CSW v CSX: Appeal Dismissed in Contempt of Court Case over Child Access

In CSW v CSX, the Appellate Division of the High Court of Singapore heard an appeal by the Wife against a decision finding her in contempt of court for failing to comply with orders regarding care and control of and access arrangements for her two children. The High Court had sentenced her to one week of imprisonment, suspended on the condition that she return the children to the Husband and comply with court orders thereafter. The Appellate Division dismissed the Wife's appeal with costs, upholding the original decision.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

Appellate Division of the High Court

1.2 Outcome

Appeal Dismissed

1.3 Case Type

Family

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Appeal dismissed against Wife for contempt of court for failing to comply with child access orders. The court upheld the original decision.

1.7 Decision Date

27 June 2023

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
CSW	Appellant	Individual	Appeal Dismissed	Lost	Ong Mary of DCMO Law Practice LLC George Reny Margaret of DCMO Law Practice LLC
CSX	Respondent	Individual	Appeal Dismissed	Won	Lee Ming Hui Kelvin of WNLEX LLC

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Woo Bih Li	Judge of the Appellate Division	Yes
Debbie Ong Siew Ling	Judge of the Appellate Division	No
Valerie Thean	Judge of the High Court	No

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Ong Mary	DCMO Law Practice LLC
George Reny Margaret	DCMO Law Practice LLC
Lee Ming Hui Kelvin	WNLEX LLC

4. Facts

The Wife filed for divorce on 2 May 2012.
The 2014 Family Court Order granted joint custody to both parents, with care and control to the Husband and liberal access to the Wife.
The 2014 High Court Order varied the weekday access arrangements but maintained the Husband's sole care and control.
The Wife did not return the Children to the Husband after her birthday access on 5 May 2021.
The Husband applied for an order for committal against the Wife for failing to comply with the court orders.
The Judge found the Wife guilty of contempt and sentenced her to one week of imprisonment, suspended on conditions.
The Wife appealed against the Judge’s decision on liability, sentence, and costs.

5. Formal Citations

CSW v CSX, Civil Appeal No 92 of 2022, [2023] SGHC(A) 23

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2006-02-22	Parties married
2012-05-02	Wife filed for divorce
2013-08-05	Interim judgment for divorce granted
2014-06-10	District Judge ordered joint custody with care and control to Husband and liberal access to Wife
2014-07-28	Alternate public holiday access starting from Hari Raya
2014-11-26	Variations made to the 2014 Family Court Order
2021-01-20	Wife wrote an email alleging abuse
2021-01-21	Wife received a call from Child Protective Service
2021-01-29	Wife informed that CPS would investigate
2021-04-27	Wife wrote again to Minister Desmond Lee
2021-04-29	Ms Belinda from CPS contacted the Wife
2021-05-04	CPS decided to speak to the Husband
2021-05-05	Wife sought a Personal Protection Order and an Expedited Order
2021-05-05	Wife did not return the Children to the Husband
2021-05-11	Wife filed an application for a variation of the order on care and control of the Children
2021-06-02	Husband filed an application for the Wife to return the Children to him
2021-06-14	Judge heard both applications
2021-10-20	Judge granted the Husband an order for the Wife to return the Children to the Husband
2021-10-21	Wife brought the Children to the Family Court premises, but they refused to return home with the Husband
2021-11-18	Husband applied for leave to apply for an Order for Committal against the Wife
2021-12-02	Leave was granted
2021-12-15	Husband filed a summons for an Order for Committal against the Wife
2022-02-14	First hearing of SUM 5789
2022-03-29	Wife’s PPO application was dismissed with costs
2022-04-08	Second hearing of SUM 5789
2022-04-09	Wife brought the Children to the Husband’s residence block, but they still did not return to the Husband
2022-04-12	AD 92 and AD 58 heard together
2022-04-14	SUM 5789 hearing
2022-04-29	Judge found that the Wife acted in contempt of court
2022-05-09	Judge ordered the Wife to serve a sentence of imprisonment of one week, suspended on conditions
2022-05-10	Wife returned the Children to the Husband’s residence
2022-06-23	Wife filed a Notice of Appeal against the Judge’s decision in SUM 5789
2023-03-22	Wife’s appeal was dismissed by Andrew Ang SJ with costs
2023-04-12	We heard AD 92 together with AD/CA 58/2022
2023-06-28	Woo Bih Li JAD (delivering the grounds of decision of the court)

7. Legal Issues

Contempt of Court
- Outcome: The court found the Wife guilty of contempt of court for intentionally disobeying court orders regarding child access.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Intentional disobedience of court orders
  - Breach of court orders
  - Influence on children to disregard court orders
- Related Cases:
  - [2019] SGHCF 9
  - [2018] 4 SLR 828
  - [2016] 3 SLR 1
Interpretation of Court Orders
- Outcome: The court interpreted the 2014 High Court Order, clarifying that the Wife was still required to return the Children to the Husband after access.
- Category: Procedural
- Sub-Issues:
  - Ambiguity in court orders
  - Redundancy of clauses in court orders
- Related Cases:
  - [2019] SGHCF 9
Therapeutic Justice
- Outcome: The court rejected the Wife's argument that therapeutic justice measures should have been implemented, stating that the Wife had misused the concept of therapeutic justice.
- Category: Procedural
- Sub-Issues:
  - Implementation of therapeutic measures
  - Hearing the voice of the child
- Related Cases:
  - [2020] 2 SLR 858

8. Remedies Sought

Appeal against committal order
Quashing of sentence
Setting aside of costs order

9. Cause of Actions

Contempt of Court

10. Practice Areas

Family Litigation
Appeals

11. Industries

No industries specified

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
UNE v UNF	Singapore High Court (Family Division)	Yes	[2019] SGHCF 9	Singapore	Cited for the two-step approach in determining whether conduct amounts to a breach of court orders.
PT Sandipala Arthaputra v STMicroelectronics Asia Pacific Pte Ltd and others	Singapore Court of Appeal	Yes	[2018] 4 SLR 828	Singapore	Cited for the two-step approach in determining whether conduct amounts to a breach of court orders and for establishing mens rea in contempt of court cases.
Mok Kah Hong v Zheng Zhuan Yao	Singapore Court of Appeal	Yes	[2016] 3 SLR 1	Singapore	Cited for the standard of proof in contempt of court cases and factors in determining the appropriate sentence for contempt.
CSW v CSX	Singapore Family Court	Yes	[2022] SGFC 47	Singapore	Cited for key findings that the Husband did not commit family violence and the Wife had coached the Children.
VDZ v VEA	Singapore Court of Appeal	Yes	[2020] 2 SLR 858	Singapore	Cited for the definition of therapeutic justice and the overarching goal of the family justice system.
VDZ v VEA	Singapore High Court	Yes	[2020] 4 SLR 921	Singapore	Cited for the sentence imposed in a contempt of court case.
Tan Beow Hiong v Tan Boon Aik	Singapore High Court	Yes	[2010] 4 SLR 870	Singapore	Cited for the procedure for an application to lift a suspended order for committal and activate a sentence.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
Rules of Court

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Administration of Justice (Protection) Act 2016	Singapore
Women’s Charter 1961	Singapore
Evidence Act	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Contempt of court
Care and control
Access arrangements
Therapeutic justice
Committal proceedings
Suspended sentence
Custodial sentence
Family Court Order
High Court Order

15.2 Keywords

Contempt
Child Access
Family Law
Singapore
Appeal
Court Order

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Contempt of Court	95
Family Law	80
Child Custody	75
Access to Children	70
Parenting	60
Child Support	60
Evidence Law	50
Civil Procedure	40

16. Subjects

Family Law
Contempt of Court
Civil Procedure