s 45 Protection of judicial and other officers
45.—(1) A judicial officer shall not be liable to be sued for any act done by him or her in the discharge of his or her judicial duty whether or not within the limits of his or her jurisdiction, provided that he or she at the time in good faith believed himself or herself to have jurisdiction to do or order the act complained of. (2) No officer of the Family Justice Courts charged with the duty of executing any writ, summons, warrant, order, notice or other mandatory process of the court shall be liable to be sued for the execution of or attempting to execute such writ, summons, warrant, order, notice or other mandatory process, or in respect of any damage caused to any property in effecting or attempting to effect execution, unless he or she knowingly acted in excess of the authority conferred upon him or her by such writ, summons, warrant, order, notice or other mandatory process of the court. (3) An officer of the Family Justice Courts is not to be deemed to have acted knowingly in excess of his or her authority merely by reason of the existence of a dispute as to the ownership of any property seized under any enforcement order or writ of distress.[Act 25 of 2021 wef 15/10/2024] (4) No judicial officer, officer of the Family Justice Courts or court‑appointed mediator shall be liable to be sued for an act done by him or her for the purposes of any court proceedings, or any mediation or other alternative dispute resolution process conducted by him or her, in the Family Division of the High Court, a Family Court or a Youth Court, if the act —(a) was done in good faith; and (b) did not involve any fraud or wilful misconduct on his or her part. (5) A child representative appointed to represent the interests of a child in any proceedings involving the child, or the custody and welfare of the child, shall not be liable to be sued for an act done by the child representative for the purposes of those proceedings, or any mediation or other alternative dispute resolution process related to those proceedings, if the act —(a) was done in good faith; and (b) did not involve any fraud or wilful misconduct on the part of the child representative.[16/2016] (6) Where a registered medical practitioner, psychologist, counsellor, social worker or mental health professional is appointed by a Family Court to examine and assess a child or person for the purposes of preparing expert evidence for use in any proceedings involving the custody or welfare of that child or involving that person (as the case may be), the registered medical practitioner, psychologist, counsellor, social worker or mental health professional (as the case may be) shall not be liable to be sued for an act done by him or her for the purposes of the examination or assessment, or the preparation of the expert evidence for use in those proceedings, if the act —(a) was done in good faith; and (b) did not involve any fraud or wilful misconduct on his or her part.[16/2016] (7) A person who provides advice to a Family Justice Court under section 11A of the Guardianship of Infants Act 1934, section 12 of the International Child Abduction Act 2010, section 130 of the Women’s Charter 1961 or any other written law as the Minister may by order in the Gazette prescribe, shall not be liable to be sued for any advice so provided on or after the appointed date (including in the form of a report) or any act done on or after that date by that person for the purposes or in the course of providing the advice (including in the form of a report), if —(a) the advice was provided, or the act was done, in good faith; and (b) the advice or act did not involve any fraud or wilful misconduct on his or her part.[Act 18 of 2023 wef 31/01/2024] (8) A parenting coordinator appointed by a Family Justice Court to conduct a parenting coordination programme shall not be liable to be sued for any act done on or after the appointed date by the parenting coordinator for the purposes of the parenting coordination programme, if the act —(a) was done in good faith; and (b) did not involve any fraud or wilful misconduct on his or her part.[Act 18 of 2023 wef 31/01/2024] (9) A person (called a referrer) who, at the request of a Family Justice Court, refers any party to the proceedings or any child involved in or whose custody or welfare is involved in the proceedings for any professional clinical or therapeutic intervention, shall not be liable to be sued for any act done on or after the appointed date by the referrer for the purposes of the referral, if the act —(a) was done in good faith; and (b) did not involve any fraud or wilful misconduct on the part of the referrer.[Act 18 of 2023 wef 31/01/2024] (10) In this section —“appointed date” means —(a) in the case of a person who provides advice to a Family Justice Court under any written law prescribed by order in the Gazette for the purposes of subsection (7) — the date prescribed by that order, being a date not earlier than the date of that order; or (b) in any other case — the date of commencement of section 11 of the Family Justice Reform Act 2023; “parenting coordination programme” means a family support programme for the purpose of addressing or resolving any disagreement about any parenting matter between spouses or former spouses, arising from any relationship issue or relationship problem between spouses or former spouses, or between a parent and a child.[Act 18 of 2023 wef 31/01/2024]