal (eg, Small Claims Tribunal, Employment Claims Tribunal, Community Disputes Resolution Tribunal, Protection from Harassment Court or District Court) in which the application or document is filed; (iii) the capacity in which the person is filing the application or document (eg, respondent, relevant party or appointed psychiatrist); (iv) if an application is being filed, the other party/parties to the application and their capacity as such; and (v) whether the application is with or without notice.

129. Forms for Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings Unless a Court directs otherwise, the hearing checklist, as set out on the Internet website of CJTS, must be:

129. Forms for Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings completed and submitted on CJTS as a Supporting Document before the second consultation/case management conference/pre-trial conference at which all parties attend; and (b) observed for the hearing of the matter.

129. Forms for Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings Unless a Court directs otherwise, the witness statement, as set out on the Internet website of CJTS, is to be used in Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings.

129. Forms for Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings Practice Directions 60, 61 and 62 apply to Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings, subject to paragraph (7), and as if:

129. Forms for Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings a reference to an affidavit includes a reference to a witness statement; (b) a reference to a deponent includes a reference to the maker of the witness statement; and (c) a reference to a plaintiff or defendant means a reference to a claimant or respondent, respectively.

129. Forms for Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings Unless the Court permits or directs otherwise:

129. Forms for Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings Each witness statement must be typed, either in the form as set out on CJTS or in a form which is identical in substance thereto. (b) In lieu of observing Practice Direction 60(2)(b) and (c), the witness statements must: (i) have a blank margin not less than 12.7mm and not more than 38.1mm wide on each side of the page; and (ii) have line spacing that is between single-spaced and double-spaced. (c) Parties must observe Practice Directions 62(4)–

130. Documents which must be filed in hard copy Documents which cannot be converted into an electronic format

130. Documents which must be filed in hard copy Practice Direction 89 applies to this Part.

130. Documents which must be filed in hard copy Any hard copy of a document must be filed at the Registry of the State Courts at least 5 days before the deadline for its submission, unless otherwise specified.

130. Documents which must be filed in hard copy Practice Direction 93 applies to this Part.

130. Documents which must be filed in hard copy Where supporting documents are filed in hard copy:

130. Documents which must be filed in hard copy they must be submitted in a single bundle. (b) in lieu of observing Practice Direction 62(2), a table of contents must be inserted at the front, enumerating every supporting document in the manner set out below:

130. Documents which must be filed in hard copy Where the evidence is in the form of audio or video recordings (such as recordings of phone conversations or CCTV recordings), the recordings may not be filed electronically but should instead be tendered to the Court by way of a CD-R or DVD-R. When preparing recordings:

130. Documents which must be filed in hard copy The following must either be written in permanent ink on the CD-R/DVD-R or be written on a hard-copy label affixed to the CD-R/DVD-R: \[Party’s name]-\[CD-R or DVD-R number] Eg: \[John Doe]-\[CD1]

The recordings must be in a file format supported by Microsoft Windows 10 and, in the case of video recordings, must use a codec supported by Microsoft Windows 10. For the purpose of proceedings, the following file types are permitted:

130. Documents which must be filed in hard copy Each recording must be saved under a file name in the following format: \[Date of recording in YYYY-MM-DD format]-\[Actual time that recording started in HH-MM-SS (24h) format]-\[Short description of what the recording is meant to show] Eg: \[2020-05-18]-\[23-11-00]-\[Scolding vulgarities]

A transcript of the important part(s) of the audio or video recording must be prepared to state the relevant fact (ie, the action that is seen, the exact words that are used, the type(s) of sound(s) that are heard). Where the words that are used in the audio or video recording are not in English, a certified translation of the words into English must be provided. (e) Screenshots of the important frame(s) in the video recording to support what is stated in the transcript must be provided. (f) The above information is to be provided in the following format and filed as a supporting document in Portable Document Format on the Community Justice and Tribunals System:

130. Documents which must be filed in hard copy If the CD-R or DVD-R does not comply with the above directions, it may be rejected by the Tribunal (or Court).

130. Documents which must be filed in hard copy Unless the Court otherwise directs, a party who files a hard copy document or a CD-R/DVD-R in Court must serve, on every other party to the proceedings, a copy of the document or an identical copy of the CD-R/DVD-R (as the case may be).

131. Attendance at Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings To facilitate any attempts at mediation, a party who is represented by a solicitor in Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings must, for the duration of any case management conference or pre-trial conference:

131. Attendance at Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings be physically present at the State Courts with his solicitor, if the hearing is taking place in the State Courts building; or (b) be available to join the case management conference or pre-trial conference, if the hearing is taking place by video-conference.

132. The Community Courts and Tribunals Friend Scheme In Tribunal / Simplified POHA Proceedings, the Court may, on the request of a litigant-in-person (“LIP”) who is not engaged in any business undertaking involved in the dispute before the Court, allow the LIP to be assisted in any proceedings before the Court by an individual, called a “CCT Friend”.

132. The Community Courts and Tribunals Friend Scheme A CCT Friend may be:

132. The Community Courts and Tribunals Friend Scheme a family member; (b) a friend; or (c) any other volunteer from: (i) the Community Justice Centre; or (ii) any other pro bono agency or entity as recognised by the Court.

132. The Community Courts and Tribunals Friend Scheme Despite paragraph (2), an individual may not be a CCT Friend if he —

132. The Community Courts and Tribunals Friend Scheme is or may be named as a witness in the proceedings by a party to a dispute; (b) has a direct or indirect interest in the outcome of a claim in the dispute; (c) is an advocate or solicitor or a legally qualified person from any jurisdiction; or (d) is a housing agent of the LIP and the dispute involves a tenancy or any other housing matter in which the housing agent is acting for the LIP.

132. The Community Courts and Tribunals Friend Scheme Subject to paragraph (5), a CCT Friend may provide administrative and emotional support to the LIP in the conduct of his case in proceedings before the Court or Registrar, such as —

132. The Community Courts and Tribunals Friend Scheme assisting the LIP to prepare and file documents relevant to the proceedings; (b) providing emotional and moral support; (c) offering practical guidance to the LIP on non-legal issues in the course of the proceedings; (d) assisting the LIP in the proceedings, such as: (i) taking relevant notes of the proceedings and directions given by the Court; (ii) organising documents; and (iii) locating the correct document for use in the proceedings; (e) reviewing the notes taken with the LIP after the hearing; (f) explaining (but not providing legal advice in respect of) the directions and orders made by the Court; and (g) interpreting spoken communications in the proceedings before a Court or any document (or part thereof) filed for use and referred to in the aforesaid proceedings.

132. The Community Courts and Tribunals Friend Scheme A CCT Friend shall not —

132. The Community Courts and Tribunals Friend Scheme provide legal advice on the merits of the case and/or legal representation to the LIP; (b) advise the LIP on how to present his case or how to respond to his opponent’s case; (c) manage the LIP’s case outside the proceedings; (d) act as the LIP’s agent when dealing with other parties; (e) exercise any of the privileges extended to advocates and solicitors under the Legal Profession Act 1966, such as to address the Court, make oral submissions, conduct litigation, examine witnesses, or sign documents on the LIP’s behalf; (f) communicate with the LIP during the proceedings in a manner that would disrupt the proceedings; (g) divulge any information (communicated to him by the LIP for the purpose of obtaining assistance from him or acquired by him in the course of the proceedings) to any third party in relation to the proceedings in breach of his duty of confidentiality; and/or (h) receive any remuneration or reward for his services.

132. The Community Courts and Tribunals Friend Scheme An LIP may submit a request for the appointment of a CCT Friend using the relevant Form in the Community Justice and Tribunals System, with the accompanying undertaking and declaration duly signed.

132. The Community Courts and Tribunals Friend Scheme Any request submitted under paragraph (6) shall be considered and decided upon by the Court at the pre-trial conference or case management conference fixed after the request is submitted, or on the hearing day scheduled for the LIP’s matter.

132. The Community Courts and Tribunals Friend Scheme If another party objects to the presence of or assistance to be given by a CCT Friend to the LIP, he must provide reasons at the start of the pre-trial conference, case management conference or hearing (as the case may be) for the Court to consider.

132. The Community Courts and Tribunals Friend Scheme A Court may reject any request for the appointment of a CCT Friend if it is satisfied that it is not in the interests of justice and fairness for the LIP to receive assistance from a CCT Friend.

132. The Community Courts and Tribunals Friend Scheme If the request is rejected by a registrar, the LIP must carry on his own case without the assistance of a CCT Friend at the hearing before the registrar. However, he may make a fresh request before the Court on the first day of hearing of his matter.

132. The Community Courts and Tribunals Friend Scheme If the request is rejected by the Court (other than a Registrar), the LIP must carry on his own case without the assistance of a CCT Friend at the hearing before the Court. A decision by a Court to approve or reject the request shall be final.

132. The Community Courts and Tribunals Friend Scheme An LIP may have only one CCT Friend providing assistance and support at any one time during the proceedings. An LIP who wishes to change his CCT friend at any stage of the proceedings must file a fresh request to the Court, as the case may be.

132. The Community Courts and Tribunals Friend Scheme At any time during the proceedings, a Court may regulate the manner in which assistance is provided to the LIP, by:

132. The Community Courts and Tribunals Friend Scheme cautioning the CCT Friend to cease any offending behaviour; (b) restricting or stopping the CCT Friend from assisting the LIP; (c) directing the CCT Friend to leave the hearing room or chamber; or (d) revoking any permission given to the party for the CCT Friend to assist him, if it is of the opinion that the administration of justice is being impeded by the CCT Friend such as (but not limited to) where —