Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Tribunal to be 'last recourse' for community disputes

SINGAPORE — Come next year, feuding neighbours will be able to turn to a tribunal dedicated to resolving community disputes. The Community Resolution Dispute Tribunal, first announced in March, will be established under the auspices of the State Courts and have powers to mandate mediation.

SINGAPORE — Come next year, feuding neighbours will be able to turn to a tribunal dedicated to resolving community disputes. The Community Resolution Dispute Tribunal, first announced in March, will be established under the auspices of the State Courts and have powers to mandate mediation.

Those who apply to have disputes heard by the tribunal must first attempt to mediate. If the other party does not reciprocate, the tribunal can order both parties to attend pre-hearing mediation and record any agreement as a consent order which can be enforced accordingly.

Court processes for the tribunal will be streamlined so that “long-running disputes can be resolved expeditiously and effectively,” said Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong in Parliament today (Sept 9).

However, Mr Wong stressed that the tribunal should “be an avenue of last resort to adjudicate long-standing, intractable disputes between neighbours”.

Responses at the community level, such as mediation by grassroots leaders, should take precedent, and the tribunal is meant only as “a last recourse after all attempts at resolving what are essentially private matters have been exhausted,” he said.

This is in line with findings from a public consultation exercise held in March and April this year, where some trained mediators had raised concerns that mandatory mediation may undermine the spirit of mediation and can be abused by unreasonable neighbours to punish others.

The Ministry of Law is developing a legislative framework for the tribunal and will hold a public consultation on the draft legislation in the next few months.

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.