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Glocalised Constitution-Making In The Twenty-First Century: Evidence From Asia, Maartje De Visser, Bui Ngoc Son
Glocalised Constitution-Making In The Twenty-First Century: Evidence From Asia, Maartje De Visser, Bui Ngoc Son
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
How have Asian nations conducted, or how are they conducting, constitution-making in the face of pressures associated with globalization, and how do they balance those forces with domestic interests and realities? This article aims to develop an analytical framework that can capture this global-local interplay. It introduces the concept of “glocalized constitution-making” to denote the co-existence and relationship between the two governance levels as manifested in the forces, actors and norms pertaining to the process of drafting a new constitution as well as its substance. Glocalization permeates the entirety of a constitution-making episode, from the impetus to initiate the process, …
According To The Spirit And Not To The Letter: Proportionality And The Singapore Constitution, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
According To The Spirit And Not To The Letter: Proportionality And The Singapore Constitution, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
When interpreting the fundamental liberties in the Singapore Constitution, courts presently do not engage in a proportionality analysis – that is, a consideration of whether limitations on rights imposed by executive or legislative action bear a rational relation with the object of the action, and, if so, whether the limitations restrict rights as minimally as possible. The main reason for this appears to be the expansive manner in which exceptions to the fundamental liberties are phrased, and the courts’ deferential attitude towards the political branches of government. This paper considers how the rejection of proportionality has affected the rights to …
Proportionality In Interpreting Constitutions: A Comparison Between Canada, The United Kingdom And Singapore And Its Implications For Vietnam, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Proportionality In Interpreting Constitutions: A Comparison Between Canada, The United Kingdom And Singapore And Its Implications For Vietnam, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
Few rights that are guaranteed by constitutions and bills of rights are expressed to be absolute. In many jurisdictions, the legislature is permitted to impose restrictions on rights for specified reasons and under particular conditions. However, constitutional or bill of rights text often do not expressly indicate how the courts should determine that applicants’ rights have been legitimately restricted. To this end, courts in jurisdictions such as Canada and the United Kingdom have adopted the European doctrine of proportionality. Essentially, this requires them to balance opposing types of public interests – the interest sought to be protected by the rights …
Reforming The Right To Legal Counsel In Singapore, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Reforming The Right To Legal Counsel In Singapore, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
This is an opinion prepared for the Criminal Law Committee of the Law Society of Singapore on an arrested person’s right to legal counsel in Singapore. Specifically, it deals with the following: (1) it summarizes pertinent aspects of the law relating to the right to legal counsel in Singapore; (2) it surveys a number of ASEAN and Commonwealth jurisdictions to determine how long after apprehension the right to counsel is generally accorded to arrested persons, and compares the legal position in these jurisdictions to the situation in Singapore; and (3) it examines two rights ancillary to the right to legal …
Google’S China Problem: A Case Study On Trade, Technology And Human Rights Under The Gats, Henry S. Gao
Google’S China Problem: A Case Study On Trade, Technology And Human Rights Under The Gats, Henry S. Gao
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
Trade and human rights have long had a troubled relationship. The advent of new technologies such as internet further complicates the relationship. This article reviews the relationship between trade, technology and human rights in light of the recent dispute between Google and China from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Starting with an overview of the internet censorship regime in China, the article goes on to assess the legal merits of a WTO challenge in this case. First, the article discusses which service sector or subsectors might be at issue. Second, the article analyzes whether and to what extent China has …
Interpreting Bills Of Rights: The Value Of A Comparative Approach, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Interpreting Bills Of Rights: The Value Of A Comparative Approach, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
In certain jurisdictions, among them Malaysia, Singapore, and the United States, the practice of consulting comparative legal materials in interpreting domestic bills of rights has been criticized as illegitimate. This article examines four main concerns: (1) the texts of bills of rights -- the argument that a bill of rights is to be interpreted within its own four walls and not in the light of analogies drawn from other jurisdictions; (2) national identity -- the argument that a bill of rights embodies the values of a nation's people, and it is wrong to refer to foreign experiences to determine such …
Equal Protection And Sexual Orientation, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Equal Protection And Sexual Orientation, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
Equality is the thread running through the fundamental liberties enshrined in our Constitution. ... Equality, expressed in Art 12 of the [Singapore] Constitution, is also a specific right enforceable by the court. The difficulty comes in applying this deceptively simple concept to real-life situations. ... In considering the validity of legislation, Singapore and Malaysian courts have generally favored rational review, a modest conception of equal protection, unlike their American counterparts which have adopted a more expansive reading in the form of strict and intermediate review. This article examines how these three levels of equal protection review operate, and argues that …
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. ... …