Singapore State Courts

📷: State Courts Towers (The State Courts of Singapore)

#TIL it’s been 10 years since the Subordinate Courts were renamed as the State Courts, to recognise the key role they play within the community as the primary dispensers of justice. Today, the State Courts hear approximately 90% of civil and criminal cases in Singapore.

The Singapore Judiciary comprises the Supreme Court, the State Courts, and the Family Justice Courts. Within the State Courts, one can find the District Courts, Magistrates’ Courts, Coroners’ Court, and various specialised courts. Apart from criminal and civil cases in the District and Magistrate Courts, cases heard at the State Courts include small claims, employment claims, relational and other community disputes.

In a way, Singapore’s legal system has evolved in line with the nation's journey – from adopting the English Common Law during the colonial era, to having Japanese military law during the Second World War and having a mix of Malay customs and traditional laws as a basic legal framework during our brief merger with Malaysia.

Before the former Subordinate Courts were set up, Singapore had several courthouses spread across the island. It was only on 15 Sep 1975 that the Subordinate Courts Building opened along Havelock Road to bring all these courts together under one roof. With its angular shapes and fortress-like appearance, a representation of modern brutalist architecture, the eight-sided, nine-storey Subordinate Courts Building was also affectionately known to some as the “Octagon”. For the next 44 years, the “Octagon” was the workhorse of the country’s legal system, handling approximately 90% of all court cases in Singapore.

As Singapore’s demand for court services grew, the State Courts needed a new home with increased capacity, and construction of the new State Courts Towers began in 2014.

The new State Courts Towers commenced operations on 16 Dec 2019, and is located next to its original building, retaining the address of 1 Havelock Square. Standing out from its Chinatown neighbours at 178 metres high, the 35-storey building, which comprises two interconnected towers (a Court Tower and an Office Tower linked by bridges) is the tallest government building in Singapore, to date. It is also one of the world’s tallest courthouses.

The State Courts Towers houses 53 courtrooms and 54 hearing chambers, an increase in capacity from its previous building’s 37 courtrooms and 40 hearing chambers. The bridges linking the two towers are constructed with glass, giving users the illusion that the bridges are suspended in mid-air as they cross from one tower to the other. Other than its interesting architectural façade, it is also home to some of the most cutting-edge solutions and facilities to meet the needs of court users of the future. For instance, initiatives such as real-time artificial intelligence audio transcription and smart deployment of court interpreters are some of the new technologies have made that will make court processes more efficient.

The new State Courts Towers marked a significant milestone to improve the delivery of the justice and ensure accessibility to meaningful justice for people in Singapore, further contributing to the law and order which we can all take pride in as Singaporeans.

Sources: https://www.judiciary.gov.sg/OneHavelockSquare/phases.html

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