Inter-Agency Committee Reviewing Dispute-Management Framework; Might Make Mediation Compulsory

When you put different families together into one building, there are bound to be friction from time to time.

Some are harmless, while others, could cause a war that sometimes lasts for years.

Well, with people staying home more often, it’s not strange that neighbourly disputes crop up more often nowadays.

Which is why this is happening right now.

Inter-Agency Committee Reviewing Dispute-Management Framework

According to Second Minister of Law Edwin Tong, an inter-agency committee is conducting a “comprehensive review” of the Community Dispute Management Framework.

Basically, the framework helps manage disputes between neighbours.

The issues that the review will focus on include:

• Resolving disputes upfront
• Increasing community mediation take-up rate
• Improving the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunal (CDRT) process

Neighbourly Nuisance On The Rise

According to Mr Tong, there has been an increase in the feedback on neighbourly nuisance.

He attributed it to the COVID-19 circuit breaker period which forced people to stay home.

The committee is looking into ways to get more people to take up community mediation.

This includes increasing awareness about the benefits of going for them.

Community mediation is affordable and effective when people approach with open minds, Mr Tong added, with more than 80% of the cases at the Community Mediation Centre reaching an amicable settlement.

Might Make Mediation Compulsory

However, the challenge is getting people to take it up in the first place.

Because it’s voluntary, people can refuse to turn up, which causes a neighbourly relationship to deteriorate in the long run.

Mr Tong brings up the option of making mediation compulsory and says his ministry is looking into it.

The Community Disputes Resolution Tribunal (CDRT)

Another possibility includes tracking a case even after it has gone through CDRT.

The CDRT should be a last resort as it’s not meant to help neighbours mend their relationship.

After all, it’s a “zero-sum” game, where one party will lose for the other to win. Can you be friendly to the person whom you lost to?

It cannot supervise or monitor how people behave after the end of the case.

In one case, a party started to make a nuisance of himself that’s not covered in the CDRT order, “presumedly” to spite the other party.

Mr Tong also says the committee will look at how CDRT and current measures will protect communities from “anti-social, nuisance behaviour”.

Currently, CDRT has the power to issue a Special Direction if the CDRT order is not obeyed.

Disobeying a Special Direction can result in eviction from their place of residence.

A One-Stop-Shop For Lawyers

If you’re a lawyer in Singapore, you’ll be happy to know that in the future, the Ministry of Law is going to develop an integrated Legal Tech Platform which will facilitate “end-to-end” legal workflows.

This will allow law practitioners and lawyers to “work anytime and anywhere”.

The platform will also make it easier for clients and lawyers to collaborate easily.

The past year has pushed the courts into the digital age and the ministry is looking to develop even further in that direction.

Law students and fresh graduates will be well-equipped to meet the changing environment of legal practice.

On a separate note, 853 applications have been filed for Protection Orders (PO) as of the end of 2020 and resulted in a new dedicated court.

Feature Image: Wikipedia