Increase in State Courts' jurisdiction for claims arising from traffic, industrial accidents

THE State Courts' jurisdiction for claims arising from road traffic accidents and claims for personal injuries resulting from industrial accidents will be increased from S$250,000 to S$500,000.

This will take effect from Dec 1, 2016, the State Courts and Supreme Court announced on Friday.

The change is part of the plans to increase the civil district courts' monetary jurisdictional limit in phases, which was announced by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon at the State Courts Workplan 2016.

Parties who wish to file for damages of between S$250,000 and S$500,000 for claims arising from the above cases will still commence action in the High Court. These cases will then be automatically transferred to the State Courts' civil district courts, and they will follow the same statutes, Rules of Court and Practice Directions, and hearing and appellate structure that are currently applicable to district court cases of the same nature.