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Form And Substance In Singapore Constitutional And Administrative Law, Kenny Chng
Form And Substance In Singapore Constitutional And Administrative Law, Kenny Chng
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
This paper proposes to study constitutional and administrative law in Singapore through the lenses of Atiyah’s and Summers’ concepts of form and substance in order to discern fruitful avenues for the development of Singapore constitutional and administrative law. While the concepts of form and substance in the context of constitutional law are often associated with constitutional interpretation, they can also be fruitfully applied to other areas of constitutional and administrative law to shed light on the potential trajectories of Singapore law. The intent of this paper is to apply Atiyah’s and Summers’ concepts of form and substance to Singapore constitutional …
Judicial Precedent In Emerging Constitutional Jurisdictions: Formulating A Doctrine Of Constitutional Stare Decisis For Singapore, Kenny Chng
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
Judicial precedents in constitutional law raiseunique stare decisis considerations. While they are authoritative pronouncementson the proper interpretation of the Constitution and are thus an essentialcomponent of constitutional law, they are also merely judicial precedents – andthus susceptible to being overturned. These considerations have been thesubject of a well-developed body of literature, especially in the context of USSupreme Court constitutional precedents.Yet, despite being a constitutional supremacy, little attention has beenpaid in Singapore to the question of the proper judicial approach towardsconstitutional precedents. This paper aims to address this issue. It will discernthe de facto principles that Singapore judges have thus far …
A Critical Assessment Of The Role Of The Venice Commission In Processes Of Domestic Constitutional Reform, Maartje De Visser
A Critical Assessment Of The Role Of The Venice Commission In Processes Of Domestic Constitutional Reform, Maartje De Visser
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
On January 26, 2014, an overwhelming majority of the National Constituent Assembly of Tunisia approved the country's new constitution. Drafted in the aftermath of the Tunisian revolution, the constitution received considerable international critical acclaim, regarding the manner in which the text had been drafted and adopted as well as its content, notably the entrenchment of a host of fundamental rights and liberties. Comparisons have inevitably been drawn with Egypt's new constitution and those of other Arab nations, with the Tunisian text hailed as one of the most progressive in the region, providing the foundations for a modern and credible democracy. …
Magna Carta Then And Now: A Symbol Of Freedom And Equal Rights For All, Eugene K. B. Tan, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Magna Carta Then And Now: A Symbol Of Freedom And Equal Rights For All, Eugene K. B. Tan, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
Magna Carta became applicable to Singapore in 1826 when a court system administering English law was established in the Straits Settlements. This remained the case through Singapore’s evolution from Crown colony to independent republic. The Great Charter only ceased to apply in 1993, when Parliament enacted the Application of English Law Act to clarify which colonial laws were still part of Singapore law. Nonetheless, Magna Carta’s legacy in Singapore continues in a number of ways. Principles such as due process of law and the supremacy of law are cornerstones of the rule of law, vital to the success, stability and …
Foreign Precedents In Constitutional Adjudication By The Supreme Court Of Singapore, 1963-2013, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Foreign Precedents In Constitutional Adjudication By The Supreme Court Of Singapore, 1963-2013, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
This article surveys the use of foreign precedents in constitutional adjudication by the Supreme Court of Singapore for over a half century during the terms of the first three Chief Justices—Wee Chong Jin (1963–1990), Yong Pung How (1990–2006), and Chan Sek Keong (2006–2012)—and the first year in office of the fourth Chief Justice, Sundaresh Menon (2012–2013). It concludes that while judges have always cited foreign case law, they have only actually applied foreign cases where the wording of the Constitution and the constitutional arrangements in Singapore are fairly analogous to the constitutional texts and arrangements upon which the cases were …
This Land Was Made For You And Me: Public Participation In Land Use Decisions In Singapore, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
This Land Was Made For You And Me: Public Participation In Land Use Decisions In Singapore, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
No abstract provided.
Shall The Twain Never Meet? Competing Narratives And Discourses Of The Rule Of Law In Singapore, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Shall The Twain Never Meet? Competing Narratives And Discourses Of The Rule Of Law In Singapore, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
This article aims to assess the role played by the rule of law in discourse by critics of the Singapore Government’s policies and in the Government’s responses to such criticisms. It argues that in the past the two narratives clashed over conceptions of the rule of law, but there is now evidence of convergence of thinking as regards the need to protect human rights, though not necessarily as to how the balance between rights and other public interests should be struck. The article also examines why the rule of law must be regarded as a constitutional doctrine in Singapore, the …
Freedom Of Speech And Contempt By Scandalizing The Court In Singapore, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Freedom Of Speech And Contempt By Scandalizing The Court In Singapore, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
The offence of scandalizing the court, a form of contempt of court, is regarded as obsolete in the United Kingdom. However, it continues to be imposed in other Commonwealth nations and remains very much alive in Singapore, having been applied in a crop of cases between 2006 and 2009. This short commentary examines one of these cases, Attorney-General v Hertzberg and others [2009] 1 Singapore Law Reports 1103, which has generated worldwide interest as it arose out of articles published in the Wall Street Journal Asia. In Hertzberg, the High Court of Singapore held that utterances by an alleged contemnor …
Rediscovering The Constitution, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Rediscovering The Constitution, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
The fundamental liberties in our Constitution involve a study of tensions: between an individual's rights and the community's interests, between the role of the judiciary on the one hand and the executive and legislature on the other. How we should interpret them depends on where we think equilibrium should be established. This depends on two main factors. The first is the proper function of the judiciary as laid down by our Constitution, which is discussed in Part I of this article. The second is the nature of our fundamental liberties, for they are worded with varying degrees of generality. ... …