Courts
Open ↗3.—(1) There shall be one or more Industrial Arbitration Courts to be presided over by a president or deputy president to be appointed by the President of Singapore in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister.
(2) Except where otherwise provided by this Act, a Court shall, in relation to a trade dispute of which the Court has cognizance or any other matter with respect to which the Court has jurisdiction under this Act, be constituted by —(a)
the president or the deputy president; and
(b)
2 members selected for the purposes of the trade dispute or matter in the manner set out in this Act from the 2 panels constituted in accordance with this Part.
President and deputy president
Open ↗4.—(1) The president shall not be deemed to be a public servant, but shall have the same rights, privileges, protection and immunity as a Supreme Court Judge.[40/2019]
(2) The provisions of the Constitution relating to the tenure of office and the terms of office of Supreme Court Judges shall be deemed to apply to the president as if he were a Supreme Court Judge.[40/2019]
(3) The deputy president shall be paid such remuneration and allowances as may from time to time be determined and shall in the performance of his functions and duties have the same protection and immunity as the president.
Acting president
Open ↗5.—(1) When the president is or is expected to be absent from duty, the President of Singapore may, on the advice of the Minister, appoint a person to be acting president during the absence of the president.
(2) A person so appointed shall, notwithstanding that the president may no longer be absent, continue to be acting president for the purposes of completing the hearing of and of determining a trade dispute or matter the hearing of which was commenced during the absence of the president.
(3) An acting president shall in the performance of the functions and duties of the president have the same protection and immunity as the president.
Panels
Open ↗6.—(1) For the purpose of enabling the Courts to be constituted in accordance with this Act, 2 panels of persons (referred to in this Act as the business panel and the worker panel) shall be appointed in the manner set out in this section.[Act 30 of 2024 wef 01/01/2025]
(2) The business panel and the worker panel shall each consist of not more than 15 persons appointed by the Minister whose names shall be published in the Gazette.[1/2015]
[Act 30 of 2024 wef 01/01/2025]
[Act 5 of 2025 wef 09/03/2025]
(3) The Minister may from time to time invite —(a)
a trade union of employers or a platform work association of platform operators to nominate for inclusion in the business panel such number of persons as he may specify being persons eligible for appointment to that panel in accordance with section 7; and[Act 30 of 2024 wef 01/01/2025]
(b)
a trade union of employees or a platform work association of platform workers to nominate for inclusion in the worker panel such number of persons as he may specify being persons eligible for appointment to that panel in accordance with section 7.[Act 30 of 2024 wef 01/01/2025]
(4) Subject to subsection (5) —(a)
at least 7 of the members of the business panel shall be persons nominated in reply to an invitation by the Minister under subsection (3)(a) and at least 3 of the members of that panel shall be persons nominated by the Minister charged with the responsibility for human resource management in the Civil Service as nominees of the Government as an employer; and[Act 30 of 2024 wef 01/01/2025]
(b)
the members of the worker panel shall be persons nominated in reply to an invitation by the Minister under subsection (3)(b).[1/2015]
[Act 30 of 2024 wef 01/01/2025]
(5) Where the Minister has invited nominations for inclusion in a panel from such trade unions of employers or employees or platform work associations of platform operators or platform workers as in the circumstances he considers appropriate and no suitable person is nominated or the number of suitable persons nominated is less than the maximum number which is required to be appointed in order that all vacancies in that panel may be filled, the Minister may, after filling as many vacancies as he is able to do by the appointment of suitable persons nominated in accordance with this section, appoint persons who have not been so nominated.[1/2015]
[Act 30 of 2024 wef 01/01/2025]
(6) For the purposes of subsection (5), a person shall be deemed to be a suitable person for appointment to a panel if he is eligible in accordance with section 7 and is in the opinion of the Minister a fit and proper person to be selected to be a member of the Court.
Eligibility for membership of panels
Open ↗7.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), a person who is an employee or a platform worker shall not be eligible to be a member of the business panel.[Act 30 of 2024 wef 01/01/2025]
(2) A person in the service of the Government shall be eligible to be a member of the business panel if he is nominated by the Minister charged with the responsibility for human resource management in the Civil Service.[1/2015]
[Act 30 of 2024 wef 01/01/2025]
(3) A person who is —(a)
an employer, a director of a company which is an employer or employed by a trade union of employers or association of employers; or
(b)
a platform operator, a director of a company which is a platform operator or employed by a platform work association of platform operators or an association of platform operators,
shall not be eligible to be a member of the worker panel.
[Act 30 of 2024 wef 01/01/2025]
(4) A person who —(a)
is an undischarged bankrupt;
(b)
has a mental disorder and is incapable of managing himself or his affairs;
(c)
is not a citizen of Singapore;
(d)
is ineligible by reason of section 57 to be nominated for election as an officer of a trade union or platform work association; or[Act 30 of 2024 wef 01/01/2025]
(e)
has within the previous 3 years been convicted of an offence under this Act or the Trade Disputes Act 1941,
shall not be eligible for appointment to a panel.
[21/2008]
(5) The Minister may exempt any person from subsection (1) or (3).
Duration of appointment
Open ↗8.—(1) A person appointed to a panel shall, subject to section 9, be a member of the panel for a period of 2 years unless he sooner resigns but shall be eligible for re‑appointment.[1/2015]
(2) A panel member who resigns or whose appointment expires during the course of any proceedings of a Court shall for the purposes of such proceedings and until their determination be deemed to remain a member of the Court.
Removal from panel
Open ↗9.—(1) The Minister shall remove from a panel a person who —(a)
ceases to be eligible to be a member of that panel in accordance with section 7;
(b)
accepts any relief afforded by law to bankrupts or insolvent debtors; or
(c)
has declined to constitute a Court when selected to do so or has absented himself, when selected, from the proceedings of the Court unless he has shown reasonable cause for so declining or absenting himself.
(2) The Minister may remove a person from a panel if he is of the opinion that that person —(a)
has become permanently incapable of discharging the functions of a member of a Court; or
(b)
is not a fit and proper person to be selected to constitute a Court.
Vacancies in panels
Open ↗10. Where a person ceases to be a member of a panel, the Minister may take steps to fill the vacancy but the existence of any vacancy in either panel shall not invalidate the constitution of a Court.[1/2015]
Constitution of Court
Open ↗11.—(1) For the purpose of constituting a Court in relation to a trade dispute or matter, the president shall determine in the prescribed manner who the parties to the trade dispute or matter are and shall invite —(a)
the trade unions of employees or platform work associations of platform workers (as the case may be) who are parties to the trade dispute or matter to select one member of the worker panel; and[Act 30 of 2024 wef 01/01/2025]
(b)
the employers or platform operators who are parties to the trade dispute or matter to select one member of the business panel.[Act 30 of 2024 wef 01/01/2025]
(2) If all the trade unions of employees or platform work associations of platform workers (as the case may be) who are parties to the trade dispute or matter or all the employers or platform operators who are parties to the trade dispute or matter unanimously select a member of the worker panel or business panel, as the case may be, the president shall declare that that person shall be a member of the Court for the purposes of the trade dispute or matter.[Act 30 of 2024 wef 01/01/2025]
(3) If a member of a panel is not selected in accordance with subsection (2), the president shall —(a)
if he is of the opinion that a member of that panel has been selected by trade unions of employees who represent the majority of employees, or platform work associations of platform workers who represent the majority of platform workers (as the case may be), concerned in the trade dispute or matter or by the majority of the employers or platform operators concerned in the trade dispute or matter, as the case may be, declare that that person shall be a member of the Court for the purposes of the trade dispute or matter; and[Act 30 of 2024 wef 01/01/2025]
(b)
in any other case, notify the Minister and the Minister shall select a person from the panel and the president shall declare that that person shall be a member of the Court for the purposes of the trade dispute or matter.
(4) When the president has declared that a person shall be a member of the Court for the purposes of a trade dispute or matter, that person shall, subject to section 12, be a member of the Court for the purposes of that trade dispute or matter notwithstanding that in the proceedings relating to the trade dispute or matter parties may be joined or struck out.
(5) Such declaration shall not be challenged or called in question on the ground that the selection may not have been in accordance with this section.
Continuation of hearing
Open ↗12.—(1) Where a Court has been constituted in relation to a trade dispute or matter and before the trade dispute or matter has been determined the president or a member constituting the Court has become unable to hear or to continue to hear or to determine the trade dispute or matter or has ceased to be the president or a member, as the case may be, whether by death or otherwise, the Court shall be reconstituted in accordance with section 11.
(2) The Court as reconstituted shall hear and determine the trade dispute or matter or so much of the trade dispute or matter as has not been determined and in so hearing may have regard to the evidence given, the arguments adduced and any interim award made during the previous hearing.
(3) For the purpose of this section, a member who has withdrawn from the hearing of a trade dispute or matter shall be deemed to have become unable to hear or to continue to hear the trade dispute or matter.
Protection and immunity of members of Court
Open ↗13.—(1) A member of a Court shall, in the performance of his functions and duties under this Act, have the same protection and immunity as the president.
(2) The members of a Court shall take the oath of allegiance and the judicial oath.
(3) To avoid doubt, where an oath is required to be taken under subsection (2), a member of a Court may take the oath by appearing before the person administering the oath through a live video link or live television link created using a remote communication technology that allows the person administering the oath to —(a)
maintain visual contact and communicate with the person taking the oath, and any interpreter present, throughout the process; and
(b)
confirm the identity of the person taking the oath and any interpreter present.[Act 25 of 2023 wef 01/12/2023]
Allowances
Open ↗14. A member of a panel who is a member of a Court for the purposes of a trade dispute or matter may, in respect of each day on which the Court is engaged in the hearing and determining of the trade dispute or matter, be paid such allowances as may be prescribed.
Registrar and officers of Courts
Open ↗15.—(1) There shall be appointed a Registrar of the Courts and such Deputy Registrars and Assistant Registrars and other officers of the Courts as the President of Singapore considers necessary.
(2) The duties of the Registrar and other officers of the Courts shall, subject to this Act, be as the president directs.
(3) The Registrar and other officers of the Courts shall be deemed to be public servants for the purposes of the Penal Code 1871.
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
