View Article - Singapore Academy of Law

15 SAcLJ Matrimonial Assets and the 3 rd Party 297
It will not be possible to transfer ancillary matters pending in the High
Court to the Family Court, as the originating process would be a petition
and not a writ of summons. In this regard, other types of actions such as
bankruptcy, companies’ winding up actions and probate matters, which
are commenced by petitions, may also not be transferred from the High
Court to the Family Court.
(b)
Proceedings commenced under specific legislation only giving
jurisdiction to High Court
211 It is further submitted that if the High Court proceedings were
commenced under specific legislation only giving jurisdiction to the
High Court (for example, an application taken out under Section 73B of
the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act (Cap. 61) 130 (as was done in
the case of Soh Lai Chan, supra)) such proceedings would fall outside
the scope of Section 37. The High Court would therefore not have the
power to transfer the case down to the District Court. The rationale for
this is that if Parliament has expressly given the jurisdiction over cases
coming under the specific legislation to the High Court alone, the courts
should not go against Parliament’s intention by transferring such cases to
the District Court under Section 37.
212 This argument is reinforced by the fact that there is already a
specific legislative mechanism for the District Court to be conferred
jurisdiction to deal with certain classes of cases that only the High Court
would have had jurisdiction to deal with. Under Section 28A (Allocation
of proceedings to District Court) of the SCJA, the Chief Justice may by
order direct certain classes of cases commenced in the High Court to be
heard by the District Court, and confer jurisdiction on the District Court
to do so. 131 (The Transfer Order and the Second Transfer Order, which
130 The term “court” in the Act is defined as “High Court”—see Section 2(Interpretation)
of the said Act.
131 Section 28A SCJA states:
(1) The Chief Justice may, where he considers it necessary or expedient to improve
efficiency in the administration of justice and to provide for more speedy disposal of
proceedings commenced in the High Court, by order direct such class or classes or
description of proceedings as may be specified in the order to be heard and
determined by the District Court.
(2) Notwithstanding any other written law, any order under subsection (1) —
(a) may confer jurisdiction on a District Court to hear and determine —
(i) any proceedings specified in the order which, but for the order, the District Court
would not have jurisdiction to hear and determine by reason only of the fact that the
amount involved exceeds the monetary limit of its jurisdiction; or
(ii) any proceedings relating to any of the ma tters referred to in [continued next page]