Plans to Amend Community Disputes Resolution Act or Introduce Legislative Measures to Assist Resolution of Neighbourly Disputes Before Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals

1 Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim asked the Minister for Law whether there are any plans to amend the Community Disputes Resolution Act or introduce any other legislative measures to assist in the resolution of neighbourly disputes before the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals.

Mr K Shanmugam: An inter-agency review committee is looking at ways to strengthen the Community Dispute Management Framework, which seeks to promote neighbourliness to minimise disputes, encourage amicable resolution of disputes via mediation, and provide accessible legal recourse for cases which may be intransigent.

The review will look at improving the handling and referral protocols among frontline agencies, encouraging greater use of community mediation to resolve neighbour disputes, and making the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunal (CDRT) more effective as a measure of last resort. If necessary, we will amend the Community Disputes Resolution Act to implement the recommendations.