The applicable Rules of Court for matters before the courts

In this write-up:

1. The Rules of Court 2021 are referred to as the “ROC 2021”.
2. The Rules of Court (as in force immediately before 1 April 2022) are referred to as the “ROC 2014”.  
3. The Singapore International Commercial Court Rules 2021 are referred to as the “SICC Rules 2021”.

Application of the ROC 2021

Unless otherwise provided in Order 1 Rule 2 of the ROC 2021, the ROC 2021 will generally:

• Apply to and in relation to all civil proceedings in the Supreme Court or the State Courts which are commenced on or after 1 April 2022, including appeals arising from those proceedings.
• Apply with the necessary modifications to and in relation to every appeal to the Court of Appeal or the Appellate Division, and every originating application to the Court of Appeal or Appellate Division, which are filed on or after 1 April 2022, relating to a decision of a lower court made in proceedings to which the ROC 2014 apply (whether under the First Schedule to ROC 2021 or otherwise).
  

Please refer to Order 1 Rule 2 of the ROC 2021 for details on the applicability of the ROC 2021.

Application of the ROC 2014 

Under Order 1 Rule 2(1) of the ROC 2021, the ROC 2014 are revoked with effect from 1 April 2022. However, the ROC 2014 will continue to apply in the circumstances highlighted below.

Under the saving and transitional provisions in the ROC 2021 (as set out in the First Schedule to the ROC 2021), unless the court otherwise directs and subject to any written law, the ROC 2014 will continue to apply to and in relation to:

• Any proceedings commenced by writ of summons or originating summons in the General Division (including the Singapore International Commercial Court) before 1 April 2022, until the disposal of those proceedings by the General Division (including the Singapore International Commercial Court), including any application to the General Division for an order transferring those proceedings to a District Court or a Magistrate’s Court (called a transfer order).
• The subsequent proceedings in the District Court or Magistrate’s Court (as the case may be) pursuant to a transfer order.
• Any proceedings commenced by writ of summons or originating summons in a District Court or a Magistrate’s Court before 1 April 2022, including:
  • Any application to the General Division for an order transferring those proceedings to the General Division, and the subsequent proceedings in the General Division if the proceedings are ordered to be transferred to the General Division.
  • Any appeal to the General Division from those proceedings in the District Court or Magistrate’s Court.
• Any appeal or originating summons before the Court of Appeal or the Appellate Division that was filed in the Court of Appeal or the Appellate Division before 1 April 2022.

The ROC 2014 will continue to apply to and in relation to any proceedings in the lower Court following an appeal before the Court of Appeal or Appellate Division under the ROC 2021, if the judgment or order of the lower Court appealed against was given or made in proceedings governed by the ROC 2014.

Please refer to Order 1 Rule 2(2) of the ROC 2021 and the First Schedule to the ROC 2021 for details on the applicability of the ROC 2014.

Application of the SICC Rules 2021

Under Order 1 Rule 2(10) of the ROC 2021, unless the court otherwise directs, and subject to any other written law, the ROC 2021 do not apply to:

• Any proceedings in the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) commenced on or after 1 April 2022.
• Any proceedings commenced on or after 1 April 2022 in the General Division that are transferred out to the SICC.
• Any proceedings (whether upon application or on the General Division’s own motion) for the transfer of a case from the General Division to the SICC, where the case is commenced on or after 1 April 2022.
• Any appeal to the Court of Appeal, or any originating application to the Court of Appeal, filed on or after 1 April 2022, relating to a decision of the SICC.

Generally, Order 1 Rule 2 of the SICC Rules 2021, the SICC Rules 2021 will apply to:

• Cases commenced in the SICC on or after 1 April 2022 (unless the case is transferred out of the SICC).
• Cases commenced in the General Division on or after 1 April 2022 and transferred from the General Division to the SICC.
• Appeals and originating applications to the Court of Appeal filed on or after 1 April 2022 from and in relation to a judgment or order of the SICC. 

Parties may also consent in writing to apply the SICC Rules 2021, with necessary modifications, to matters that would otherwise be governed by the ROC 2014. 

Please refer to Order 1 Rule 2 of the SICC Rules 2021 for details on the applicability of those rules.