Small Claims Tribunal - jurisdiction

When lawyers use the word "jurisdiction", they mean the type of cases that the particular court can hear and the limits on that court's powers.

As stated previously, the Tribunal can normally only hear claims for amounts of up to $10,000. The Singapore High Court in the case of Mohammed Akhtar v Schneider has clarified that this claim amount is not related to the value of the contract. The claim amount depends on what is claimed. If you are claiming compensation only, then the claim amount is the amount of compensation that you want. On the other hand, if you want the entire contract cancelled (or rescinded), then the claim amount would be the value of the entire contract.

Also, the Tribunal can only hear claims not more than 1 year old - to use legal jargon, up to 1 year from the date that the cause of action accrued. In simple English, it means up to 1 year from the time you had a right to sue.

So when do you have a right to sue? For the payment of money, the relevant day is the contractual date of payment. For other promises, when was the last day that the other party was allowed to perform his promise eg paint your house or repair your computer. You would have a right to sue on the day following that day.