SINGAPORE – People who abuse court processes by filing baseless claims to oppress others and extort a settlement would be subject to court action, the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) said.

In a statement on Nov 21, the ministry said those who wish to sue or defend a claim without legal representation can do so in Singapore courts, with streamlined court processes allowing for greater self-representation.

MinLaw noted, however, that Parliament had recently passed amendments to the Administration of Justice (Protection) Act (AOJPA) to expressly clarify that an abuse of court processes would amount to contempt of court.

“This would include claims that are baseless and filed simply to annoy and oppress the defendant in order to extort a settlement,” the ministry said.

The ministry has also established safeguards against those who try to abuse the system. Unsubstantiated claims can be thrown out if the courts find them frivolous or an abuse of process, MinLaw said.

Costs may be awarded to the losing party and a party may be restricted from making further applications or claims.

Those who interfere with or obstruct the administration of justice can be investigated under the AOJPA, MinLaw added.

The ministry issued its statement in response to media inquiries regarding a lawsuit facing National University of Singapore (NUS) associate professor Ben Leong.

MinLaw confirmed it had received feedback from Professor Leong and said it could not comment on his case “as it appears to be related to potential or ongoing legal proceedings”.

In a TikTok post on November 15, anti-vaccine group founder Iris Koh said she would sue Professor Leong, who is from NUS’s Department of Computer Science, for defamation over a 2021 Facebook post on who did it about Koh’s Healing the Divide group.

Professor Leong posted on Facebook on November 16 that he was facing an impending defamation lawsuit and said he was not the only one being sued.

He said it would cost between $50,000 and $70,000 to hire a lawyer to handle the case, and that he would lose money even if he won because the amount of costs he could claim would be limited to about $12,000 .

He said in the post: “Basically, my situation is that I can’t lose this case because the case is more or less lost before it even starts. What I mean is that even if I win the case (and there’s a good chance I will), I’m still expected to lose money and lose time no matter what.”