District Judge Lo Wai Ping:
Introduction
The Plaintiff (“Wife”) and the Defendant (“Husband”) were married in Brunei in 1985. In 2018, the Husband commenced divorce proceedings in the Syariah Subordinate Court in Brunei (“Brunei Syariah Court”). The Husband had converted to Islam in 2017 in Brunei.
Pursuant to an order of the Brunei Syariah Court (with effect from 13 September 2018), the marriage between the parties was dissolved (“Dissolution Order”). The Dissolution Order was accepted by both parties as binding on them.
On 23 July 2019, by way of an application, OSF No. 58 of 2019 filed in the Family Justice Courts in Singapore (the “Application”), the Wife applied for leave of court to be granted under section 121D (1) of the Women’s Charter (Cap. 353) (“the Charter”) for her to file an application against the Husband for an order for financial relief under Chapter 4A of the Charter (“Financial Relief Order”). The Wife was represented by counsel whilst the Husband appeared in person.
Under section 121D (2) of the Charter, the Singapore court shall not grant leave unless it considers that there is substantial ground for the making of an application for the Financial Relief Order.
However, the preliminary issue before me was whether the applicant Wife had satisfied the jurisdictional requirements prescribed in section 121C of the Charter.
Under Section 121C, the Singapore court shall have jurisdiction to hear an application for a Financial Relief Order only if – one of the parties to the marriage was domiciled in Singapore on the date of the application for leave under Section 121D or was so domiciled on the date on which the divorce, annulment or judicial separation obtained in a foreign country took effect in that country, or one of the parties to the marriage was habitually resident in Singapore for a continuous period of one year immediately preceding the date of the application for leave under section 121D or was so resident for a continuous period of one year immediately preceding the date on which the divorce, annulment or judicial separation obtained in a foreign country took effect in that country.
After hearing the parties, I found that the Wife had not satisfied the jurisdictional requirements set out in section 121C and therefore, I dismissed the Application and declined to grant leave for the Wife to file an application for a Financial Relief Order. I held that neither the Wife nor the Husband was domiciled in Singapore on the effective date of the Dissolution Order or on the date of the Application (I shall refer to these two dates collectively as the “Relevant Dates” and to each, as a “Relevant Date”). The Wife appealed against my decision and I set out below the reasons for my decision.
Background
By way of background information, I will first set out the facts below: The parties were both born in Brunei and they lived and grew up in Brunei. The Wife was a permanent resident of Brunei. According to the Wife, the Husband was stateless. The parties were married in Brunei in 1985. The Wife was then 18 years old and working as a secretary and the Husband was then 26 years old and working as an engineer. 1988 to 1992 In 1988, the parties moved to Singapore. The Husband found work as a lecturer at a polytechnic in Singapore. In 1989, the Wife gave birth to 2 sons, one in January and the other in December. She did not work while in Singapore and was a homemaker looking after the 2 sons. The Husband went into the kitchenware business in 1989 after he stopped teaching at the polytechnic. In 1992, the parties acquired Singapore citizenship. The following year (1993), the parties went back to Brunei together with their 2 sons. At this time, the Wife was about 27 years old; the Husband was about 34 years old. While in Singapore from 1988 to 1993, the parties did not own any real property in Singapore. 1993 to 2006 After the parties returned to Brunei, the Wife re-registered herself as a permanent resident of Brunei. She was to have 2 more sons who were born in Brunei in 1996 and 1998. All the 4 sons were registered as Singapore citizens and they were all brought up in Brunei. They also completed their secondary school education in Brunei. On or about 2006, the first two sons, then about 17 years of age, came over to Singapore to pursue their polytechnic education. This was about 13 years after the parties had left Singapore in 1993. From 1993 to around 2006, the parties and their 4 sons lived in Brunei. Sometime in 2006, the Husband bought a HDB flat in Singapore (“Singapore Flat”). The Singapore Flat was registered under his sole name and the Singapore Flat was the only real property of the Husband in Singapore. The Wife did not at any time own any real property in Singapore. After completing their polytechnic education, the first 2 sons went on to perform their national service obligations. Thereafter, they remained in Singapore and worked in Singapore. The eldest son is working in sales and the second son is a pilot in the Republic of Singapore air force. The third and the fourth sons also followed the same path as their older siblings except that the third son was exempted from national service as he was autistic and he did not complete his polytechnic education. The third son returned to Brunei in 2016 and has been residing in Brunei under the Wife’s care. As for the youngest son, he completed his national service in 2019 and had intended to pursue his further studies in Singapore. The youngest son had embraced Islam in January 2016. 2006 to 2018 From 2006 to 2018 (a period of another 12 years) the parties continued to reside outside of Singapore notwithstanding the purchase of the Singapore Flat. During this period, they did make short visits to Singapore, on business or to visit their sons in Singapore who were studying, working and or performing their national service in Singapore. From 2011 to 2017, the Husband was working on a project for the Brunei Cancer Centre. While the parties were living in Brunei, the Husband had bought a house in Brunei and gifted the house to the Wife. The house was sold in 2011 and the sale proceeds were kept by the Wife. In addition, the Wife also had several cars registered under her name in Brunei. Divorce Proceedings in Brunei commenced in 2017 When the marriage broke down, the Wife had initially filed for divorce at the High Court of Brunei on 18 October 2017. This was after the parties had signed a settlement agreement dated 16 October 2017 relating inter alia, to the transfer of the Singapore Flat to her own name (the “Settlement Agreement”). The Settlement Agreement was prepared by Bruneian lawyers and the parties agreed to the laws of Brunei as the governing law. The parties also agreed to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of Brunei. At the relevant time, the parties were residing in Brunei and had been residing there since they left Singapore in 1993. The divorce proceedings commenced in the High Court of Brunei were heard in May 2018. As the Husband had converted to Islam on 18 October 2017, the High Court of Brunei held that it did not have the requisite jurisdiction to hear the divorce proceedings. In the same month, May 2018, after the decision of the High Court of Brunei referred to in sub-paragraph (g) above, the Husband commenced proceedings at the Brunei Syariah Court for the dissolution of their marriage. This was on the ground that the Wife had refused to convert to Islam after the Husband had done so. The Husband appeared in person at these proceedings, whilst the Wife was present with her lawyers. The Dissolution Order issued by the Brunei Syariah Court came into effect on 13 September 2018. It stated that the Brunei Syariah Court had made the Dissolution Order after it had heard and examined “the Application and the evidence of the parties” and was “satisfied with it”. The Brunei Syariah Court did not, in its Dissolution Order, make any orders as to spousal maintenance or the division of the matrimonial assets or any other ancillary matters despite the pleadings and evidence of the parties before it. In her counterclaim, the Wife had sought for more than what she had earlier agreed to in the Settlement Agreement. She had sought for an order that the Husband pay her a sum of $300,000 as “a compensation and matrimonial property of the marriage” between them. She had also sought for monthly sums of maintenance from him for their third and fourth sons including separate orders that the Husband was also to pay for their school and educational expenses in full. To incorporate all her new claims, her lawyers submitted a draft of a new settlement agreement to the Brunei Syariah Court. The Husband did not agree with the terms of the new settlement agreement proposed by her lawyers and had...
