Part VI: Evidence - Witnesses, Affidavits and Exhibits
56. Witnesses
Issuance of subpoenas
Release of witness upon completion of evidence
56A. Giving of evidence by person outside Singapore through live video or live television link in any proceedings (other than proceedings in a criminal matter)
57. Form of affidavits
58. Non-documentary exhibits to affidavits
59. Documentary exhibits to affidavits
More than 10 documentary exhibits
Pagination
Dividing sheets
Bookmarks
Numbering
References to exhibits in text of affidavit
References to exhibits in other affidavits
Related documents
59A. Swearing and signing of affidavits in Singapore before, and completing of attestation by, commissioner for oaths through live video link or live television link
60. Swearing or affirming of documents by deponents who are blind or illiterate in English
61. Effect of non-compliance
62. Objections to the contents of affidavits of evidence-in-chief
63. Order 41 of the Rules of Court
63A. Lead Counsel’s Statement on Trial Proceedings
56. Witnesses
Issuance of subpoenas
(1) An application for a subpoena shall be made by way of filing a subpoena in Form 67 in Appendix A of the Rules of Court. The subpoena is deemed to be issued when it is sealed by an officer of the Registry pursuant to Order 38, Rule 14(2).
(2) Where the issuance of a subpoena is made under any written law for the purposes of a cause or matter that is not before the Court (e.g, before an arbitration tribunal or a disciplinary tribunal), the party must submit to the Registry 1 hard copy each of his or her Request and the subpoena to be sealed. The subpoena is issued when the hard copy is sealed by an officer of the Registry.
Release of witness upon completion of evidence
(3) Every witness will be released by the Court upon completion of his evidence and it is the duty of counsel to apply to the Court if counsel desires the witness to remain.
56A. Giving of evidence by person outside Singapore through live video or live television link in any proceedings (other than proceedings in a criminal matter)
(1) Any application for leave for any person outside Singapore to give evidence by live video or live television link in any proceedings (other than proceedings in a criminal matter) must be made expeditiously and, in any case, unless the Court otherwise directs, not later than eight weeks before the date of commencement of the hearing at which the person is to give evidence. The application may also contain a prayer for the issue of a letter of request, to the relevant authorities of a foreign jurisdiction, for permission for evidence to be given by live video or live television link by a person located in that jurisdiction, if the laws of that jurisdiction require the issue of such a letter of request.
(2) A party applying for leave for any person outside Singapore to give evidence by live video or live television link must take note of the relevant legislation and requirements in force in the foreign country or territory where the person is giving evidence. Certain countries or territories may impose prohibitions against, restrictions on, or requirements to obtain permission for or relating to, the giving of evidence by a person in that country or territory for court proceedings in a different country or territory. The party applying for leave must make all necessary enquiries, and take all necessary steps, to ensure that the foreign country or territory where the person is giving evidence raises no objection, to the giving of evidence in that country or territory for court proceedings in Singapore. This may be done by any means that the party considers appropriate, including:
(a) obtaining advice from a foreign lawyer qualified to advise on the laws of the relevant foreign country or territory;
(b) making enquiries with the relevant authorities; or
(c) obtaining permission from the relevant foreign country or territory, in accordance with any applicable procedure, for evidence to be given by a person located in that country or territory through a live video or live television link, if such permission is required.
(3) An application for the issue of a letter of request, to the relevant authorities of a foreign jurisdiction, for permission for evidence to be given by live video or live television link by a person located in that jurisdiction, if not contained in an application mentioned in sub-paragraph (1), must be made expeditiously and, in any case, unless the Court otherwise directs, not later than eight weeks before the date of commencement of the hearing at which the person is to give evidence.
(4) To avoid doubt, the proceedings mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) include all civil proceedings involving the examination of any person.
57. Form of affidavits
(1) Affidavits shall have a blank margin not less than 35mm wide on all 4 sides of the page. They shall be printed or typed and double-spaced.
(2) When filing affidavits for use during a hearing of an interlocutory application, the number of the interlocutory application must be provided in the Electronic Filing Service in addition to the case number of the suit or matter.
(3) The textual portion of the affidavits, as opposed to the exhibits, must be printed on white paper.
(4) At the top right hand corner of the first page of every affidavit the following information shall be typed or printed in a single line:
(a) the party on whose behalf the affidavit is filed;
(b) the name of the deponent;
(c) the ordinal number of the affidavit in relation to the previous affidavits filed in the cause or matter by the deponent;
(d) the date the affidavit is to be filed;
For example, “2nd Deft; Tan Ah Kow; 4th; 15.12.2012”.
(e) for affidavits filed in respect of matrimonial proceedings under Part X of the Women’s Charter 1961,
(i) the top right hand corner of the first page of every affidavit shall also state whether the affidavit has been filed in respect of a summons (SUM), ancillary matters (AM) or originating summons (OS) hearing. If the affidavit is filed in respect of a summons hearing, it shall state the number of the said summons, where the number is available. For example, “Respondent: Tan Ah Kow: 4th: 15.4.2012: AM hearing”; and “Respondent: Tan Ah Kow: 4th: 15.4.2012: SUM hearing: SUM no. 1234 of 2012”; and
(ii) the document name that is selected in the electronic filing service for an affidavit for ancillary matters hearing shall be “Affidavit for AM”.
(5) Every page of the affidavit (including separators and exhibits) shall be paginated consecutively, and the page number shall be inserted at the centre top of the page.
(6) Every affidavit which is filed in conjunction with a summons (but not those filed in conjunction with an originating summons) must have endorsed at the top left-hand corner of the first page of the affidavit the entered number of the summons.
(7) Hard copies of affidavits may be printed on one side or both sides of each page.
58. Non-documentary exhibits to affidavits
(1) Non-documentary exhibits (e.g., tapes, samples of merchandise, etc.) shall be clearly marked with the exhibit mark in such a manner that there is no likelihood of the exhibit being separated or misplaced. The affidavit should indicate that the exhibit (e.g., tapes, samples of merchandise, etc.) is a non-documentary exhibit and refer to it according to the relevant exhibit number.
(2) Where the exhibit consists of more than one item (e.g., CD-ROMs in a box) each and every such separate item of the exhibits shall similarly be separately marked with enough of the usual exhibit marks to ensure precise identification.
(3) Where it is impracticable to mark on the article itself, such article or the container thereof shall be tagged or labelled with the exhibit mark securely attached to the exhibit in such a manner that it is not easily removable.
(4) Very small non-documentary exhibits shall be enclosed or mounted in a sealed transparent container and tagged or labelled as aforesaid. An enlarged photograph showing the relevant characteristics of such exhibits shall, where applicable, be exhibited in the affidavit.
59. Documentary exhibits to affidavits
(1) Every page of every exhibit must be fully and clearly legible. Where necessary, magnified copies of the relevant pages should be inserted in appropriate places.
More than 10 documentary exhibits
(2) When there are more than 10 different documentary exhibits in an affidavit:
(a) there shall be a table of contents of the documentary exhibits inserted before the first of such exhibits enumerating every exhibit in the affidavit in the manner of the example set out below:
| Reference in affidavit | Nature of Exhibit | Page No. |
|---|---|---|
"TAK-1" | Certificate of marriage | 6 |
"TAK-2" | Certificate of birth | 7 |
and
(b) exhibits shall be set out in the sequence in which references are made to them in the affidavit.
Pagination
(3) Every page of the exhibits, including cover pages, dividing sheets or separators between exhibits, shall be consecutively numbered at the top right hand corner of each page, following from the page numbers of the affidavit (i.e. the first page of the exhibits shall take the number following the last sheet of the affidavit’s main text). The page number of the affidavit must correspond to the page number in the Portable Document Format (PDF) version that is filed through the Electronic Filing Service.
Dividing sheets
(4) The exhibits in an affidavit shall be prefaced by a dividing sheet, marked, typed or stamped clearly with an exhibit mark as follows:
Bookmarks
(5) Each exhibit in the affidavit must be separately bookmarked in the Portable Document Format (PDF) document that is filed. The names of the bookmarks should follow the initials of the deponent of the affidavit, e.g., “TAK-1”, “TAK-2”.
Numbering
(6) Where a deponent deposes to more than one affidavit with exhibits in the same action, the numbering of the exhibits in all subsequent affidavits shall run consecutively throughout, and not begin again with each affidavit. For instance, where a deponent in his first affidavit has marked two exhibits as “TAK-1” and “TAK-2”, the first exhibit in his second affidavit should be marked as “TAK-3” instead of “TAK-1”.
References to exhibits in text of affidavit
(6A) Where the text of an affidavit makes reference to a documentary exhibit, the page number(s) of the affidavit where the relevant portions of the documentary exhibit can be found should be set out alongside the number of the exhibit in question.
References to exhibits in other affidavits
(7) Where a deponent wishes to refer to documents already exhibited to another deponent’s affidavit, he shall be required to exhibit them to his own affidavit pursuant to Order 41, Rule 11 of the Rules of Court, which provides as follows:
Document to be used in conjunction with affidavit to be exhibited to it (O. 41, r. 11)
11. —(1) Any document to be used in conjunction with an affidavit must be exhibited and a copy thereof annexed to the affidavit, unless the Court otherwise orders.
(2) Any exhibit to an affidavit must be identified by a certificate of the person before whom the affidavit is sworn.
The certificate must be entitled in the same manner as the affidavit and Rule 1 (1), (2) and (3) shall apply accordingly.
Related documents
(8) Related documents (e.g., correspondence and invoices) may be collected together and collectively exhibited as one exhibit arranged in chronological order, beginning with the earliest at the top, paginated in accordance with sub-paragraph (3) above, and the exhibit must have a front page showing the table of contents of the items in the exhibit.
59A. Swearing and signing of affidavits in Singapore before, and completing of attestation by, commissioner for oaths through live video link or live television link
(1) A remote communication technology mentioned in Order 41, Rule 13(1) of the Rules of Court must be capable of creating a live video link or live television link through which a commissioner for oaths is able to do all of the things mentioned in Order 41, Rule 13(3) of the Rules of Court.
(2) For the purposes of Order 41, Rule 13(2) of the Rules of Court, the deponent and the commissioner for oaths may sign the affidavit electronically by applying a security procedure that results in a secure electronic signature under section 18 of the Electronic Transactions Act 2010.
(3) Where an affidavit is made pursuant to Order 41, Rule 13 of the Rules of Court, the affidavit should be made, as far as possible, as if the deponent were appearing before the commissioner for oaths in person, and the attestation must state that the affidavit was sworn (or affirmed) and signed in Singapore with the deponent appearing before the commissioner for oaths through a live video link or live television link, or that the affidavit was signed by the deponent and/or the commissioner for oaths electronically in Singapore, or both, as the case may be.
60. Swearing or affirming of documents by deponents who are blind or illiterate in English
(1) Rule 8 of the Commissioners for Oaths Rules (Cap. 322, Rule 3) restricts advocates and solicitors who are appointed as commissioners for oaths to taking affidavits or statutory declarations, or administering oaths, for deponents who speak and understand English. In view of this, many deponents who are illiterate in English are brought by solicitors to Supreme Court commissioners for oaths to swear or affirm affidavits and statutory declarations. As the Supreme Court commissioners for oaths are under a duty to ensure that the deponent understands the document being deposed to, they are obliged to interpret the document to intended deponents; this is also the case in relation to blind deponents. This necessary exercise may take a considerable time and may cause long delays for other persons who wish to take affidavits or statutory declarations before the Supreme Court commissioners for oaths.
(2) Accordingly, solicitors who wish to bring illiterate or blind deponents before the Supreme Court commissioners for oaths should first estimate the time that will be taken to interpret the document or documents to be deposed to. If it is estimated that the total time required for interpretation of the documents will be more than 20 minutes, the solicitor must contact the appropriate Supreme Court Head Interpreter and arrange for a special appointment for the documents to be sworn or affirmed. The solicitor should not bring the deponent before the duty commissioner for oaths without such an appointment.
(3) If an illiterate or a blind deponent is brought before the duty Supreme Court commissioner for oaths and the interpretation of the document or documents takes more than 20 minutes, the commissioner for oaths will refer the solicitor and the deponent to the appropriate Head Interpreter for a special appointment to be made for the documents to be deposed to.
(4) The appropriate Supreme Court Head Interpreter may be contacted at the following telephone numbers:
(a) Head Interpreter (Chinese languages) - 6332 3940.
(b) Head Interpreter (Indian languages) - 6332 3930.
(c) Head Interpreter (Malay languages) - 6332 3970.
61. Effect of non-compliance
Any affidavit or exhibit which does not comply with the directions contained in this Part may be rejected by the Court and made the subject of an order for costs.
62.Objections to the contents of affidavits of evidence-in-chief
(1) If, on an application for directions under Order 25, Rule 3 or Order 37, Rule 1 of the Rules of Court or otherwise, orders are made prescribing the time within which objection to the contents of affidavits of evidence-in-chief must be taken, the objections must be taken in accordance with the directions contained in this paragraph and not otherwise.
(2) Objections to the contents of affidavits of evidence-in-chief filed pursuant to an order of Court made under Order 25, Rule 3 or Order 37, Rule 1 or otherwise, must be taken by filing and serving a notice in Form 9 of Appendix A of these Practice Directions.
(3) The notice in Form 9 should set out all the objections to the contents of affidavits of evidence-in-chief that will be raised at the hearing of the cause or matter and all the grounds thereof.
(4) An adjudication on the material objected to in affidavits of evidence-in-chief filed pursuant to an order of Court should only be sought at the trial or hearing of the cause or matter for which the affidavits of evidence-in-chief were filed, and not before. If an adjudication is sought prior to the trial or hearing of the cause or matter, the application for the adjudication will be adjourned to be dealt with at the trial or hearing of the cause or matter, and the applicant may be ordered to pay the costs of the adjournment.
63. Order 41 of the Rules of Court
(1) For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of Order 41 of the Rules of Court shall continue to apply.
(2) The attention of solicitors is drawn especially to Order 41, Rule 1(4):
Every affidavit must be expressed in the first person and, unless the Court otherwise directs, must state the place of residence of the deponent and his occupation or, if he has none, his description, and if he is, or is employed by, a party to the cause or matter in which the affidavit is sworn, the affidavit must state that fact:
Provided that in the case of a deponent who is giving evidence in a professional, business or other occupational capacity the affidavit may, instead of stating the deponent’s place of residence, state the address at which he works, the position he holds and the name of his firm or employer, if any.
Non-compliance with any of the requirements of Order 41, Rule 1(4) may result in an order of costs being made against the solicitor personally.
63A. Lead Counsel’s Statement on Trial Proceedings
(1) For every case proceeding to trial in the General Division, each party shall file and serve a Lead Counsel’s Statement in Form 9A of Appendix A of these Practice Directions to provide a list of issues for trial and an accurate estimation of the trial days needed after taking into account the time needed for the examination of each witness. The Lead Counsel’s Statement shall be filed and served within one week after objections to affidavits of evidence-in-chief are taken, unless the Court otherwise directs.
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