Singapore legislation
Regulation 5
Regulation 5
General powers of Court (P. 1, r. 5)
Subregulation 1
Subject to any other written law, all requirements in these Rules are subject to the Court’s discretion to order otherwise in the interests of justice, even if they are expressed using imperative words such as “must”, “is to” or “shall”.
Subregulation 2
Where there is no express provision in these Rules or any other written law on any matter, the Court may do whatever it considers necessary on the facts of the case before it to ensure that justice is done or to prevent an abuse of the process of the Court, so long as it is not prohibited by law and is consistent with the Objectives.
Subregulation 3
In exercising any power, the Court may impose any condition or give such directions that are appropriate.
Subregulation 4
Unless otherwise provided in these Rules, the Court may exercise the powers under these Rules either on its own initiative or upon application.
Subregulation 5
Subject to these Rules, the Court’s power to make an order under these Rules includes the power to vary the order.
Subregulation 6
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:
subject to paragraph (7), waive the non‑compliance;
disallow or reject the filing or use of any document;
refuse to hear any matter or dismiss it without a hearing;
dismiss, stay or set aside the whole or any part of any proceedings and give the appropriate judgment or order, or amend any document in any proceedings, even though the non‑compliance could be compensated by costs, if the non‑compliance is inconsistent with any of the Objectives in a material way;
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;
make costs orders or any other orders that are appropriate.
Subregulation 7
Where the non-compliance is in respect of any written law other than these Rules, the Court may waive the non-compliance only if the written law allows such waiver.
Subregulation 8
The powers of the Court under this Rule do not affect any other powers of the Court under any written law.
Subregulation 9
The Court may give directions by letter or by electronic or other means.
Subregulation 10
The Court may, on its own accord or upon application, if it is in the interests of justice, revoke any judgment or order obtained or set aside anything which was done —
without notice to, or in the absence of, the party affected;
without complying with these Rules or any order of Court;
contrary to any written law; or
by fraud or misrepresentation.
Subregulation 11
An application under paragraph (10) must be taken out —
where the party affected is a person under disability as defined in Part 6, Rule 7 and there is no litigation representative acting for that person at the material time — within 14 days after the date the litigation representative is appointed; or
in any other case — within 14 days after the time the party affected knows or should have known that any of the grounds in paragraph (10) exists.