High Court of Singapore - History

History

In 1826, Singapore was united with Malacca and Prince of Wales' Island (present-day Penang) to form the Straits Settlements, which were granted a Court of Judicature by the Second Charter of Justice dated 27 November 1826. The Charter conferred on the Court the jurisdiction of the Courts of King's Bench, Chancery, Common Pleas and Exchequer in civil, criminal and revenue matters, among other things. The judges of the Court were the Governor, the Resident Counsellor, and the Recorder of Prince of Wales' Island, Singapore and Malacca. The Governor's power to overrule decisions of the Recorder led to dissatisfaction as the Recorder was the only member of the Court who was a professional judge, and there were calls for the executive and judicial branches to be separated. This issue was not resolved by the Third Charter of Justice granted to the Straits Settlements on 12 August 1855, though there were now to be two Recorders, one for Penang and the other for Singapore and Malacca. It was only in 1867 that the Governor and Resident Counsellors ceased to exercise judicial powers.

The Court of Judicature of the Straits Settlements was abolished in 1868 and replaced by the Supreme Court of the Straits Settlements. The Supreme Court was reorganized in 1873 to consist of the Chief Justice, the Judge at Penang, and a Senior and Junior Puisne Judge. By this time Singapore had become the centre of government and trade in the Straits Settlements, so the Chief Justice and Senior Puisne Judge resided in Singapore, while the Judge of Penang and the Junior Puisne Judge were stationed in Penang. The Supreme Court was also given jurisdiction to sit as a Court of Appeal. As a result of legislation passed in 1885, the Supreme Court consisted of the Chief Justice and three puisne judges. The Court was significantly altered in 1907. It now had two divisions, one exercising original civil and criminal jurisdiction and the other appellate civil and criminal jurisdiction.

During the Japanese occupation of Singapore (1942–1945), all the courts that had operated under the British were replaced by new courts established by the Japanese Military Administration. The Syonan Koto-Hoin (Supreme Court) was formed on 29 May 1942; there was also a Court of Appeal, but it was never convened. Following the end of World War II, the courts that had existed before the war were restored and remained largely unchanged until Singapore's independence from the United Kingdom through merger with Malaysia in 1963. The judicial power of Malaysia was vested in a Federal Court, a High Court in Malaya, a High Court in Borneo (now the High Court in Sabah and Sarawak), and a High Court in Singapore. In 1965 Singapore left the Federation of Malaysia and became an independent republic. However, the High Court remained part of the Federal Court structure until 1969, when Singapore enacted the Supreme Court of Judicature Act to regularize the judicial system. Coming into force on 9 January 1970, the Act declared that the Supreme Court of Singapore now consisted of the Court of Appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeal and the High Court. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council remained Singapore's highest appellate court until a permanent Court of Appeal for both civil and criminal appeals was established. Appeals to the Privy Council were completely abolished in 1994.