Committee to Recommend Reforms to Enhance Access to Justice

18 MAY 2016

18 May 2016 Posted in Press releases

  1. The Ministry of Law (MinLaw) has set up the Civil Justice Review Committee to recommend reforms to Singapore’s civil justice system to enhance access to justice for all, including for individuals who do not have legal representation and small and medium enterprises.

  2. The eight-member committee is chaired by Senior Minister of State for Law and Finance, Ms Indranee Rajah S.C., and comprises representatives from the judiciary, senior members of the Bar and the Government. The membership of the committee is at Annex A (DOCX, 0.01 MB). The committee held its first meeting on 3 May 2016. It is expected to complete its work by end 2016.

Key areas of review

  1. The committee will review and make recommendations in the following areas:
    1. Enhancing judicial control over litigation where judges play a more active role in managing cases. For instance, a judge could be involved in the early stages of a case and work with litigants to identify the issues in contention to narrow the number of issues contested in court. This can help save time and cost for the parties involved, and ensure that cases are resolved in a fair, cost-effective and timely manner.
    2. More effective enforcement of civil orders by making enforcement easier and less costly for successful litigants.
    3. Ensuring that legal costs are not an impediment to access to justice, and that the cost of litigation is proportionate to the value of the claim.
  1. The committee will also propose the professional training requirements and public education measures needed to support their recommendations.
  1. In developing its recommendations, the committee will consult industry representatives, including lawyers and the judiciary, widely.

Background

  1. The Singapore civil justice system is built on the core values of fairness, affordability, timeliness, simplicity and effectiveness. During the Committee of Supply Debate 2016, the Minister for Law, Mr K. Shanmugam S.C., announced that MinLaw is undertaking a broad-based review to improve the civil justice system, from the point when a dispute arises to final resolution of the matter. The Civil Justice Review Committee was formed as part of this.

MINISTRY OF LAW
18 MAY 2016

Annex A - Civil Justice Review Committee Composition (DOCX, 0.01 MB)

Last updated on 18 May 2016