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Summary Judgement In Singapore
Civil litigation in Singapore, like many other jurisdictions, have developed with some key driving principles and guidelines. Some of these principles include the aim of reducing the time, costs and effort expended of litigants as well as the judicial system.
This principle is represented quite aptly by the law and procedures relating to summary judgment in Singapore
What is a Summary Judgment?
If you sue someone else and that person enters an appearance in court, and filed and serves his Defence (sometimes together with a Counterclaim) to your Statement of Claim, you have an opportunity to instruct your lawyers to use order 14 of the Rules of court to apply for a Summary Judgment, if it is clear that the Defendant has no real defence against your claim.
The purpose of Summary Judgments is to enable plaintiffs (or defendants making counterclaims) to obtain judgment without proceeding to trial when there is plainly no defence to the claim (or counterclaim). This procedure may be utilised in all actions other than those against the government (under order 73 rule 5 of the Rules of Court) and for summary proceedings for possession of land (which are governed by separate rules under Order 81 of the Rules of Court).
Summary Judgments work to improve the processes of justice, reduce the time, effort and money expended in protracted litigation, protect rightful plaintiffs from having to litigate their matters for days on end in court. If there are no real issues to be determined by the court in further proceeding with the matter after the defence is served, it would be unfair to make the plaintiff wait till trial and full judgment is passed before his claims are accepted by the court.
Procedure and Timelines for Summary Judgment Applications
- An application for summary judgment must be made within 28 days after pleadings (the documents and arguments tendered in court in respect of each party’s legal case before trial proper begins) are closed, unless the court orders otherwise.
- Pleadings are deemed closed either 14 days after the service of the Reply and/or Defence to Counterclaim, or 14 days after the service of the Defence, if there is no Reply and/or Defence to Counterclaim.
- The summons and the affidavit(s) in support must be filed at the same time and served on the defendant within 3 days from the date of filing.
- If the defendant wishes to show cause against the plaintiff’s application, he must file and serve his affidavit on the plaintiff within 14 days after service of the plaintiff’s summons and affidavit.
- If the Plaintiff wishes to reply to the defendant’s affidavit, he must file and serve his affidavit on the defendant within 14 days after service of the defendant’s affidavit.
- No further affidavit will be received in evidence without the leave of the court.
- Where a party files or serves an affidavit beyond the period of time specified, the court may make such order as to costs against that party as it thinks fit.
- The court sets aside a date for a hearing.
- During the hearing, the Plaintiff will attempt to show a prima facie case in support of his application for Summary Judgment.
- If a prima facie case has been made out, the onus is on the defendant to show cause why the Summary Judgment should not be granted.
The Plaintiff has to Show a Prima facie Case in Support of the Summary Judgment
To establish a prima facie case, the plaintiff must persuade the court that his case is one which can be accepted on the face of documentary evidence and affidavits (i.e. sworn statements) alone, such that the Court can be satisfied that there is no reason for the case to go through the full litigation process.
The Defendant Needs to Show Cause Why the Summary Judgment Should Not Be Entered
To successfully persuade the Court to decline the plaintiff’s Summary Judgment application, the defendant must show that:
- There is a fair or reasonable probability that he has a real or genuine defence;
- There are issues or questions which should be examined and determined at trial; or
- For some other reason, there ought to be a trial (This has been broadly interpreted by the courts to mean that there must be circumstances that call for further investigation, although merely alleging that time is required to investigate alleged obscurities in the hope of unearthing something will not suffice).
The defendant’s affidavit must contain sufficient facts and particulars and should, as far as possible, deal specifically with the plaintiff’s claim and affidavit, clearly and concisely stating what the defence is, and what facts are relied on to support it. In all cases, sufficient facts and particulars must be given to show that there is a triable issue. General denials and bare assertions devoid of substantiation will not suffice.
If the Court is satisfied that any one of the above 3 limbs exists, the Court will grant the defendant leave to defend – which may be accompanied with certain conditions to be fulfilled by the defendant.
It is important to note that if all the defendant provides is a mere assertion of a given situation which forms the basis of his defence without any substantiation whatsoever, the Court is unlikely to be satisfied that any of the three limbs above have been met. Similarly, if there is documentary evidence, but the defendant’s case is inconsistent with such evidence, then the Court will not give any leave to defend.
The Possible Orders in Summary Judgment Applications if there is No Counterclaim
If there is no counterclaim raised by the defendant, the court hearing a Summary Judgment application may:
- Dismiss the application – the matter will proceed to trial. This may occur when the plaintiff knew he did not have a prima facie case or that the defendant had a serious triable issue to raise to the courts, but he chose to make a Summary Judgment application anyway.
- Grant the Summary Judgment – the plaintiff will be granted the reliefs he claimed in his Statement of Claim and the matter does not proceed to trial. This occurs when the defendant successfully persuades the court that he has a real genuine defence, that there are issues or questions which ought to be tried, or that there is some other reason why the matter should proceed to trial.
- Grant the defendant unconditional leave to defend – the matter will proceed to trial. Please keep in mind that leave to defend will be given unless it is clear that there is no real substantial question to be tried or that there is no dispute as to facts or law which raises a reasonable doubt that the plaintiff is entitled to judgment.
- Grant the defendant conditional leave to defend – the matter will proceed to trial, provided that certain conditions are satisfied. This may occur when the court is of the opinion that the plaintiff is entitled to Summary Judgment, that the defence is shadowy, or there is little or no substance in the defendant’s case. The Court believes the plaintiff, but cannot completely dismiss the defence with full certainty, (i.e. the defendant may have a plausible defence), in which case it may impose conditions upon the defendant so that the plaintiff’s position is not jeopardised. Order 14 rule 4(1) of the Rules of Court grant the courts wide discretionary powers to impose such conditions, which may relate to the giving of security or time or mode of trial, or otherwise, or any combination thereof. The more usual conditions are to require the defendant to furnish to the courts either a monetary sum representing the whole or part of the claim, and in default, leave to the plaintiff to sign final judgment for such sum. If the defendant is unable to pay the amount of security ordered, the court may make an order for a reduced sum combined with some other financial arrangement
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The Possible Orders in Summary Judgment Applications if there is a Counterclaim
Where a counterclaim is raised by a defendant, the possible orders are:
- where the defendant sets up a bona fide counterclaim arising out of the same subject matter as the action and connected with the grounds of defence, he should be allowed unconditional leave to defend;
- where the defendant has no defence to the claim but a plausible counterclaim of not less than the claim, judgment should be given on the claim with costs, with execution stayed until the trial of the counterclaim;
- where the counterclaim arises out of a separate and distinct transaction or is wholly foreign to the claim, judgment should be given with costs, without a stay of execution.
Conclusion
In our experience, many civil proceedings may be summarily adjudged by the courts using an Order 14 Summary Judgment application, thereby saving potential litigants money and saving everyone’s time, money and effort.
How We Can Help You
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