Conversations with the community

The Role of the Courts in Our Society – Safeguarding Society

Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon gave the opening address for our first Conversation with the Community held at the Singapore Management University’s Yong Pung How School of Law. He said that the role of the courts will continue to be, to exercise “judgment” – as opposed to “force” or “will”. But the role cannot be limited to a purely adjudicative setting. To effectively navigate the challenges that confront our societies, the courts have a special responsibility for protecting the core values of those systems and ensuring that robust mechanisms are in place for the delivery of justice to all.

Read the full speech: Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon - Opening Address at Conversations with the Community

Therapeutic Justice – A Fresh Approach to Family Justice 

Justice Debbie Ong gave the keynote address for our second Conversation with the Community held at the Singapore University of Social Sciences. She started off the session by highlighting that the concept of “justice” typically embodies fairness, equitable distribution of rights, or righting a wrong. But in family proceedings, this understanding of justice may be somewhat incomplete as parties may not always be seeking to assert their “rights” against each other.

Read the full speech: Justice Debbie Ong: Speech delivered at Conversations with the Community on 16 November 2023

Access to Justice - Delivering Quality Justice to the Community

Justice Vincent Hoong gave the keynote address for our third Conversation with the Community held at the State Courts. In his speech, he shared on the courts’ role in advancing access to justice in respect of private disputes and the civil justice system. While ensuring access to justice is important to the effective functioning of the criminal justice system, for the person in the street and the community-at-large, their main concern is likely to be how they can seek and obtain justice in their disputes. 

Read the full speech: Justice Vincent Hoong: Speech delivered at Conversations with the Community on 24 January 2024

Healing Businesses in a New World: Problems, Opportunities and Solutions

Justice Kannan Ramesh gave the keynote address for our fourth Conversations with the Community at the National University of Singapore. He said that a debtor-in-possession regime based on the scheme of arrangement is the most suitable, provided that safeguards are robust and the court’s supervision is scrupulous. The flexibility of this scheme allows the court and parties to customise the appropriate solutions to respond to a business failure. The endgame is to achieve economic growth by encouraging and supporting entrepreneurship and innovation.

Read the full speech: Justice Kannan Ramesh: Speech delivered at Conversations with the Community on 27 March 2024

Technology as a Bridge to Justice

Justice Aedit Abdullah spoke about technology in upholding justice at the fifth Conversations with the Community session on 30 May. He emphasised that the courts’ journey of digitalization and adoption of technology continues. What is unchanging is the basic values underlying the institution and its members. Whatever challenges there may be in further technological innovation, in launching large programs, or in dealing with day-to-day frustration, the courts will continue working with their partners, stakeholders, and social welfare organisations, to ensure that no person is left behind.

Read the full speech: Justice Aedit Abdullah: Speech delivered at Conversations with the Community on 30 May 2024

Advancing the Environmental Rule of Law – Roles and Responsibilities of the Community

Justice Philip Jeyaretnam gave the keynote address for our sixth Conversation with the Community session on 26 July. He spoke about the environmental rule of law and explored how present circumstances contribute to the interpretation of legal rules. With the consistent and even-handed application of laws, the environment is safeguarded, and the impact of climate change is transparent to the wider society.

Read the full speech: Justice Philip Jeyaretnam: Speech delivered at Conversations with the Community on 26 July 2024 

Reimagining the Rule of Law: A Renewed Conception

Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon spoke about the need to refresh the traditional conception of the rule of law and adopt a more inclusive, outward-looking, and holistic vision. The renewed conception must account for challenges that threaten the sustainability of the legal process, such as access to justice and the sustainability of legal practice itself, while also accounting for the global threats that have emerged and that affect all of humanity.

Read the full speech: Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon: Speech delivered at Conversations with the Community on 20 September 2024