Digest 1

A. Introduction

1.   The Family Justice Rules (FJR) regulates and prescribes the procedure and the practice to be followed in all proceedings in the Family Justice Courts (FJC).

2.  In line with the recommendations made in the Report of the Committee to Review and Enhance Reforms in the Family Justice System, the FJC has undertaken a comprehensive review and redesign of the FJR. The new set of FJR 2024 is broken down into separate volumes, which comprises:

• Family Justice (General) Rules 2024 (General Rules).
• Family Justice (Probate and Other Matters) Rules 2024 (Probate Rules).
• Family Justice (Protection from Harassment) Rules 2024 (POHA Rules).
• Family Justice (Criminal Proceedings in Youth Courts) Rules 2024 (Criminal Proceedings Rules).

3.  The General Rules apply to all civil proceedings and quasi‑criminal proceedings in the Family Justice Courts, which are not governed by the Probate Rules, the POHA Rules and the Criminal Proceedings Rules.

4.  The Probate Rules apply to the following proceedings:

• Civil proceedings under the Inheritance (Family Provision) Act 1966.
• Civil proceedings for the distribution of an intestate estate in accordance with the Intestate Succession Act 1967.
• Civil proceedings under the Legitimacy Act 1934.
• Civil proceedings under the Probate and Administration Act 1934.
• Civil proceedings under the Wills Act 1838.

5.  The POHA Rules apply to proceedings under the Protection for Harassment Act 2014 (POHA), which are to be heard in the Family Justice Courts. POHA proceedings are to be heard in the Family Justice Courts only when there are pending related family proceedings, and it is just, expeditious and economical for the disposal of the POHA application. Please note that only certain POHA applications are heard in the Family Justice Courts. For further information, refer to How to file and serve a protection from harassment application.

6.  The Criminal Proceedings Rules apply to criminal proceedings in the Youth Courts.

B.  Objectives

7.  Under the FJR 2024, the objectives are what the court must seek to achieve when making orders or giving directions. All parties have the duty to assist the court and to conduct their cases in a manner which will help to achieve the objectives.

8.  There are 6 Objectives which the FJR 2024 seeks to achieve:

• Fair access to justice.
• Expeditious proceedings.
• Cost-effective resolution of cases.
• Fair and practical results for parties.
• Efficient use of Court resources.
• Where a child is a party or a subject of the proceedings, placing the child’s welfare as the paramount consideration.

C.  Simplification and streamlining of the rules

9.  The FJR 2024 is organised into Parts and arranged according to the life cycle of a case. This allows court users to look at the applicable part of the rules, depending on where they are at each stage of the proceedings. Similar provisions which are now replicated in different sections of the FJR 2014 have also been removed, thus streamlining the provisions. 

D.  Nomenclature changes

10.  The FJR 2024 – aligned to the change in nomenclature in the Rules of Court 2021 (ROC 2021) – uses simple terms to describe parties and actions so that the rules are more accessible to the public and easy to understand. Certain terms are also further simplified in the General Rules, for example, counterclaim is simplified to cross application. 

Summary of simplified terms

*These terms are unique to the General Rules and differ from the ROC 2021.

**These terms follow the ROC 2021.