Category: Law

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Case Update: SIC College of Business and Technology Pte Ltd v Yeo Poh Siah and others [2016] SGCA 5 – CA orders retrial as evidence was wrongly rejected; costs against non-party; security for costs

Singapore Law; Legal; Lawyer

SIC College of Business and Technology Pte Ltd v Yeo Poh Siah and others [2016] SGCA 5

Significance: Singapore Court of Appeal orders retrial of an action because the trial judge had wrongly rejected certain key evidence from being admitted for purposes of the counterclaim because it was brought for purposes of the main claim, which had been dismissed.

Significance (2): Singapore Court of Appeal opined that order for security for costs against plaintiff company may not have been justifiable.

Significance (3): Singapore Court of Appeal held that lower court’s order for non-party to pay costs of the proceedings was wrong.

Court Room Trial of Four British Seamen at Canton

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Article: How to Sue Someone in the Singapore Court? 

Singapore Law; Legal; Lawyer

People often ask, how do you sue someone? That’s a challenging question for a litigation lawyer. It’s like asking a chef, how do you cook food?

Litigation means suing or being sued in a court of law. It may be commercial litigation, meaning it involves a commercial dispute. Or it may be corporate litigation, which usually means it involves corporate shareholder fights.

Generally, if it is not a criminal case, then it is a civil case. It is therefore a civil lawsuit or dispute, as opposed to criminal proceedings.

In this article, I give an overview and explanation on how to sue someone in the Singapore court. I explain the process, procedures, considerations, timelines, and requirements, involved in court litigation. I’ve included visual flowcharts and diagrams to explain these.

Supreme Court of Singapore
Supreme Court of Singapore

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Article: Shareholders or members bringing a statutory derivative action on behalf of the company

Singapore Law; Legal; Lawyer

What can a shareholder or company member do if the company has a claim against a third party but the directors of the company fail, neglect or refuse to commence action to pursue that claim? What if the claim is against the company’s directors for breach of directors’ or fiduciary duties? Or what if the directors are pursuing a legal action on behalf of the company which does more harm than good to the company?

The member can apply to the Singapore Court to commence, defend or discontinue an action on behalf of the company. Under Singapore law, such an action is known as a derivative action. It’s derivative because under common law principles, the claim strictly speaking belongs only to the company (this is the proper plaintiff rule). However, the common law and the Companies Act in Singapore provide for certain rules to allow a member to bring a derivative action on behalf of the company under Singapore law.

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Article: Subpoenaed as Court Witnesses

Singapore Law; Legal; Lawyer

Can any person be subpoenaed as witness in a trial?

There is no property in a witness. The reason is because the court has a right to every man’s evidence. Its primary duty is to ascertain the truth. Neither one side nor the other can debar the court from ascertaining the truth either by seeing a witness beforehand or by purchasing his evidence or by making communication to him. In no way can one side prohibit the other side from seeing a witness of fact, from getting the facts from him and from calling him to give evidence or from issuing him with a subpoena: Harmony Shipping Co. S.A. v. Saudi Europe Line Ltd. [1979] 1 WLR 1380 (CA) at 1385-1386.

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