Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong has announced a slew of changes for the judiciary.
He said this was to broaden and develop law, practice and jurisprudence in Singapore.
One of the changes under the Subordinate Courts Work Plan involves re-grouping the courts into specialised clusters.
In October 2006, a survey was commissioned by the Subordinate Courts regarding the confidence level of the public towards justice in Singapore.
95 percent said they were confident and trusted the legal system.
This was a 3 percent increase compared to 2001.
To make the courts more efficient, the Chief Justice said specialisation was the key.
So, grouping offences into clusters will allow judges to mete out sentences that are specific to the offence as well as the offender.
The Chief Justice said, "This will give substance to the sentencing guidelines. In addition, it will also allow our judges to focus on new offences."
From May 7, Criminal Court judges will be regrouped into five categories: Crimes against Persons, which include molest cases; Violent Property Crimes and Regulatory Offences, which incorporate armed robberies and causing environmental damage; Non-Violent Property Crimes, which will cover shoplifting as well as Immigration, Employment and Intellectual Property issues; the Public Order cluster, which will deal with issues such as illegal assembly; and the Commercial Crime cluster, which already exists, and which includes crimes involving technology.
Lawyers told Channel NewsAsia that specialisation was timely.
Subhas Anandan, President, Association of Criminal Lawyers, said, "The sentencing will be consistent, you will find these judges know what they're doing. Because certain things are not taught in university…you need to have special training, especially computer offences and the new type of offences that are coming out in the computer age. So you need specialist judges who know the subject."
But one foreign judge said it was vital to be careful.
Lord Justice David Latham, Vice President of the Court of Appeals in UK, said, "I think there are always dangers, you have to be wary of because you do not want your judiciary to become too specialised. It's sensible always to provide some sort of wide opportunity for judiciary to develop their skills across a wider area than simply one small area.
"It makes it a more useful judiciary in general terms, because you may want to move someone who is very able onto another area, and if all he's done…is a small specialist area, then you have restricted your opportunities or made it more difficult for him to be useful in a different jurisdiction. So, (it is) good idea but one has to use it with some care."
In another change, the Community Court, which was set up last year, will have a resource panel consisting of welfare groups such as: The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Institute of Mental Health,The HINDU Centre, and The Association of Muslim Professionals
Their role is to give a more holistic approach and flexibility when it comes to sentencing.
The Community Court handled 664 cases in the second half of 2006.
The majority of the offences involved youthful offenders aged between 16 to 18, and mental disability cases.
Toh Han Li, Registrar, District Judge, Subordinate Courts, said, "I read in one of the UK papers that the Lord Chancellor is going to set up Community Courts in the UK over the next two years. It seems to be a trend in the UK, and I think it's something other judiciaries are looking at very carefully."
The setting up of a Bail Court was also announced on Friday.
Subhas Anandan said, "Some judges will give 10, some will give 30, some will give 5. The lawyers and the accused do not know where it is coming from. So we need consistency and I think a bail court with an experienced judge will look at each case on its own merit and decide what the bail should be. It will eliminate people going to high court for reduction of bail and things like that."
The Chief Justice said this was to prevent an accused person from being unjustly remanded, during the pre-trial period.