Debated in Parliament on 3 Jul 2023.
Ms Hany Soh asked the Minister for Law since the Rules of Court 2021 came into effect on 1 April 2022 (a) whether the Ministry has engaged legal practitioners to gather feedback; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider consolidating the learnings from the application of the Rules thus far into a report and sharing it with legal practitioners.
The Rules of Court 2021 (ROC 2021) were made by the Rules Committee, which is chaired by the Chief Justice and comprises the Attorney-General, Supreme Court and State Court Judges, and two practising advocates and solicitors appointed by the Chief Justice.
The Ministry of Law (MinLaw) conducts routine engagements with the Bar on matters concerning the legal profession as a whole. Any feedback received on ROC 2021 will be relayed to the Rules Committee accordingly.
Since ROC 2021 came into effect, the Registries in the Supreme Court and the State Courts have been engaging with the Bar at different platforms to gather and respond to feedback on ROC 2021. These include dialogue sessions with the Law Society's Civil Practice Committee as well as presentations at the Law Society's Litigation Conferences in 2022 and 2023 where members of the Bar had the opportunity to share their feedback and learning points. A Pro Tem Focus Group on ROC 2021 was also established by the Court Registries which serve as an open channel of communication for the Bar to communicate to the Courts any feedback regarding ROC 2021.
The Courts have been receiving and continue to take in valuable feedback, proposals and comments from users regarding issues encountered in the implementation of ROC 2021. Where appropriate, proposals for further refinements may be implemented through amendments to ROC 2021 and the Practice Directions.
PAPERCUTS