In line with the Government’s implementation of “Safe Re-opening” from 2 June 2020, the Syariah Court will resume services progressively.

1) Queue management for Court users In order to adhere to safe distancing rules, we will monitor the number of persons admitted to the Court’s premises. For visitors without Court appointments and who wish to transact registry business, please be advised that the number of Q-tickets that may be issued per AM/PM session will be limited. If you are unable to obtain a Q-ticket, please return for the next session.

2) Other precautionary safety measures In addition to nation-wide safety measures, such as the safe distancing rules and the wearing of face masks, we have also put in place the following precautionary safety measures:

(a) Walk-in enquiries, without any registry business, will not be allowed. Please refer to our website for information, or call our hotline at 63548371 or email us at MCCY_Syariah@mccy.gov.sg. if you require assistance on our services.

(b) Accompanying persons are not allowed to enter the Court’s premises.

(c) Declarations are required through the Safe-Entry app.

(d) For persons with appointments, entry is allowed not more than 15 minutes prior to scheduled time.

3) Collection of Court Orders, Divorce Certificates and Inheritance Certificates Collection of all Court Orders (including Decree of Court), Divorce Certificates and Inheritance Certificates that are made or issued by the Court on or after 2 June 2020 will be via email. Please ensure that you have a valid email account to receive the documents from the Court. Please refer to Registrar’s Circular No. 15 and Registrar’s Circular No. 17 of 2020 for more details.

4) Other updates on Registry services Registry services will resume in phases. The following services are limited until 1 July 2020 or such later date as may be notified:

(i) Filing of divorce applications: Filing of new divorce applications will be limited to cases that meet the following conditions:

(a) the filing deadline has expired between 7 April 2020 and 1 June 2020, provided it is accompanied with the application for permission under regulation 8E of the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Rules; or

(b) the filing deadline falls between 2 June 2020 and 1 July 2020.

(ii) Court’s Commissioner for Oaths: Affirmation of Court documents by the Court’s Commissioner for Oaths will be limited to certain categories of documents and affidavits filed by litigants-in-persons.

(iii) Court’s Process Server: Services of the Court’s Process Server will be prioritised for cases with upcoming scheduled hearing dates, and is limited to the service of divorce documents filed by litigants-in-persons. Please refer to Registrar’s Circular No. 17 of 2020 for more details.

5) Use of remote communication technology for the conduct of Court proceedings Certain Court proceedings will be conducted via the use of remote communication technology. The remote communication technology approved for use by the Court is WebEx app. Please refer to Registrar’s Circular No 16 of 2020 for more details.

6) Parenting PACT session Parenting PACT session will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams. Please refer to Registrar’s Circular No. 17 of 2020 for more details. Court users and members of the public who wish to seek clarification on the above matters may call our hotline at 63548371 or email us at MCCY_Syariah@mccy.gov.sg.

We urge you to observe all precautionary safety measures during your time at the Court.

Thank you.

Dated this 29th day of May 2020

FURTHER UPDATES ON MEASURES RELATING TO COVID-19 FROM 2 JUNE 2020  

Measures for Safe Re-opening

1. For the immediate post Circuit Breaker period, Syariah Court will put in place certain measures for safe re-opening.

Filing of Divorce Applications

2. Between 2 June 2020 and 1 July 2020 (both dates inclusive), or such later date as the Registrar may direct, the Court Registry will accept filing of new divorce applications which satisfies the following conditions only:

(a) The applicant/intended Plaintiff has completed the Marriage Counselling Programme (“MCP”) and a letter has been issued by the MCP Agency for the Filing of Originating Summons for Divorce;

(b) The last counselling date in the letter is either between 7 October 2019 and 1 December 2019 or between 2 December 2019 and 1 January 2020; and

(c) The last date for filing the Originating Summons for Divorce is either between 7 April 2020 and 1 June 2020 or between 2 June 2020 and 1 July 2020.

3. For cases with a filing deadline that falls between 7 April 2020 and 1 June 2020 (both dates inclusive) or a deadline between 2 June 2020 and 1 July 2020 (both dates inclusive) which has already passed as at the date of filing the divorce application, the applicant/intended Plaintiff may, at the same time as filing the Originating Summons for Divorce, file the Originating Summons for Divorce pursuant to section 46(A) of the Administration of Muslim Law Act in Form 6A and a supporting affidavit.

4. A sample template of Form 6A and the supporting affidavit for this purpose may be obtained at our website at www.syariahcourt.gov.sg.

Court’s Commissioner for Oaths

5. The Court’s Commissioner for Oaths may take an affirmation only from a party who acts in person in respect of the following documents prepared using the applicable standard forms and exhibiting the required standard documents:

(a) A Case Statement or Amended Case Statement;

(b) A Memorandum of Appearance or Amended Memorandum of Defence;

(c) An affidavit in support of Originating Summons for leave under section 46A of the Administration of Muslim Law Act, provided the application falls within paragraph 2 of this Circular.

6. The above applies until 1 July 2020, or such later date as the Registrar may direct. Court’s Process Server

7. The services of the Court’s Process Server will be prioritised for cases with upcoming scheduled hearing dates.

8. The services of the Court’s Process Server will not be available for any application (filed by Litigants-in-person), except for the service process of Originating Summons for Divorce, until 1 July 2020, or such later date as the Registrar may direct.

Parenting PACT

9. Parenting PACT will be conducted online. A party who has attended the online Parenting PACT will be issued with a collection slip from PPIS As-Salaam via email.

Collection of certificates of divorce

10. The party shall collect the certificate of divorce that is made and issued by Syariah Court on or after 2 June 2020 via email instead of attending at the Court Registry. This practice will continue until such date as the Registrar may direct.

11. The email sent by Syariah Court containing the certificate of divorce will not be password-protected and the party is deemed to accept this manner of transmission. A certificate of divorce that is collected via email is deemed as collected.

12. For the avoidance of doubt, a physical copy of a certificate of divorce is available upon request and payment of the applicable fees for the extract.

General

13. Court users and members of the public who wish to seek clarification on this matter may call 63548371 or email MCCY_Syariah@mccy.gov.sg. For general information on court processes and procedures, they may visit our website at www.syariahcourt.gov.sg.

Dated this 29th day of May 2020

VIDEO-CONFERENCING VIA WEBEX  

1. The matter set out in this Circular is a modification of Registrar’s Circular No 12 of 2020 as it relates to the mode of remote communication technology approved for use for Pre-Trial Conferences (“PTC”), and extends the application of that Circular to other types of Court hearings.

Use of Webex as the approved remote communication technology

2. Solicitors are generally permitted to use Webex (and no other form of remote communication technology, unless the Court otherwise notifies) to mention any matter in Syariah Court (including appeals, trials, applications (interlocutory or otherwise), PTC and mediation) scheduled for hearing.

Conduct of proceedings via remote communication technology

3. For PTC, no request needs to be made to the Court Registry in advance. However, a solicitor who intends to mention a case via Webex must inform the Court officer in the Registrar’s Chambers of his or her intention and readiness to be called not later than 30 minutes before the appointed time for PTC in the manner specified in paragraph 2(e) of Registrar’s Circular No 12 of 2020.

4. For other matters, a solicitor who wishes to mention a case via Webex must, unless the Court has given prior permission or directions on the conduct of proceedings via remote communication technology, submit a request to the Court Registry not less than 14 working days before the date of the hearing. If permission is not granted, the solicitor must ensure that he and his client (if applicable) is/are in attendance in Court.

5. With regard to trials (hearings of divorce applications), a solicitor may indicate in the request if he or she wishes to ask the Court for permission to dispense with the attendance of his or her client, witness or any other person at the hearing (where prior permission or directions has not been given). If permission is not granted, the Court will give further directions as appropriate.

6. The request must be in the form set out in the Annex to this Circular and sent via email at MCCY_Syariah@mccy.gov.sg with the subject header “Request to mention case via remote means:” followed by the case reference number.

General

7. Court users and members of the public who wish to seek clarification on this matter may call 63548371 or email MCCY_Syariah@mccy.gov.sg. For general information on court processes and procedures, they may visit our website at www.syariahcourt.gov.sg.

Dated this 29th day of May 2020

COLLECTION OF COURT ORDERS AND INHERITANCE CERTIFICATES VIA EMAIL  

1. The matter set out in paragraphs 2 to 8 of this Circular is an extension of the matter set out in paragraphs 9 and 10 of Registrar’s Circular No 3 of 2020 as it relates to the collection of Court Orders, and this Circular supersedes Registrar’s Circular No 3 of 2020 as it relates to the collection of Inheritance Certificates at the Court Registry.

Collection of Court Orders (including a Decree of Court)

2. A solicitor whose law firm has filed a Notice of Appointment in any matter shall collect a Court Order that is made by Syariah Court on or after 2 June 2020 via email instead of attending at the Court Registry.

3. A litigant-in-person shall collect a Court Order that is made by Syariah Court on or after 2 June 2020 via email instead of attending at the Court Registry.

4. The Court Order may only be collected after payment for the Court Order, and after 7 working days, as indicated in the payment receipt.

5. In addition, the solicitor and litigant-in-person must take the following steps:

(a) for the solicitor, provide to the Court officer a business email account of the solicitor or that of the law firm, and specify legibly that email account address;

(b) for the litigant-in-person, provide to the Court officer his or her email account, and specify legibly that email account address; and

(c) ensure that emails from Syariah Court and its officers can be properly received at the specified email account.

6. The email sent by Syariah Court containing the Court Order will not be password-protected and the solicitor or litigant-in person, as the case may be, is deemed to accept this manner of transmission.

7. A Court Order that is collected via email is deemed as collected.

8. The above also applies to the collection of an extract copy of a Court Order that is made by Syariah Court on or after 2 June 2020.

Collection of Inheritance Certificates

9. An applicant for an Inheritance Certificate, including an extract copy of Inheritance Certificate, shall collect the Inheritance Certificate that is issued by Syariah Court on or after 2 June 2020 via email instead of instead of attending at the Court Registry. Collection of all Inheritance Certificates at the Court Registry will cease with effect from 2 June 2020.

10. All applicants must comply with the instructions on the procedure for verification of documents and collection via email, as set out in the ‘Inheritance On-line Guide’ at www.syariahcourt.gov.sg.

General

11. Court users and members of the public who wish to seek clarification on this matter may call 63548371 or email MCCY_Syariah@mccy.gov.sg. For general information on court processes and procedures, they may visit our website at www.syariahcourt.gov.sg.

Dated this 29th day of May 2020

In line with the Government’s announcement on Extended Circuit Breaker measures, the Syariah Court is closed from 7 April 2020 to 1 June 2020 (both dates inclusive). Affected court users will be contacted by email, telephone or post.

For more information on our services during this period, please click here.

You may also call our hotline at 6354 8371 or email us at MCCY_Syariah@mccy.gov.sg. Due to the high volume of incoming queries, we seek your understanding that we may need more time than usual to respond to you.

Dated this 24^th day of April 2020