The Supreme Court introduced media summaries for members of the press in August 2006 for selected written judgments issued by the Court of Appeal as well as the High Court. Released by the Court at the same time as the release of the written judgment, the aim of the media summary was to assist in the reporting of court decisions by the media. It was also hoped that the media summaries would help to make the court decisions more accessible and easy to understand. Each media summary provides a layman’s summary of the key findings and the reasons for the Court’s decision. They are available at the Supreme Court’s website.
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In response to the high numbers of litigants-in-person for bankruptcy and mortgagee actions, the Supreme Court published a range of brochures in English, Malay and Mandarin that explained the key processes involved in making such applications before the Court. The brochures also clarify specific terminology, Court etiquette and legal terms in layman’s language for easy comprehension.
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The sample Bill of Costs in the Supreme Court Practice Directions was revised in July 2005 in order to better capture the information pertinent to a judicial officer’s decision during a taxation hearing. Following from this change, the Supreme Court had to upgrade its Taxation Information Management System (TIMS) to facilitate the storage of new information stored under the new Bill of Costs format. In addition to the upgrade of technology, the Supreme Court also embarked on an exercise to redraft taxation summaries dating back to 2001. This exercise, taken on by the Justices’ Law Clerks and the Assistant Registrars, updated the information on the older bills according to the needs under the new bill format. The new TIMS was successfully commissioned in the third quarter of 2006.
A parallel exercise was undertaken by the Singapore Academy of Law to revamp the LawNet frontend services, in order for the information in the new TIMS to flow through for access to lawyers. The legal fraternity should be able to gain gradual access to the redrafted, as well as new, taxation summaries through LawNet from the first quarter of 2007.
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Since October 2006, the Supreme Court has carried out a pilot programme to conduct pre-trial conferences (PTCs) for admiralty matters by email (e-PTCs). The e-PTCs allow lawyers to email status updates of cases to the Supreme Court before the scheduled PTCs. In turn, the Court issues directions by email where possible. The e-PTCs have reduced the need for lawyers to attend physically in Court as it is available where all parties in a matter agree to conduct PTCs by email.
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In 2006, the Supreme Court welcomed close to 7,000 students from local and foreign institutions of learning. As a participant in the Ministry of Education’s Learning Journeys programme, which aims to instill pride in Singapore’s achievements and build confidence in Singapore’s future, the Supreme Court hosts students from Junior Colleges and Universities, introducing them to Singapore’s legal system and legal heritage, and familiarising them with the layout of a courtroom and the conduct of a trial.
 
Local and foreign institutions of learning hosted by the Supreme Court included (in alphabetical order):
- Asian Law Students Association
- CHIJ Katong Convent
- Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore (NUS)
- First Toa Payoh Secondary School
- Jurong Junior College
- Nanyang Junior College
- Nanyang Technological University
- NUS Judicial Internship Programme
- NUS Shanghai LLM (International Business Law) Programme Internship 2006
- Public Service Commission Scholars
- Santa Clara Summer Law Programme
- Singapore American School
- Singapore Sports School
- St Andrew’s Junior College
- Tampines Junior College
- Temasek Junior College
- Universiti Brunei Darussalam
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Section: Staff and Organisation
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