Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969 - Singapore Statutes Online

PART 4

APPELLATE DIVISION OF HIGH COURT

Division 1 — General

President

30.—(1) The Chief Justice may appoint a Judge of the Appellate Division to be the President of the Appellate Division.

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(2) If no appointment is made under subsection (1), the Chief Justice is the President of the Appellate Division.

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(3) In a sitting of the Appellate Division —

(a)	the most senior Supreme Court Judge, as determined by section 4, is to preside; and
(b)	if there is no Supreme Court Judge, the Chief Justice is to appoint a person to preside. [40/2019]

Jurisdiction — general

31.—(1) The Appellate Division has the civil jurisdiction mentioned in section 35.

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(2) The Appellate Division has no criminal jurisdiction.

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(3) The Appellate Division has, in an appeal and for any purpose relating to an appeal, all the jurisdiction and powers of the court or tribunal from which the appeal was brought.

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(4) The Appellate Division may decide any question that needs to be decided to do justice in any case before it.

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Composition — general

32.—(1) Subject to this Act, the jurisdiction of the Appellate Division is to be exercised by 3 or any greater uneven number of Judges.

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(2) A Judge must not sit in the Appellate Division to hear or decide any appeal from a decision made by the Judge, or any matter related to such an appeal.

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(3) Section 10A applies in relation to proceedings before the Appellate Division as it applies in relation to proceedings before the General Division.

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Decisions how made

33.—(1) A decision of the Appellate Division is to be made in accordance with the opinion of the majority of the Judges hearing the case.

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(2) An appeal or application to the Appellate Division is to be dismissed if the Judges hearing the appeal or application are evenly divided.

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Sittings

34.—(1) The Appellate Division —

(a)	is to sit on such dates and at such places as the Chief Justice may from time to time appoint; and
(b)	may sit on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, or during a vacation, if the Chief Justice so appoints. [40/2019]

(2) The Chief Justice may cancel or postpone a sitting appointed under subsection (1).

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Division 2 — Civil jurisdiction

Civil jurisdiction

35.—(1) This Division applies to the Appellate Division in the exercise of its civil jurisdiction.

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(2) The civil jurisdiction of the Appellate Division consists of the following matters, subject to the provisions of this Act or any written law regulating the terms and conditions upon which those matters may be brought:

(a)	any appeal against any decision made by the General Division in any civil cause or matter in the exercise of its original or appellate civil jurisdiction;
(b)	any appeal or other process that any written law provides is to lie, or that is transferred in accordance with any written law, to the Appellate Division. [40/2019]

Composition — further provisions

36.—(1) Despite section 32(1), a case before the Appellate Division may, if the Seventh Schedule so provides, be heard and decided by —

(a)	either a single Judge or 2 Judges; or
(b)	2 Judges. [40/2019]

(2) A Judge must not sit in the Appellate Division to hear or decide any application to discharge or vary a direction or an order made by the Judge under section 40(1).

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(3) Where the Appellate Division is constituted by 3 or more Judges to hear and decide a case and one or more of those Judges are unable for any reason to continue exercising his or her functions as a Judge of the Appellate Division so constituted —

(a)	the Appellate Division must continue to hear and decide the case if every party to the case consents and there are at least 2 Judges remaining; and
(b)	the case must be reheard if it cannot continue under paragraph (a). [40/2019]

Oral hearing not needed for appellate matters generally

37.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), the Appellate Division may decide any matter without hearing oral arguments, other than a matter prescribed by the Rules of Court.

(2) Subsection (1) does not allow any part of a proceeding where oral evidence is given to be conducted without an oral hearing, unless all the parties consent.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), the Appellate Division may, in any matter that the court may decide without hearing oral arguments, direct that the matter be heard in an asynchronous manner by exchange of written correspondence with the party or parties using such means of communication as directed by the court.

(4) The Appellate Division must not hear a matter in an asynchronous manner if to do so would be inconsistent with the court’s duty to ensure that the proceedings are conducted fairly to all parties.

(5) To avoid doubt, this section does not affect the power of the Appellate Division to hear oral arguments before deciding any matter that may be decided without hearing oral arguments.

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Summary dismissal of certain matters

38.—(1) The Appellate Division may summarily dismiss any appeal or application on its own motion if the Appellate Division is satisfied of any of the following:

(a)	the Appellate Division does not have the jurisdiction to hear and determine the appeal or application;
(b)	the Appellate Division or the Court of Appeal has already decided every issue in the appeal or application in an earlier matter in which the appellant or applicant was involved, and the appeal or application therefore has no merit;
(c)	such conditions as may be prescribed by the Rules of Court are met. [40/2019]

(2) Before summarily dismissing any appeal or application under subsection (1), the Appellate Division must —

(a)	give the appellant or applicant a reasonable opportunity to show cause why the appeal or application should not be summarily dismissed; and
(b)	consider any representations made by the appellant or applicant. [40/2019]

(3) The Appellate Division may exercise its powers under this section without hearing oral arguments.

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(4) In this section, “appeal” includes part of an appeal and “application” includes part of an application.

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Applications

39. Where an application may be made either to the General Division or to the Appellate Division, it must first be made to the General Division.

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Incidental directions and interim orders

40.—(1) The Appellate Division may make one or more of the following directions and orders in any appeal or application pending before it (called in this section the pending matter):

(a)	any direction or order incidental to the pending matter not involving the decision of the pending matter;
(b)	any interim order to prevent prejudice to the claims of the parties pending the determination of the pending matter;
(c)	any order for security for costs, and for the dismissal of the pending matter for default in furnishing security so ordered. [40/2019]

(2) A direction or an order under subsection (1) may be made by the Appellate Division on its own motion or on the application of a party.

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(3) A direction or an order under subsection (1) may be made by 2 Judges.

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(4) A direction or an order under subsection (1) may also be made by a single Judge, in which case the following provisions apply:

(a)	the direction or order may be varied or discharged by 2 other Judges; but
(b)	an application to vary or discharge the direction or order may only be made with the permission of the single Judge or any other Judge, and a decision by any Judge to give or refuse permission is final. [40/2019] [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]

(5) Subsections (3) and (4) apply despite section 32(1).

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Hearing of appeals

41.—(1) Appeals to the Appellate Division are to be by way of rehearing.

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(2) In hearing and deciding an appeal, the Appellate Division has all the powers and duties, as to amendment or otherwise, of the court or tribunal from which the appeal was brought.

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(3) The Appellate Division may receive further evidence —

(a)	by oral examination in court;
(b)	by affidavit;
(c)	by deposition taken before an examiner or a commissioner; or
(d)	in any other manner that the Appellate Division allows. [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]

(4) Except as provided in subsection (5), such further evidence may be given to the Appellate Division only with the permission of the Appellate Division and on special grounds.

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(5) Such further evidence may be given to the Appellate Division without permission if the evidence relates to matters occurring after the date of the decision appealed against.

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(6) The Appellate Division may draw any inference of fact, give any judgment and make any order.

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(7) The powers in this section —

(a)	may be exercised in relation to any part of the decision appealed against, including any part of the decision appealed against to which the appeal does not relate; and
(b)	may be exercised in favour of any party to the decision appealed against, including any party to the decision appealed against who has not appealed against the decision. [40/2019]

(8) Where an application for permission to adduce further evidence in an appeal before the Appellate Division is heard and decided by a single Judge or 2 Judges, any party may request the full panel of the Appellate Division hearing the appeal to rehear arguments in respect of the application for permission to adduce further evidence.

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(9) No request may be made under subsection (8) in respect of an application for permission to adduce further evidence in an appeal where the Appellate Division that first decided the application is constituted —

(a)	by 2 Judges, where the Appellate Division hearing the appeal is constituted by 2 Judges; or
(b)	by 3 or more Judges. [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]

(10) A request under subsection (8) must be made before the earlier of the following:

(a)	the time at which the judgment or order relating to the decision on the application for permission to adduce further evidence is extracted;
(b)	the expiration of 7 days after the date on which the decision on the application for permission to adduce further evidence is made. [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]

(11) After rehearing arguments on a request mentioned in subsection (8), the Appellate Division may affirm, vary or set aside the decision on the application for permission to adduce further evidence.

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Costs of appeal

42. The Appellate Division may make any order as to the costs of an appeal or of the proceedings relating to the decision appealed against.

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New trial

43.—(1) Subject to this Act, the Appellate Division may order a new trial of any matter that has been tried by the General Division in the exercise of the original or appellate civil jurisdiction of the General Division.

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(2) A new trial must not be ordered on the ground of an improper admission or rejection of evidence, unless the improper admission or rejection has caused a substantial wrong or a miscarriage of justice.

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(3) If the substantial wrong or miscarriage of justice mentioned in subsection (2) affects only part of a case, or only one or some of the parties to the case, the Appellate Division may —

(a)	give final judgment in respect of the unaffected part of the case or the unaffected parties to the case; and
(b)	direct a new trial in respect of the affected part of the case or the affected parties to the case. [40/2019]

(4) A new trial may be ordered on any question without interfering with the finding or decision of the General Division on any other question.

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Immaterial errors

44. The Appellate Division may not reverse or substantially vary a decision of the General Division, or order a new trial, on account of any error, defect or irregularity that does not affect the merits of the decision or the jurisdiction of the General Division.

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Appeal not to operate as stay of execution or enforcement

45.—(1) An appeal to the Appellate Division does not operate as a stay of execution or enforcement or of proceedings under the decision appealed against, unless the General Division or the Appellate Division so orders.

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(2) No intermediate act or proceeding is to be invalidated except so far as the Appellate Division directs.

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Division 3 — Matters that are non-appealable or
appealable only with permission

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No appeal in certain cases

46. An appeal cannot be brought against a decision of the Appellate Division in the cases specified in the Ninth Schedule.

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Permission required to appeal

47.—(1) An appeal against a decision of the Appellate Division made in the exercise of its appellate civil jurisdiction may only be brought with the permission of the Court of Appeal.

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(2) The Court of Appeal may grant permission under subsection (1) only if the appeal will raise a point of law of public importance.

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(3) In deciding whether to grant permission under subsection (1) or in determining, for the purposes of subsection (2), whether an appeal will raise a point of law of public importance, the Court of Appeal is to have regard to matters prescribed by the Rules of Court.

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(4) To avoid doubt —

(a)

the Court of Appeal is not required to grant permission under subsection (1) even if the appeal will raise a point of law of public importance; and

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(b)

permission may be granted under subsection (1) even if the decision of the Appellate Division sought to be appealed against —

(i)	was made in an appeal transferred by the Court of Appeal to the Appellate Division under section 29E(1); or
(ii)	was made in an appeal to the Appellate Division that the Court of Appeal declined to transfer to itself under section 29D(1). [40/2019] [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]

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