Understanding the Law: A Detailed Explanation of Dispute Resolution Mechanisms and an Analysis of the Practical Aspects of Sexual Offences

This article was first published on 26 October 2025 in the Singapore Mandarin broadsheet, Lianhe Zaobao.

SLW obtained permission to reproduce the article to give the legal community a broader view of legal reports for various news syndicates.

The development of the legal system affects not only judicial fairness - it also has an impact on social trust and people’s lives. The Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) has recently published two new books: The Law on Sexual Offences in Singapore and A Guide to Judge-Led Court Dispute Resolution, providing an authoritative reference for legal professionals, scholars, and the public from criminal and civil perspectives. Both books offer an in-depth look at how the legal system in Singapore works across different domains and give the public an important view on legal practice and the principles of law.

In this week’s Understanding the Law series, we delve into the contents of these two books.

Around 40% of the civil cases that go to court in Singapore are handled through the dispute resolution mechanism; among them, 85% are successfully resolved without going to trial. The mechanism is not only time and cost-saving, it also helps to maintain and repair relations among the parties involved, allowing them to avoid worsening the dispute by going head-to-head in court.

Compared to conventional litigation, the Court Dispute Resolution Cluster (CDRC) employs a customised process to provide a pathway to resolve disputes that is highly efficient, flexible, and fair.

According to Tan Boon Heng, principal district judge, CDRC, and general editor of A Guide to Judge-Led Court Dispute Resolution, the development of CDRC can be traced back to 1994. That was when judicial mediation was being piloted in the Lower Courts (now known as the State Courts), allowing judges to preside over pre-trial mediation in civil cases.

After the successful pilot, the Court Mediation Centre was established in 1995, later renamed the Primary Dispute Resolution Centre, and judge-led mediation was officially institutionalised.

Today, three decades later, CDRC has developed an array of tools for dispute resolution, including preliminary neutral evaluation, judicial mediation, and judge-led negotiations – making for a well-developed judge-led process.

The CDRC handles a wide variety of cases covering tort and negligence claims, including professional negligence (such as medical and legal malpractice), personal injury (such as workplace injuries and traffic accidents), property damage caused by traffic accidents, other tort cases, and personal injury cases filed in the High Court with claims of up to $500,000.

The book examines the different aspects of the workings of the CDRC and the value it provides; it also provides a historical perspective, practical guidance and future outlook, making it a valuable resource for judges, lawyers, and the general public. Readers will learn not only about the operating model and underlying principles, but also the unique advantages of judge-led dispute resolution – including facilitating resolution efficiency, narrowing the scope of the dispute, protecting the relationship between dispute parties, and using technology and international collaboration to explore the potential of judicial innovation.

Mediation as an alternative to lengthy and costly litigation | Resolving disputes more efficiently and with warmth

Over the years, the CDRC has helped resolve many disputes, enabling the parties involved to side-step a lengthy and expensive litigation process. The following are some case studies.

Case 1: Face-to-Face Mediation more Effective

A man suffering a long illness took his two sisters who were the executors of their mother’s estate to court, seeking more than $200,000 in repayment of a property loan, accusing them of failing to keep their promise.

Their mother, faced with the possibility of losing her house a decade ago, sought help from her family members to pay off the mortgage. Based on the understanding that the man would be repaid when the property was sold, he and his wife paid up a sum exceeding $200,000 over three years.

After the death of his mother, the property was sold, but his sisters, as executors of the estate, refused to repay the sum. The man had suffered a stroke and had authorised his wife to take legal action.

The sisters claimed that the sum was for the family business, and as the biggest shareholder, their brother had benefited. They said their mother did not promise to repay the loan and pointed out that the other siblings had also contributed vast sums but did not ask for repayment.

After several rounds of mediation, both parties reached an agreement. The emphasis was on repairing familial relations, and the sisters’ attitude softened when faced with the wheelchair-bound state of their brother and the dutiful care of his wife showed their late mother. Face-to-face communication had brought the parties closer and reminded them of how hard they had worked together in the past.

The case illustrated that even at a time when video conferencing has become common, in-person mediation still offers unique value in complex family disputes – on top of dispute resolution, it can also facilitate understanding and reconciliation.

Case 2: Salvaging the repute and future of professionals

After his beloved pet died from heat exhaustion during training, a dog-owner took the trainer to court for negligence, seeking damages of approximately $80,000. The trainer denied being negligent, claiming the dog was not used to Singapore’s humid conditions and might have suffered pre-existing illness.

Through CDRC, both parties arrived at an amicable resolution, but neither admitted responsibility. The dog-owner withdrew his suit, while the dog trainer provided a replacement dog and paid a symbolic sum as compensation out of goodwill.

The settlement was important for preserving the professional reputation of the dog trainer and for the development of his business.

Case 3: Providing an emotional outlet for family members

A 22-year-old foreign student working part time at a funeral services company committed an error while handling a body for cremation, leading to a Christian ceremony being performed at the funeral and cremation instead of Taoist rites. The student and his employer were sued by the family of the deceased for breach of contract and negligence.

Emotions ran high and the daughter of the deceased broke down in tears at the mediation. Meanwhile, the student ran into financial difficulties because his parents refused to pay his legal fees – he sought help from over 20 law firms and finally found one that was willing to waive fees.

After the preliminary hearing, and the second hearing had been set for five days later, both parties went to the CDRC for mediation and a settlement was finally reached.

The funeral services company and the employee admitted fault and agreed to accept all responsibility. They apologised and agreed to compensate the family and also issued a joint declaration committing to incorporating due process in their operations to prevent the same thing from happening again.

The mediation process not only resolved the issue of compensation, it also provided an emotional outlet for the family members of the deceased, giving them a space to express their grief and be understood.

The Law on Sexual Offences in Singapore

CJ Sundaresh Menon: Filling the gap between the academic and practice

In sexual offences, the harm victims suffer is not limited to their bodies and dignity – they also suffer far-reaching psychological damage, the additional complexity of providing evidence and the whole legal process means sexual offence cases pose a unique judiciary challenge.

The Law on Sexual Offences in Singapore offers a systematic overview of the relevant legal framework, processes and sentencing precedents in practice, and is seen by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon as an important work that fills the gap between the academic and the practical.

In his foreword, the Chief Justice had high praise for the effort made by the two authors of the book, Kevin Ho Hin Tat and Hairul Hakkim – both district judges. Chief Justice Menon said the breadth and depth of its coverage was noteworthy, providing a comprehensive overview of the law on sexual offences in Singapore – from the principles of consent and capacity to consent, to the procedural and evidential issues that arise, to the law on specific sexual offences and sentencing principles. The book also includes a repository of sentencing precedents for each of the offences discussed, which promotes clarity and consistence in the judgement of cases.

CJ Menon also gave some examples that illustrate the challenges of sexual offence cases, for example, the judgement of whether a victim had indeed given consent sometimes affects the establishment of whether a crime has been committed, and so requires a detailed analysis of the facts of the case.

Because of the sensitivity of the cases, additional protective measures might be required in procedures, such as allowing the complainant to give evidence in isolation to prevent contact with the accused, as well as exercising extra caution during questioning.

The Chief Justice said the law on sexual offences requires a fine balance between protecting the rights of the plaintiff with those of the defendant. With the advent of modern technology, new forms of offences are also being committed, causing even more serious harm to victims.

Providing a practical guide to legal practitioners | Presenting Coping Strategies to the Public

This is why voyeurism, the distribution of intimate images, and producing or possessing child abuse material and other offenses were included in the Criminal Law Reform Act 2019. The Criminal Procedure (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2024 further broadened the options for sentencing, such as the introduction of the “sentence for enhanced public protection” for offenders with a high likelihood of re-offending where even after the minimum sentence has been served, the offenders can still be detained as they might still pose a threat to public safety.

The book is clearly structured, delving into the determination of consent and the evaluation of evidence, and giving a systematic categorisation of the different types of sexual offences – from the outrage of modesty to the sexual abuse and exploitation of minors, to rape and other grave sexual harm. Protective measures taken in the legal process such as gag orders, clearing the courtroom for hearing, restricting questioning and evidence in sexual abuse or child abuse cases, and sentencing objectives and options are also presented in the book – including reform sentencing, handling cases with youth and intellectually disabled offenders, and additional protection for vulnerable victims.

What sets the work apart from other textbooks is the sizeable collection of case analyses that illustrate how to balance the protection of the victim with the fairness of the judicial system in legal processes. It provides direct guidance for legal practitioners and also offers scholars and the public an overview of the evolution of legal system and the strategies adopted.

For more detail on the two new books and how to purchase, please refer to https://store.lawnet.com.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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