| High Court of Singapore | |
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 The new Supreme Court Building was opened in 2005, designed by Norman Foster | |
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| Established | 9 January 1970[1] |
| Composition method | Executive selection |
| Authorised by | Constitution of Singapore |
| Judge term length | Tenure until the age of 65, but may be re-appointed |
| Website | https://www.judiciary.gov.sg |
| Chief Justice of Singapore | |
| Currently | Sundaresh Menon |
| Since | 6 November 2012 |
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The High Court of Singapore is the lower division of the Supreme Court of Singapore, the upper division being the Court of Appeal. The High Court consists of the chief justice and the judges of the High Court. Judicial Commissioners are often appointed to assist with the Court's caseload. There are two specialist commercial courts, the Admiralty Court and the Intellectual Property Court, and a number of judges are designated to hear arbitration-related matters and insolvency matters respectively. In 2014 the Family Division of the High Court was created, and in 2015 the Singapore International Commercial Court ("SICC") was established as a division of the High Court. The current divisions of the High Court are the General Division and the Appellate Division. The seat of the High Court is the Supreme Court Building.
Under changes in 2021 made due to the increasing volume and complexity of civil appeals, the High Court was in effect sub-divided into two divisions, the General Division and the Appellate Division. The General Division took over the former role and jurisdiction of the High Court (and thus the Family Division and the SICC became divisions of the General Division), while the Appellate Division was a new court formed to hear those civil appeals from the General Division which were not allocated to the Court of Appeal. Thus, some civil appeals from the General Division lie directly to the Court of Appeal based on the subject matter of the appeal,[2] while all other civil appeals from the General Division lie to the Appellate Division. Appeals from the Appellate Division to the Court of Appeal are allowed only with permission of the Court of Appeal in cases which raise a point of law of public importance.[3] The Appellate Division has no criminal jurisdiction. (In general, references below to the High Court now refer to the General Division).
The High Court exercises both original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters. By possessing original jurisdiction, the Court is able to hear cases at first instance—it can deal with trials of matters coming before the courts for the first time. A special aspect of the Court's original jurisdiction is its judicial review jurisdiction, under which it determines the constitutionality of legislation and actions taken by the Government. The Court exercises its appellate jurisdiction when it hears appeals from trials originating in the Subordinate Courts such as District Courts and Magistrates' Courts. The Court also exercises supervisory and revisionary jurisdiction over subordinate courts. The exercise of judicial review of administrative acts carried out by public authorities to ensure that they comply with principles of administrative law is an aspect of the Court's supervisory jurisdiction.
Under the principles of stare decisis (judicial precedent), the High Court is bound by decisions of the Court of Appeal. In turn, decisions of the High Court must be followed by District Courts and Magistrates' Courts. On the other hand, a Judge of the High Court is not bound by previous decisions by other High Court judges. As a matter of comity, though, a Court will generally not depart from a previous decision unless there is a good reason to do so. If there are conflicting High Court decisions, it is up to the Court of Appeal to decide which decision is correct.
- ^ The date of commencement of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969 (No. 24 of 1969), now the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Cap. 322, 2007 Rev. Ed.).
- ^ See section 29C and the Sixth Schedule of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969.
- ^ See section 47 of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969. In addition, the Court of Appeal may, under section 29D of that Act, allow the transfer to itself of an appeal made to the Appellate Division. For a description of these changes, see Noor Azlin bte Abdul Rahman and another v Changi General Hospital Pte Ltd [2021] SGCA 59.