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Protection Orders

Protection Order This section deals with the case process and procedure for applications for Protection Orders under Part VII of the Women's Charter. The same procedure also applies to applications to vary, suspend or rescind a protection order.

Procedure

The steps in an application for custody and access are as follows: Step 1: Make a Magistrate's Complaint Step 2: Serve the summons on the Respondent Step 3: Mentions of the Summons* Step 4: Hearing of the Summons* (* denotes a court session where the attendance of parties and/or their lawyers in court is required.)

Step 1: Making of Magistrate's Complaint

A person seeking a protection order has to appear before a District Judge or Magistrate to make a "Magistrate's Complaint". The person making the application is known as the Complainant and the person against whom the application is made is known as the Respondent. Before appearing before the judge, the Complainant should complete the appropriate standard application form . The completed form should be submitted to the Family Protection Unit at the Family Court or a welfare agency that has a video-link with the Family Court (namely, Ang Mo Kio FSC, Loving Heart Multi-Service Centre and TRANS Centre). If a police report or medical report is available, the report(s) should be submitted at the same time. It is however not compulsory for such a report to be obtained before an application can be made. At the Family Transformation and Protection Unit (FTPU) or counselling agency, a counsellor will first conduct intake counselling to: a) assess the history of the case and the risk of family abuse to the Complainant and/or the children; b) inform the Complainant of the court procedures and processes involved in the application for a protection order; c) educate you on safety measures and the effects of family violence on the Complainant and the children; d) assess the case for suitability for counselling; and e) refer the Complaint to other relevant services such as crisis shelters and welfare organisations. After counselling, an interpreter will bring the Complainant before a judge and the Complainant has to affirm or swear to the truth and accuracy of the matters stated in the application form. If the judge is satisfied that the application is in order, he will issue a Summons. At the same time, the judge will consider whether there is imminent danger of family violence being committed. If so, the judge will issue an Expedited Order in favour of the Complainant on the very day the application is made. The Complainant has to pay $1 for the issuance of the summons. The Family Court will then fix an appointment for the process server to serve the summons and the expedited order, if any, on the Respondent. (Note: the Complainant would have to bring sufficient money to pay the transport expenses of the process server).

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Step 2: Service of Summons

The Complainant must serve the Summons on the Respondent. This is to give the Respondent notice that a suit has been started against him. Service may be effected by: (1) personal service: an authorised person (usually the Court Process Server if the Complainant does not have a lawyer) must hand the Summons to the D personally, and if the above service fails, the process server may obtain the court's approval to serve the summons by: (2) leaving the summons with an adult member of the Respondent's household; or (3) posting the summons on the front door of the Respondent's place of residence. For the purpose of service, the Complainant must furnish the Respondent's address in Singapore to the court. It should be noted that a summons cannot be served on a Respondent who is residing outside Singapore. If the Complainant does not know the current address of the Respondent, the court will try to ascertain the address through available official records and effect service there. However, if it can be shown that the Respondent is no longer residing at the address that is reflected in available official records, the Complainant has a duty to find out the Respondent's current address (either through his relatives or friends). If the address cannot be determined, the matter cannot proceed.

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Step 3: Mention of the Summons

At the mention of the Summons, a District Judge will consider the following matters: (i) whether parties should be referred for counselling to be counselled on the effects of family violence; (ii) give orders on evidence: for example, the court may order parties to disclose relevant documents such as medical reports; (iii) give orders on the conduct of the case to ensure a smooth hearing: for example, directions to parties to file affidavits (that is, sworn statements); and (iv) ascertain the number of days required and fix the hearing dates. The Complainant must be present in court on the mention date. If the Complainant is absent, it will be presumed that the Complainant is no longer interested in pursuing the case and the court will strike the case off the list. The Respondent must also be present in court on the mention date. If he is absent, the court will issue a Warrant of Arrest against him. The warrant of arrest is passed to the Warrant Enforcement Unit (a division of the Singapore Police Force) to execute. The police will arrest the Respondent. Once they have arrested the Respondent, they will produce him in court. The court will offer him bail, re-fix the case for hearing, and deal with the application. It may take some time before a warrant of arrest is executed. Enquiries on the status of execution of warrants of arrest can be made to the Warrant Enforcement Unit. If both parties are present on the mention date, the court may refer parties for counselling before fixing trial dates provided the case is assessed to be suitable. Counselling will only be fixed for appropriate cases. Your case will not be suitable for counselling if: the Respondent is a spouse who appears to be harrassing the Complainant; the Respondent has criminal records or mental health problems, which the Complainant has informed the court of; the Complainant is living separately from the Respondent for fear of further violence; and the Complainant does not want to hear or see the Respondent. The counselling session is not only to ascertain if your case can be resolved without a trial. The counsellor will also deal with the following matters, where applicable: assess the necessity for a protection order together with the Complainant and the Respondent; reinforce safety measures with the Complainant; facilitate the Respondent's acceptance of responsibility for the use of violence; discuss with the Respondent alternatives to violent behaviour; educate the Respondent and the Complainant on the effects of family violence on them and their children; and recommend/refer parties and/or their children for further counselling or to community agencies for long term assistance or rehabilitation. The aim of the counselling is to emphasise to the Respondent, if he admits the use of violence, that violence is not acceptable. If the Respondent denies using violence, the matter will be sent back to court, which will give further directions on the proceedings, and/or fix a trial date for the case (go to Step 4).

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Step 4: Hearing of Summons

A trial will be conducted if the Complainant wishes to proceed with the application and the Respondent does not admit to the allegations and consent to the granting of a protection order. The parties will each have to give evidence in open court, to prove their respective cases. They will also have to call witnesses to support their case. The parties and their respective witnesses will be "cross-examined". "Cross-examination" is carried out by the other party or the party's lawyer, who will ask questions on what was said in evidence. The respective lawyers will also make "submissions", i.e. present a summary of your case, and make arguments supporting your case, to the judge. The whole process may take anything from one day to several days, depending on the number of witnesses and the complexity of the case. At the end of the hearing, the court will decide whether to grant a protection order. In addition, it will also consider whether there is a need to issue an exclusion order or counselling order. In the event that the judge is thinking of making a counselling order, the judge may refer parties to a counselling agency for assessment so that the agency may give a report to the court on whether counselling will benefit the parties. The court will then adjourn the case to a later date for further hearing, when the report is available. On the adjourned date, the court will consider whether to issue a counselling order against the parties. The objectives of counselling, if counselling is ordered, are to rehabilitate the Respondent, to empower the Complainant, as well as to give counselling support to the children and other family members. In other words, counselling seeks to provide a long-term solution to the problem of family violence, by changing the attitudes and behaviour of all those involved or affected by the family violence. If either party is absent on the hearing date, the same consequences will follow as absence from court on the mention date (see Step 3).

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Other Applications Related to Protection Order Proceedings

(i) Appeals

If either party is dissatisfied with a court order, he may file an appeal against the order. In the appeal papers (known as the Notice of Appeal), he must state the date of the order and the name of the judge who had made the order, as well as specify which part of the order he is appealing against. The appeal papers must be filed at the Appeal Section at the Civil Registry. You should seek legal advice if you need assistance in drafting the appeal papers.

(ii) Application for Court's records

To apply to search the court's records, the applicant has to submit a standard form and pay the requisite fee (calculated based on the number of pages).