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Judiciary Times Issue No. 3 December 2019

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ISSUE 03 • DEC 2019 LAUNCH OF THE TECHNOLOGY AND FAMILY JUSTICE – STATE COURTS THE CHANGING FACE “IT TAKES A HERITAGE GALLERY OF JUSTICE GLOBAL VILLAGE” DEC 2019 02 HIGHLIGHTS HIGHLIGHTS Launch of the State Courts Heritage 01 Gallery Technology and the Changing Face 03 of Justice Family Justice – 04 “It takes a global village” EVENTS & INITIATIVES Joint Judicial Conference 05 “The State Courts Heritage Gallery chronicles Mass Call 2019: Becoming a 05 our history and provides the opportunity to Profession of Learners commemorate our past and appreciate our present. Beyond Adjudication – State Courts 06 While we preserve our heritage in this gallery, we Impart Legal Knowledge to Enrich will continue our transformation journey to deliver the Community quality justice and serve society” Council of Asean Chief Justices 07 Presiding Judge of the State Courts, Working and Study Group Meetings Justice See Kee Oon 3rd International Advisory 07 Council Meeting 2019 International ODR Forum 07 The majority of the exhibits use interactive, technology-enabled features. These include a digital display of 15 high- profile cases heard in the State Courts over the last four decades, and a multi-user interactive table that chronicles Tri-court Training Workshop for 08 LAUNCH OF THE the locations of the past and present courthouses, highlighting some of their architectural features. Foreign Language Interpreters STATE COURTS One of the key highlights is the Heritage Courtroom, which is a mock-up of a courtroom in the old State Courts Transformation Week 08 Building with video displays that re-enact three criminal cases that were heard at different points in history. Visitors will not only get the opportunity to experience the different aspects of the criminal trial process, but also discover the Engaging Stakeholders 08 HERITAGE GALLERY evolution of courtroom technology and how it has made the delivery of justice more effective and efficient. Judiciary Honours Court Volunteers 09 In conjunction with the Singapore Bicentennial celebrations, the State Courts’ judges and staff were behind the conceptualisation of the Heritage Gallery and curation of all the at Annual Appreciation Dinner State Courts Heritage Gallery was launched on 19 November exhibits. In addition to selecting significant and unique artefacts that represent the period under review, careful by The Honourable the Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon. consideration of the user experience had also guided the content curation process to cater to the varied interests of Bicentennial Legal Heritage Trail 09 Over 100 guests, including past heads of the State Courts, Mr different user groups – legal practitioners, students and members of the public. Michael Khoo, SC, Mr Richard Magnus and Justice Tan Siong The Judiciary Cares 10 Thye attended the event. The State Courts Heritage Gallery is open to the public during the official operating hours of the State Courts. Introducing State Courts Towers 11 to Stakeholders In his opening address, Presiding Judge of the State Courts, Justice See Kee Oon said that the Heritage Gallery seeks to FJC All in 2019: Back to the Future 11 facilitate a better understanding of the contributions made by the State Courts, in ensuring access to justice and upholding the rule of law. NOTABLE VISITS 12 Located on level 1 of the State Courts Towers, the Heritage Gallery is thematically arranged and designed to provide WHAT’S NEW? 14 a seamless historical walk-through of the State Courts’ transformation journey. It is organised into three zones that take visitors through the rich history and progress of the State Courts AWARDS & ACCOLADES 16 since the founding of modern Singapore in 1819, highlighting the major reforms introduced over the years to improve the administration of justice. BEHIND THE SCENES 17 03 JUDICIARY TIMES • ISSUE 3 DEC 2019 04 HIGHLIGHTS HIGHLIGHTS TECHNOLOGY AND FAMILY JUSTICE – “IT TAKES A GLOBAL VILLAGE” The Family Justice Practice Forum 2019 was held on THE CHANGING FACE OF JUSTICE 2 October at the Supreme Court Auditorium. Jointly organised by the Family Justice Courts (FJC) and the On 14 November, The Honourable the Chief Justice In relation to the resource gap, the proliferation and Ministry of Social and Family Development with the Sundaresh Menon delivered a keynote lecture at the increasing sophistication and affordability of digital tools support of the Syariah Court and Law Society of Singapore, Negotiation and Conflict Management Group (NCMG) such as chatbots and automated document drafting it brought together international and local experts from Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Conference 2019 and management systems will in time democratise the the legal, psychological and social science sectors to in Nigeria. At the same time, Chief Justice Sundaresh market for legal services. articulate the challenges and dream of solutions as a Menon was conferred the Special Recognition Award global village to holistically support families in distress. 2019 at the NCMG Peace Awards Dinner for his At the same time, technology can also narrow the literacy The Honourable the Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon contributions in promoting access to justice through the gap by facilitating access to legal information and graced the event, with Presiding Judge of the FJC, development of ADR. connecting sources of legal help to those who require it. Justice Debbie Ong, opening the Forum and Dr Robert Emery delivering the Keynote Address. In his lecture, the Chief Justice painted a vision of the Some may question whether the integration of changing face of justice, which is being reshaped in a technology into the justice system will exacerbate the Justice Ong spoke on the Forum’s theme “It takes a global fundamental way by the unprecedented capabilities of digital divide, which is the disparity between those who village” and emphasised three things that the community technology. Technology offers an opportunity not merely are in a position to access and operate technology, and must continue to do. First, they needed to communicate to effect incremental improvements to the legal processes those who are not. But this critique may be overstated. The three modules are: and learn from each other, as legal remedies alone cannot but to rethink our core beliefs and assumptions about The explosive growth in internet penetration has already • The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) module, which will provide the full therapeutic justice. Second, with the what justice requires and, consequently, reimagine the significantly narrowed the digital divide, and this trend allow the more common types of MCA cases to be mission in mind, communities must support one another design of our justice system. Carefully managed and looks set to continue given ongoing efforts to bring filed using a simplified track. Approximately 60 to 80 in their work. Justice Ong pointed out how counselling harnessed, technology and the suite of available dispute technology to unreached peoples. Nevertheless, as per cent of the deputies’ powers sought in the current had been successfully integrated formally into the family resolution methods will not only enhance access to long as the digital divide does exist, some traditional, applications will be covered by this simplified track. justice system with support from the entire community. justice, but also secure outcomes that will help narrow face-to-face methods of access should be retained. Yet Finally, she said that it was imperative for the community • The iFAMS Remote Show Payment module which the divisions within society and build peace of a real and others may doubt whether online courts are capable of to press on with the good work in the hope that the family will allow Respondents in Maintenance Enforcement lasting kind. providing a quality of justice comparable to that offered justice system continues to evolve and shape good and cases to show proof of payment online via iFAMS by conventional courtrooms and their processes. But responsible behaviour for affected families. instead of physically going to court to do so. The The Chief Justice spoke about the justice gap, which is this critique is founded on an unproven assumption that module was rolled out for a six-month pilot in the disparity between the legal needs of low-income conventional processes deliver more accurate or more Noting that the family justice system has undergone much October. persons and the resources available to meet those just outcomes than technology-assisted ones, and more reform in the past five years with positive results, Justice needs. The justice gap has three principal dimensions: critically, fails to recognise that the problem of scarcity • The iFAMS “Offer to Resolve” module which aims Ong announced the findings of the FJC-MinLaw Court (a) a physical gap, which concerns the physical distance – of which the justice gap is a species – means that our to facilitate resolution of maintenance disputes. Users Survey 2018/19 and said the overall perception of between persons and the institutions of justice; (b) a justice system cannot afford to examine all disputes with Through this module, which was piloted on 2 the reform to the system is positive. The survey showed resource gap, which refers to the potentially prohibitive the same degree of exactitude and rigour. October, parties may make and accept offers via that 83 per cent of lawyers and 82 per cent of court users cost of legal services; and (c) a literacy gap, which iFAMS for fresh applications for child and/or spousal surveyed had a positive overall perception of the reforms, concerns the lack of legal literacy. The rising costs of litigation and limited judicial resources maintenance and variation of such maintenance based on their experience with the Courts. The FJC also call for the adoption of a user-centric approach that orders, before parties attend mediation at FJC. announced the launch of three new modules in iFAMS Technology has the potential to close, and not merely focuses on affordability, efficiency, accessibility, flexibility - an electronic case management system to facilitate Over 350 family practitioners comprising lawyers, policy bridge, all three dimensions of the justice gap.
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