PART 5
COURT OF APPEAL
Division 1 — General
President and Vice-Presidents
48.—(1)  The Chief Justice is the President of the Court of Appeal and may appoint one or more Vice‑Presidents of the Court of Appeal from among the Justices of the Court of Appeal.
[40/2019]
(2)  In a sitting of the Court of Appeal —
(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
49.—(1)  The Court of Appeal has the civil jurisdiction mentioned in section 53 and the criminal jurisdiction mentioned in section 60D.
[40/2019]
(2)  The Court of Appeal has, in an appeal and for any purpose related to an appeal, all the jurisdiction and powers of the court or tribunal from which the appeal was brought.
[40/2019]
(3)  The Court of Appeal may decide any question that needs to be decided to do justice in any case before it.
[40/2019]
Composition — general
50.—(1)  Subject to this Act, the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal is to be exercised by 3 or any greater uneven number of Judges.
[40/2019]
(2)  A Judge must not sit in the Court of Appeal to hear or decide any appeal from a decision made by the Judge, or any matter related to such an appeal.
[40/2019]
(3)  Section 10A applies in relation to proceedings before the Court of Appeal as it applies in relation to proceedings before the General Division.
[40/2019]
Decisions how made
51.—(1)  A decision of the Court of Appeal is to be made in accordance with the opinion of the majority of the Judges hearing the case.
[40/2019]
(2)  An appeal or application to the Court of Appeal is to be dismissed if the Judges hearing the appeal or application are evenly divided.
[40/2019]
Sittings
52.—(1)  The Court of Appeal —
(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).
[40/2019]
Division 2 — Civil jurisdiction
Civil jurisdiction
53.—(1)  This Division applies to the Court of Appeal in the exercise of its civil jurisdiction.
[40/2019]
(2)  The civil jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal consists of the following matters, subject to the provisions of this Act or any other 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 from the Appellate Division;
(c)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 Court of Appeal;
(d)any application (whether made to the General Division, the Appellate Division or the Court of Appeal) to which either or both of the following apply:
(i)a common question of law or fact arises in both the application and a matter falling within the criminal jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal;
(ii)any relief claimed in the application —
(A)may affect any matter falling within the criminal jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal; or
(B)may affect the outcome of any matter falling within the criminal jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal.
[40/2019]
Composition — further provisions
54.—(1)  Despite section 50(1), a case before the Court of Appeal 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 Court of Appeal to hear or decide any application to discharge or vary a direction or an order made by the Judge under section 58(1).
[40/2019]
(3)  Where the Court of Appeal 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 Court of Appeal so constituted —
(a)the Court of Appeal 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
55.—(1)  Subject to subsection (2), the Court of Appeal 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 Court of Appeal 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 Court of Appeal 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 Court of Appeal to hear oral arguments before deciding any matter that may be decided without hearing oral arguments.
[Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]
Summary dismissal of certain matters
56.—(1)  The Court of Appeal may summarily dismiss any appeal or application on its own motion if the Court of Appeal is satisfied of any of the following:
(a)the Court of Appeal does not have the jurisdiction to hear and determine the appeal or application;
(b)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 Court of Appeal 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 Court of Appeal may exercise its powers under this section without hearing oral arguments.
[40/2019]
(4)  In this section, “appeal” includes part of an appeal and “application” includes part of an application.
[40/2019]
Applications
57.  Where an application may be made either to the Court of Appeal or to another court, it must first be made to the other court.
[40/2019]
Incidental directions and interim orders
58.—(1)  The Court of Appeal 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 Court of Appeal on its own motion or on the application of a party.
[40/2019]
(3)  A direction or an order under subsection (1) may be made by 2 Judges.
[40/2019]
(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 50(1).
[40/2019]
Hearing of appeals
59.—(1)  Appeals to the Court of Appeal are to be by way of rehearing.
[40/2019]
(2)  In hearing and deciding an appeal, the Court of Appeal has all the powers and duties, as to amendment or otherwise, of the court or tribunal from which the appeal was brought.
[40/2019]
(3)  The Court of Appeal 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 Court of Appeal allows.
[Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]
(4)  Except as provided in subsection (5), such further evidence may be given to the Court of Appeal only with the permission of the Court of Appeal and on special grounds.
[40/2019]
[Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]
(5)  Such further evidence may be given to the Court of Appeal without permission if the evidence relates to matters occurring after the date of the decision appealed against.
[40/2019]
[Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]
(6)  The Court of Appeal may draw any inference of fact, give any judgment and make any order.
[40/2019]
(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 Court of Appeal is heard and decided by a single Judge or 2 Judges, any party may request the full panel of the Court of Appeal hearing the appeal to rehear arguments in respect of the application for permission to adduce further evidence.
[Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]
(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 Court of Appeal that first decided the application is constituted —
(a)by 2 Judges, where the Court of Appeal 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 Court of Appeal may affirm, vary or set aside the decision on the application for permission to adduce further evidence.
[Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]
Costs of appeal
60.  The Court of Appeal may make any order as to the costs of an appeal or of the proceedings relating to the decision appealed against.
[40/2019]
New trial
60A.—(1)  Subject to this Act, the Court of Appeal may order a new trial of —
(a)any matter that has been tried by the General Division in the exercise of the original or appellate civil jurisdiction of the General Division; or
(b)any matter that has been tried by the Appellate Division in the exercise of the civil jurisdiction of the Appellate Division.
[40/2019]
(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.
[40/2019]
(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 Court of Appeal 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 or the Appellate Division (as the case may be) on any other question.
[40/2019]
Immaterial errors
60B.  The Court of Appeal may not reverse or substantially vary a decision appealed against, or order a new trial, on account of any error, defect or irregularity that does not affect the merits of the decision appealed against or the jurisdiction of the court whose decision is appealed against.
[40/2019]
Appeal not to operate as stay of execution or enforcement
60C.—(1)  An appeal to the Court of Appeal does not operate as a stay of execution or enforcement or of proceedings under the decision appealed against, unless the court whose decision is appealed against or the Court of Appeal so orders.
[40/2019]
[Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]
(2)  No intermediate act or proceeding is to be invalidated except so far as the Court of Appeal directs.
[40/2019]
[Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]
Division 3 — Criminal jurisdiction
Criminal jurisdiction
60D.  The criminal jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal consists of the following matters, subject to the provisions of this Act or any other 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 the exercise of its original criminal jurisdiction;
(b)any petition for confirmation under Division 1A of Part 20 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010;
(c)any review of a decision of the Court of Appeal, or a decision of the General Division, under Division 1B of Part 20 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010;
(d)any case stated to the Court of Appeal under section 395 or 396 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010;
(e)any reference to the Court of Appeal under section 397 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010;
(f)any motion to the Court of Appeal under Division 5 of Part 20 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010;
[40/2019]
[Act 17 of 2022 wef 01/07/2022]
(g)any reference to the Court of Appeal under section 18 of the Extradition Act 1968.
[Act 17 of 2022 wef 01/07/2022]
Composition when exercising criminal jurisdiction
60E.—(1)  Despite section 50(1), a case before the Court of Appeal may, if the Tenth Schedule so provides, be heard and determined by a single Judge.
[Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022]
(2)  A Judge must not sit in the Court of Appeal to hear or decide any of the following matters, or any matter related to any of the following matters:
(a)an appeal against a conviction before the Judge or a sentence passed by the Judge;
(b)any petition for confirmation under Division 1A of Part 20 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 lodged in respect of a sentence of death passed by the Judge on an accused;
(c)any case stated by the Judge under section 395 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010;
(d)any reference under section 397 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 of a question of law of public interest that has arisen in a criminal matter determined by the Judge.
[40/2019]