The State Courts Centre for Dispute Resolution: Serving the society with quality dispute resolution services

• Main Author: QUEK ANDERSON, Dorcas
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2016
• Subjects: State Courts Centre for Dispute Resolution; State Courts; alternative dispute resolution; mediation; Asian Studies; Dispute Resolution and Arbitration; Law and Society
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/2369; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/4326/viewcontent/The_State_Courts_Centre_for_Dispute_Resolution_Law_Gazette_Jan_2016.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Court Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) has its origins in a 1994 pilot project in the Subordinate Courts (as it was known then) to have selected District Judges assist in resolving civil disputes using ADR processes. Within two decades, Court ADR has been extended to the entire gamut of cases filed in court, including civil claims, minor criminal offences and family disputes. Court ADR services, which have been known as “Court Dispute Resolution”, have become integral to the delivery of justice in the State Courts. As the Honourable The Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon has observed, ADR has been promoted as the first step to be seriously considered by court users in all cases that enter the State Courts system. His Honour also higlighted how ADR is one of the best ways to increase access to justice because of the many benefits that it brings to disputants. ADR processes have thus been offered by the State Courts alongside adjudication as part of the range of dispute resolution options available to court users