All small claims will now have to be filed online: State Courts
MONDAY 10 JULY 2017
SINGAPORE — Those who wish to file a small claim will now have to do so online from Monday (July 10) — instead of making a physical trip to the court — with the launch of the first phase of the State Courts’ Community Justice and Tribunals System (CJTS).
Under this new system, those who file a claim can also e-negotiate for a settlement, select their court date, obtain a court order, and make payments online, as parties will be able to view documents submitted by the other party and monitor their case developments through the portal.
These functions will “reduce errors in filing, increase the likelihood of settling a dispute on (the claimants’) own terms, and save some time to attend court in order to resolve a Small Claims dispute”, while enhancing the quality of access to justice.
“Instead of expending a full day’s leave from work each time to attend to various Small Claims Tribunals matters, some components in the small claims process such as filing a claim, can now be reduced to as little as 15 minutes which can be easily exercised during a typical lunch hour,” said the State Courts in a press statement on Monday.
The system will be progressively expanded to accommodate cases involving the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals and the Employment Claims Tribunals from the first quarter of next year.
Previously, the small claims process was conducted in a largely manual fashion. Parties would have to go to the Small Claims Tribunals at the State Courts in person to file their claim and submit the relevant hard copy documents. They would then have to attend Mediation and Tribunal Hearings, before a Tribunal Order may be made.
The new system came as small claims tribunals saw a higher volume of more than 10,000 cases per year among State Courts Tribunals, said the State Courts.
Giving an example of how the system may help with efficiency, it said: “When a settlement offer is made by the respondent, the claimant will receive a notification to log on to consider the offer or make a counter offer.”
If an amicable settlement has been reached through e-negotiation, the parties may apply online for a Tribunal Order directly from the system without having to come to court, it added.
If the parties are unable to reach a settlement via the CJTS, the claim will then proceed to the consultation and hearing stages of the Small Claims process.
Individuals can access the CJTS with their SingPass, and corporate entities with their CorpPass.
Before a claim form and its supporting documents can be submitted however, claimants will have to take a pre-filing assessment to ensure that they are ready to proceed with filing a claim, said the State Courts.
Once a claim is filed, claimants will be able to choose their preferred court date within “a fixed given period” to give parties “more flexibility in arranging their schedules”, it added.
Said presiding judge of the State Courts, Justice See Kee Oon: “Since 1985, the Small Claims Tribunals have been in operation to provide a speedy and cost efficient means to resolve disputes between consumers and suppliers.
“The launch of the Community Justice and Tribunals System builds on this premise to provide court users with more expedient and efficient access to the resolution of small claims.”
