Effectiveness of Community Dispute Resolution Tribunal Orders in Resolving Neighbour Disputes

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Law (a) whether the Ministry continues to monitor the effectiveness of Community Dispute Resolution Tribunal (CDRT) orders issued in resolving neighbour disputes; and (b) if yes, how does the Ministry determine whether a CDRT order has been effective in resolving a dispute.

The Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals (CDRT) were established in 2015 to create a specialised process to resolve community disputes. Disputes are managed by CDRT with an adjudicatory process. We encourage parties to first try to settle matters amicably, including through mediation; and only turn to the CDRT as a measure of last resort. Resolving disputes amicably through mediation presents the best chance to preserve neighbourly relations in the long term.

We track the number of enforcement orders made by the CDRT as one indicator of its effectiveness. From January 2021 to December 2023, the CDRT issued 126 CDRT orders; that is, first instance orders. In the same period, the CDRT made 14 enforcement orders, comprising 13 Special Directions and one Exclusion Order.

The relatively low number of enforcement orders suggests that there is a low rate of non-compliance with CDRT orders.

Nonetheless, we are mindful that this gives one indicator. It is possible that residents might not have chosen to pursue enforcement proceedings, leading to low numbers of enforcement orders.

As part of our ongoing efforts to improve the management of neighbour disputes, an inter-agency committee has been reviewing the Community Dispute Management Framework. This will include enhancements to be made to the CDRT processes and the effectiveness of CDRT orders. More details will be shared in due course.