E-LITIGATION IN

SINGAPORE (2014) Management of Law Office and Court Technology

Benjamin Ang ben.ang@gmail.com

For every trial, the relevant documents

need to be filed in court

The problems with filing paper

• Takes up space

• Takes time to retrieve

from storerooms

• Difficult to locate a

case if it gets lost

among many cases

• Requires manpower to

handle, move, manage

What EFS (Electronic Filing System) did

for Singapore trials in 2000

• Electronic Case File

used in the Court

Registry

• Court Registry had

faster access to case

documents

• Judges could

download cases

• Parties could use

softcopies in court

The Problems EFS faced in Law Firms

•Many law firms had to reserve computers for EFS

•Software and hardware needed upgrading

•Double work - many law firms

• created court forms in Word,

• re-entered data into EFS,

• Scanned the Word documents into PDF !

•Limited access to case documents

EFS WAS REPLACED BY

E-LITIGATION

EFS ceased operation on 1

February 2014

What E-Litigation does better

•Web-based • No need for smart cards or card readers

• No need to install software on the local computer

•Party details and case numbers will only have to be entered once for the same matter

•No more PDF for many court documents! • The system will use dynamic electronic court forms

What E-Litigation does better

•Full access to all documents in a case for as long as the case remains active

•E-mail, SMS and reminder alerts

•Calendaring and Hearing Management Module

•Enables parties to select hearing dates

•Document sharing

•Lawyers can share docs with clients

4 STEPS TO GET

STARTED IN

E-LITIGATION

Step One: Key in Case/Party Information

& Questionnaire

Step 2: Generate the Documents

Step 3: Key in Admin Details (e.g.

„special handling‟)

Step 3: Choose hearing date

Step 3: Serve on the other party

Step 4: Check documents, then file

2 TIPS TO USE IN

E-LITIGATION

#1: Getting Costs / Unless Orders

• If the other party is not ready to

exchange, write to them “we are

ready to exchange”, cc court

•Use this letter in any submissions on

costs or “unless” orders for failing to

comply with court orders.

#2: Use Pre-Prepared Prayers

•System has suggested „prayers‟ (requests) to guide you in drafting and can be adapted to suit your client‟s needs

•Tell the Court precisely what you are asking for e.g. quantum, mode and effective date for payments or the mode of substituted service sought

•Then it‟s easier for the judge to decide based on the evidence before the court

FIND OUT MORE

https://www.elitigation.sg/GetReady/