The Subordinate Courts of Singapore - Join Us as Court Volunteers!

The Subordinate Courts strive to serve our community by providing litigants with an effective and accessible system of justice, inspiring public trust and confidence. Many legal problems that court users face belie other social and emotional issues. They may enter the Courts with feelings of anger, loss, frustration, and seek justice to be served, to be reconciled with others or even themselves, in the hope of having their lives restored.

For more than a decade, the Subordinate Courts have introduced a number of programmes in the three justice divisions, namely the Criminal Justice Division, Civil Justice Division, and Family & Juvenile Justice Division, to promote greater accessibility to justice, enhance support for members of the public, and enable the Subordinate Courts to provide a more effective and efficient justice system. Many of these programmes are supported by volunteers.

Court volunteers play a vital role in serving together with the Subordinate Courts, making a real difference in the lives of others through the giving of their resources for the well being of others. Many court users have benefitted from the assistance and support provided by the court volunteers. If you have a passion for volunteerism, we invite you to join hands with us to serve needy litigants and court users. You can serve as volunteer mediators, or as volunteers to provide emotional and moral support to indigent litigants-in-person. If you are legally trained, you can also volunteer as Referees at the Small Claims Tribunals to help adjudicate certain small claims cases.

	Volunteer Programmes at the Subordinate Courts
	Programmes Managed By Other Organisations
	Sharing by Court Volunteers
	Photos
	Notes of Appreciation from Judges and Staff of the Subordinate Courts

Volunteer Programmes at the Subordinate Courts
	Volunteer Programmes	Details	Criteria	Frequency of service	Open for Recruitment
1.	Ad-hoc Referees at the Small Claims Tribunals	To hear cases as Referees of the Small Claim Tribunals.	10 years Post Qualification Experience with experience in civil litigation	Approximately once a month	No Subject to vacancies. Please contact us.
2.	Associate Mediators Programme at the Primary Dispute Resolution Centre	To mediate civil disputes at the Subordinate Courts’ Primary Dispute Resolution Centre where the quantum does not exceed $60,000.	· Legally trained · Accredited by the Subordinate Courts/Singapore Mediation Centre	3 cases per week	No Subject to vacancies. Please contact us.
3.	Volunteer Support Person Programme	To assist applicants or vulnerable witnesses during Personal Protection Order (PPO) proceedings by providing them emotional and administrative support, e.g. providing information to applicants and/or children regarding court procedures and accompany children in cases where they are required to testify over video-link.	· 21 years old and above and able to speak one of these languages: Bahasa Melayu, Mandarin, Chinese dialects, Tamil or Punjabi · Be able to volunteer during office hours Volunteers may need to undergo training and assessment for suitability	Ad-hoc	Yes
4.	Legal Clinics for Civil Cases at the HELP Centre	To conduct free legal clinics for civil cases at the HELP Centre every Wednesday, 11 am to 1 pm.	Legally qualified, preferably with civil litigation experience	1 lawyer per week	Yes
5.	Mediation by Justices of the Peace (JP) at Crime Registry	To mediate cases where a Magistrate’s Complaint has been filed, i.e. minor criminal offences that arise out of a family, social or community context.	JP, preferably legally trained	The JPs are rostered once every quarter.	No Subject to vacancies. Please contact us.
6.	Mediators at Family Resolutions Chambers (FRC)	To provide mediation services at the FRC for divorce and ancillary matters.	Legally trained	Once a month	Yes Subject to a selection process
7.	Mediators at the Maintenance Mediation Chambers (MMC)	To provide mediation services at the MMC for maintenance matters.	· Degree holder with mediation trainings and/or counselling background · Preferably legally trained	Daily, an average of once or twice a month per volunteer	No Subject to vacancies Please contact us.
8.	Protection Order Service (POS) Intake Officers	To make assessments and run through safety measures with the complainants for Personal Protection Order applications.	Possess a degree in social work, psychology or counselling. Programme is under review		No

To find out more about volunteer opportunities or to register as a Volunteer, please email to: volunteer@cjc.org.sg with the following information:
Name: __________________________
Contact No.: _____________________
Email: __________________________
Programme interested in volunteering: __________________________

Programmes Managed By Other Organisations

There are also other programmes that you can volunteer in. These programmes are managed by other organisations. Please refer to the table below for details of the programmes and the contact persons to get in touch with.

	Programme	Organisation	Details	Criteria	Frequency	Contact Person for Further Information
1.	University Court Friends (UCF)	National University of Singapore (NUS) Singapore Management University (SMU)	The UCF programme run by student volunteers from NUS and SMU. These volunteers assist litigants-in-person at the Family Court, the Small Claims Tribunals and the Subordinate Courts’ Crime Registry by explaining to them the court processes and proceedings, and helping them complete the necessary forms.	Law Students from SMU or NUS	3 runs of 8 weeks per year.	For NUS, email: nusprobono@gmail.com For SMU, email: universitycourtfriends.smu@gmail.com
2.	Legal Clinics for Criminal and Family cases at the HELP centre	The Law Society of Singapore Pro Bono Services Office	Free legal clinics for criminal and family cases are conducted by lawyers from the Law Society of Singapore Pro Bono Services Office.	Legally trained, preferably with family or criminal practice experience	For Criminal cases: Twice a month For Family cases: Once a week on Wednesday afternoon, and fortnightly on Tuesday evening	Mr Tan Seng Koon Email: Shenton@lawsoc.org.sg
3.	Legal Clinic for Remandees	Association of Criminal Lawyers of Singapore (ACLS)	Volunteer criminal lawyers from ACLS provide free legal advice to accused persons in remand	Legally trained, preferably with criminal practice experience	Once a fortnight	Mr Noor Mohd Marican Email: nmmarican@pacific.net.sg
4.	Mediation at the Small Claims Tribunals (SCT)	Singapore Mediation Centre	Associate Mediators accredited by the Primary Dispute Resolution Centre of the Subordinate Courts and Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC) mediate cases at the SCT	Accredited by the Subordinate Courts or SMC	Every day	Ms Noridana Said Email: noridana@sal.org.sg
5.	Buddy Care Programme	Cornerstone Community Services Centre and Singapore Children’s Society	Youths between the ages of 18-30 years are selected and trained to mentor youths who are involved in “Beyond Parental Care” cases that are placed under the Statutory Supervisory Order.	Between 18 and 30 years old	1 year contract, renewable yearly.	Singapore Children’s Society, Youth Services Ms Joy Lim, E-mail: jlim@childrensociety.org.sg or Ms Ilinadiah Mohd Ismail, E-mail: iismail@childrensociety.org.sg
6.	Youth Family Care Programme	Singapore Children’s Society	The Youth Family Care Programme is aimed specifically at providing mentorship and support for juveniles who lack family support. Juveniles who are placed on probation or statutory supervision are matched with volunteer mentor families who will befriend, support, and encourage the juveniles by engaging them in family and social activities. The mentor families serve as role models not only for the juveniles, but also for the juveniles’ parents.	· Married Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents; · Above the 25 years old; · Possess at least GCE “O” levels	1 year contract, renewable yearly	Singapore Children’s Society, Youth Services Ms Joy Lim, E-mail: jlim@childrensociety.org.sg or Ms Ilinadiah Mohd Ismail, E-mail: iismail@childrensociety.org.sg

Sharing by Court Volunteers

.	“Helping others to resolve their differences amicably is a worthwhile and meaningful duty. I am therefore honoured to serve with the Courts as a volunteer mediator. Indeed inasmuch as I have contributed as a volunteer I recognise that what I have got back in terms of my own learning and understanding about life is far more. There is no substitute for the invaluable experience that we get through the direct face to face process of mediation. I will continue to do my best in serving this noble cause.”
	Ameerali Abdeali Maintenance Mediation Chambers Mediator



	“It has been a great time and experience at the Family Court despite the short amount of time I spent there... It did give me insights to divorce proceedings, but more importantly how the court encourages marriages to be upheld as much as possible. Seeing the litigants-in-person through mediation also caused me to be reflective on my outlook on relationships and marriages. All in all, thank you for the opportunity granted."
	Teng Jia Hui Jezreel University Court Friend



	“As my daughter used to tell me, ‘Dad, you’ve got the happiest retirement job.’ After doing more than ten years of mediation work, I totally agree with her……”
	Wong Yuk Fong Small Claims Tribunals & Maintenance Mediation Chambers Mediator



	“I learn a great deal about human nature and matrimonial problems from mediation. I find satisfaction when parties are able to resolve their problems during mediation...”
	Md Maideen Sulaiman Maintenance Mediation Chambers Mediator



	“Mediating at SCT has been such a good experience, I feel a teeny weeny bit relevant to the administration of justice!” “It is wonderful to get out of my cloistered office and meet people from all walks of life...”
	Small Claims Tribunals Mediators

Court Volunteer at Work

Training for Court Volunteers

2009 Outstanding Court Volunteer Award Recipients

Mrs Chia Swee Tin, Outstanding Volunteer: Open Category;
Mr Lee Chow Soon, Outstanding Volunteer: Advocate and Solicitor; and
Ms Cheryl Seah, Outstanding Volunteer: Student Category

2010 Outstanding Court Volunteer Award Recipients
(with Judge of Appeal, Justice Chao Hick Tin)


Mr Loo Chuan Shen Don, Outstanding Volunteer: Student Category	Mrs Lim-Chan Pek Lin, Outstanding Volunteer: Open Category


Mr Sunil Sudheesan, Outstanding Volunteer: Advocate and Solicitor Category	Mr Noor Marican, Outstanding Volunteer: Advocate and Solicitor Category

2011 Outstanding Court Volunteer Award Recipients	2011 Long Service Court Volunteers

Left to Right: Ms Foo Siew Fong and Mr Harold Seet, Outstanding Volunteers: Advocate and Solicitor Category; Mr Gavin Ng, Outstanding Volunteer: Student Category; with Judge of Appeal, Justice Andrew Phang (Not in picture: Ms Linda Heng, Outstanding Volunteer: Open Category)	Left to Right: Ms Alice Lua Chew Hwee; Mr Raymond Ng Yong Ern; Mr Yap Teong Liang; Mr Anand Thiagarajan; Mr Fok Mun Cheong Joseph; Chief District Judge Tan Siong Thye; Mr V. Maheantharan; Mr Toh Weng Cheong; Mrs Lim-Chan Pek Lin; Mr Lee Kok Eng; Ms Jeanny Ng; Ms Foo Siew Fong; and Mr Chim Hou Yan, JP

Notes of Appreciation from Judges and Staff of the Subordinate Courts

.	"Thank you for your tireless efforts in selflessly dedicating your time in helping and making a difference in the lives of others. Your passion to help, advise and support our court users has been invaluable."
	District Judge May Mesenas



	“Our heartfelt appreciation goes out to all our court volunteers who give of their time and energies with such dedication and commitment. May you continue to find the volunteer work at the Subordinate Courts meaningful. We do look forward to your continued support and to greater interaction with you. ”
	District Judge Amy Tung



	“The volunteers at the Small Claims Tribunals have contributed to the success of the Tribunals with their painstaking efforts to resolve the cases assigned to them. Coming from the private and public sectors, the volunteers have demonstrated that they have a role to play in the administration of justice....”
	District Judge Liew Thiam Leng



	“…volunteers, who offer a diversity of expertise and experience that can be drawn on when they sit as associate mediators, are an invaluable asset; contributing to the Primary Dispute Resolution Centre’s ever-expanding toolbox of mediation skills and services, which we can in turn offer to our court users.”
	District Judge Marvin Bay



	“Thank you for your efforts and contribution at the HELP Centre. Appreciate your goodwill in providing the service which had benefitted the litigants-in-person.”
	Ms Norjahan Amoo, HELP Centre



	“The HELP Centre had a litigant-in-person (LIP) who was seeking legal advice. As is usual in such cases, the HELP Centre gave the LIP an appointment to attend a legal clinic at the HELP Centre. As it happened, the appointment given to the LIP was on the week when a particular law firm was on duty. Unfortunately, it was discovered that the law firm concerned had a conflict of interest. As a result, the HELP Centre had to find an alternative firm to assist the LIP on short notice. We approached Mr Amolat Singh who immediately volunteered despite the short notice, to attend to the LIP. Mr Singh spent 1 ½ hours with the LIP. It appears that the LIP was quite happy with Mr Singh’s assistance. We highlight this to acknowledge the work of one court volunteer in order to draw attention to the invaluable service court volunteers, as a whole, provide to the community at large.”
	Senior District Judge Leslie Chew



	“I feel privileged to work with all of you who altruistically volunteer your time and services to the Family Court amidst your busy schedules. Special thanks to those who, from time to time, are called upon to help out at a short notice.”
	Ms See Fong Pheng, Maintenance Mediation Chambers