The Family Justice Courts (FJC) are established pursuant to the Family Justice Act which was passed by Parliament on 4 August 2014. The Family Justice Act was enacted based on the recommendations of the Committee for Family Justice which was formed in 2013 to review how Singapore’s family justice system may be reformed to address the needs of youth and families in distress.
FJC is a restructure of our court system to better serve litigants. By bringing together all family-related work under a specialised body of courts, we would be able to frame disputes from the perspective of families and the individuals within. This is in contrast to other types of cases which are traditionally dealt with in an adversarial manner. In addition, we would be able to provide a suite of family specific services, enhance processes and identify relevant training programmes that develop family-specific skills in judges, lawyers and other family practitioners.
The “Family Justice Courts” is the collective name for a body of courts which comprise the Family Division of the High Court, the Family Courts and the Youth Courts. These Courts are administered by the Presiding Judge of the Family Justice Courts. The Family Justice Courts will hear the full suite of family-related cases including all divorce and related matters, family violence cases, adoption and guardianship cases, Youth Court cases, applications for deputyship under the Mental Capacity Act, and probate and succession matters.