Set down for trial (from 1 April 2022)

Setting down an action for trial

Once all the pre-trial matters have been dealt with and the parties are ready for trial, the case must be set down for trial.

In general, the court will direct the party who filed the claim (the Claimant) to file the Notice for Setting Down Action for Trial. The Court will also give directions to the parties to file and serve – 

(a) Their affidavits of evidence-in-chief or other affidavits (if such directions have not been given earlier);

(b) The bundles of documents; and

What you will need

If you are the Claimant, you will need to prepare the following before you file:

• The Notice for Setting Down Action for Trial in accordance with Form 19 of Appendix A of the Supreme Court Practice Directions 2021  or Appendix A2 of the State Courts Practice Directions 2021 .
  
  • You must state the length of the trial, the trial dates and the witnesses (if any) for each party in the Notice.
  • (For Magistrate’s Court and District Court cases) You will have to pay the hearing fees when filing the Notice, unless otherwise ordered by the court.
  • (For General Division of the High Court cases) If you are intending to set down for 4 days or more trial days, you will have to pay the hearing fees when filing the Notice, unless otherwise ordered by the court.
• A bundle of documents must contain:
  • The last pleading (which incorporates all the previous pleadings)
  • The orders of the Court given at the case conferences which are relevant for the trial; and
  • The documents which the parties are relying on at the trial, separating them into sections for documents of which authenticity is not in dispute and documents of which authenticity is in dispute.
• The bundle of documents must be arranged chronologically or in some other meaningful order and must not contain repeat documents or documents which have not been exchanged or produced under Order 11.

How to file

You may choose to file the documents personally or through a lawyer. If you are represented by a lawyer, the documents will be filed by your lawyer.

If you are representing yourself, you must file the documents through eLitigation at the LawNet and CrimsonLogic Service Bureau.

You must follow the Rules of Court 2021 and the State Court Practice Directions 2021 or the Supreme Court Practice Directions 2021  to prepare your documents before heading down personally to do the filing.

Estimated fees

Refer to the following to find out the possible fees for filing the documents. You may also refer to  Fourth Schedule of the Rules of Court 2021  for the full list of court fees.

After you file

After you file, you must serve a copy of the Notice for Setting Down an Action for Trial on all parties within 24 hours from the time that the Notice is filed.

For State Courts cases, parties will then have to attend a pre-trial case conference to confirm that all matters are dealt with before the court fixes the trial dates.

In general, for General Division of the High Court cases, parties will proceed to the civil trial.

Resources