State Courts moving to new home next month
New building has more courtrooms, hearing chambers and raft of facilities for court users
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The State Courts will fully operate in its new premises (above) from Dec 16, 2019.
ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
The State Courts will move to its new home next month, the judiciary said in a statement yesterday.
From Dec 9, it will start relocating to the State Courts Towers from its current octagonal building, and will operate fully from its new premises from Dec 16.
The new 35-storey building - which is next to the existing State Courts building in Havelock Square - has 53 courtrooms and 54 hearing chambers.
This is an increase from the 37 courtrooms and 40 chambers in the current nine-storey State Courts building.
Facilities that can be accessed by members of the public and court users at the new building include a business centre, heritage gallery, library and help centre that consists of the Law Society Pro Bono Services, Community Justice Centre and Ministry of Social and Family Development Probation Intake Office.
The new building's main entrance faces Havelock Road and the vehicle drop-off point is at Havelock Square.
Pedestrians and wheelchair users can enter the building from Upper Cross Street or Havelock Square, and the nearest MRT station is Chinatown station.
The address - 1 Havelock Square - and contact details of the State Courts remain unchanged.
The new building stands out from many of its Chinatown neighbours at a height of 178m.
The ground-breaking ceremony for the building was held in May 2014 and the construction of the superstructure - the part that is above ground level - began in March 2017.
A ceremony, officiated by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, was held in January to mark the completion of structural works for the building, which comprises two interconnected towers.
The towers will include a co-working space, managed by the Singapore Academy of Law, for lawyers and tech companies. At about the size of two courtrooms, it will cater mainly to small law firms.
It will also be open to tech start-ups, academics and students who will be able to collaborate with lawyers to develop tech solutions for the legal profession.
The State Courts Towers will also boast technological features such as a live transcribing system developed by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star). It is expected to increase efficiency of court proceedings and reduce legal costs.
