XGO v XGN

Facts

The parties, both Indonesian nationals, married in Jakarta in October 2017 and have a son born in Indonesia in July 2020. The mother left the matrimonial home with the child and sought a divorce in the South Jakarta District Court in June 2023. Her petition was dismissed, but the Jakarta High Court granted her a divorce and custody on 3 July 2024. The father's appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court of Indonesia on 28 November 2024.

Meanwhile the mother brought the child to Singapore on 14 May 2024, and both parents started custody and access applications there (FC/OSG 90/2024 and FC/OSG 130/2024). On 13 May 2025 the District Judge made custody, care and control and access orders and barred either parent from taking the child out of Singapore or getting him a new passport. The mother appealed in HCF/DCA 65/2025 against those restrictions and the exercise of jurisdiction; the father appealed in HCF/DCA 66/2025 on custody and access.

Issues

1. Whether the Singapore courts should exercise jurisdiction over custody once the Supreme Court of Indonesia had ruled
2. Whether the District Judge's custody, access and travel restriction orders should stand

Holding

The High Court allowed the mother's appeal and dismissed the father's appeal. It ordered that no further orders be made on the District Judge's decision, that the parties comply with the decision of the Supreme Court of Indonesia, and that costs submissions be filed within seven days.

Reasoning

Counsel explained that the Singapore applications were filed only because the Indonesian appeal was pending. That basis fell away once the Supreme Court of Indonesia ruled, which it had done even before the District Judge decided. The court held that a Singapore court should not pronounce on issues already decided by Indonesia's highest court, that the Indonesian court was clearly the more appropriate forum for the divorce and related matters, and that Singapore should decline jurisdiction over the same issues.

From the judgment