SUBORDINATE COURTS' COMPLEX (Relocating to vicinity of Supreme Court)

Mr Shriniwas Rai asked the Minister for Law if the Government will consider relocating the Subordinate Courts' Complex to the vicinity of the Supreme Court.

The Minister of State for Law (Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee) (for the Minister for Law): Sir, this matter was indeed being considered in consultation with the Judiciary. For some time, we had weighed the relative merits of the single site option where both Subordinate Courts and the Supreme Court are housed in one location.

It is clear that there would be insufficient space at the Supreme Court/Colombo Court site or in the vicinity to accommodate the existing courtrooms of the Subordinate Courts. We also have to bear in mind projected future caseloads of the Subordinate Courts. The Subordinate Courts presently have 56 courtrooms and operate from two separate locations, namely, the Havelock Square campus and the Paterson Road campus. The Subordinate Courts' venue at Havelock Road will therefore be expanded to accommodate the increased caseload.

Mr Shriniwas Rai (Nominated Member): May I ask the Minister whether the needs for the next 10 years will be met if we transfer from Paterson Road to Havelock Road? Would it be sufficient to meet the Subordinate Courts' needs?

Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: The Havelock Road campus is in fact ideal. It will be expanded so that all the venues would be housed on one campus and the needs of the courts for the next 10 years, at least, will be served.

Mr Jeyaretnam: May I ask the Minister of State whether the Ministry considers that rather than concentrating the courts in one area, it will serve the public if the Magistrates Courts are taken out to the various districts? Is he aware that way back in 1963 - and I know this personally as I was the Registrar of the Supreme Court then - there was this plan proposed that we should set up Magistrates Courts in the various districts so that the public are saved the trouble of having to come to Havelock Road or anywhere else to pay their fines or answer their charges?

Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: We have the best of both worlds. Because in terms of the necessity for the courts to be on one site, I think the site must be central and dignified. The Havelock Road campus will have that. In terms of reaching out to the community, we have got various other outreaches like the Small Claims Tribunals and Community Mediation Centres which are being built. Indeed, even in terms of making it convenient for Singaporeans to pay fines, the ATOM system was introduced two years ago where you can now pay fines through a machine.