Courts Commons^™

Jobs For Justice(S): Corruption In The Supreme Court Of India, Madhav S. Aney, Shubhankar Dam, Giovanni Ko

Research Collection School Of Economics

We investigate whether judicial decisions are affected by career concerns of judges by analyzing two questions: Do judges respond to incentives to pander by ruling in favor of the government in the hope of receiving jobs after retiring from the Supreme Court? Does the government reward judges who rule in its favor with prestigious jobs? We construct a data set of Supreme Court of India cases involving the government for 1999–2014. We find that incentives to pander have a causal effect on judicial decision-making, and they are jointly determined by the importance of the case and whether the judge retires …

Foreign Judgments: The Limits Of Transnational Issue Estoppel, Reciprocity, And Transnational Comity, Tiong Min Yeo

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp v Merck KGaA [2021] SGCA 14, a full bench of the Singapore Court of Appeal addressed the limits of transnational issue estoppel in Singapore law, and flagged possible fundamental changes to the common law on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in Singapore. The litigation involves multiple parties spread over different jurisdictions. The specific facts involved in the appeal are fairly straightforward, centring on what has been decided in a judgment from the English court, and whether it could be used to raise issue estoppel on the interpretation of a particular term of …

A Rule-Based Solution To The Appellate Body Crisis And Why The Mpia Would Not Work, Henry Gao

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Over the past three years, the United States have been persistently blocking the appointment of members to the WTO Appellate Body, citing various concerns with its alleged “failure to follow the agreed rules”. The US blockage has resulted in an unprecedented crisis of the WTO dispute settlement system, which finally led to the paralysis of the Appellate Body in December 2019 when its member was reduced to the last one.

Initially focusing on the minor procedural errors of specific Appellate Body members, the US criticisms on the Appellate Body has morphed into broader attacks on the substantive jurisprudence and judicial …

Blowing Hot And Cold In Litigation: Abuse Of Process, Election Or Approbation And Reprobation? Bwg V Bwf [2020] Sgca 36, Dorcas Quek Anderson

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This note analyses the Singapore Court of Appeal’s decision in BWG v BWF which allowed the adoption of inconsistent positions across related court proceedings against different parties. The decision raises crucial questions on the limits to be imposed on a party’s freedom to pursue opposing rights in litigation, and how the doctrines of abuse of process, election by waiver, and approbation and reprobation should be applied. It is argued that the court’s application of the abuse of process doctrine obscured the central exercise of assessing all the relevant interests and circumstances. The differing rationales underlying the common law doctrine of …

The Limits To Freedom To Contract: Supreme Court Case Summary: Leiman, Ricardo V Noble Resources Ltd, Jia Xin Tan

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

In line with the principle of freedom to contract, the courts will give effect to the intention of the parties in creating their contract, and also hold them to their duty to perform their primary obligations under such contract. However, where the contracting parties agree to vest certain decision-making powers to a specific (non-judicial) entity, to what extent may a court review the exercise of powers by such entity?

Do Algorithms Dream Of Mistaken Contracts? Supreme Court Case Summary: Quoine Pte Ltd V B2c2 Ltd, Lokman Bin Mohamed Rafi Hakim

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

Can an agreement which is formed purely through the operation of algorithms be considered a binding contract? If so, can such a contract be unilaterally cancelled because of a mistake, where such mistake resulted in trades being concluded at 250 times the market rate? This was the question before the Court of Appeal (“CA”) in the case of Quoine Pte Ltd v B2C2 Ltd [2020] SGCA(I) 2.

Form Or Substance? Excluding Liability For Misrepresentation, Zhi Jia Koh

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

Exclusion of liability for misrepresentation has long been controversial. There are many ways in which one could go about doing it, namely, through express exclusion of liability clauses, entire agreement clauses, non-reliance clauses, and maybe even basis clauses. The key question is whether such clauses are subject to s 3 of the Misrepresentation Act, which prevents a contracting party from escaping liability when it is unreasonable to do so. Notably, English jurisprudence has taken the view that any term that excludes liability for misrepresentation in effect would be subject to the test of reasonableness. Singapore appears to be moving in …

The Impossibility Defence: Supreme Court Case Summary: Han Fang Guan V Public Prosecutor, Kwang Chian Lee

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

In Han Fang Guan v Public Prosecutor [2020] SGCA 11, the Court of Appeal (“CA”) clarified the law regarding “impossible attempts”, which are attempts to commit an offence that could not possibly have been consummated in the circumstances. The accused Han Fang Guan (“Han”) was charged with the capital charge of attempting to possess one bundle containing not less than 18.62g of diamorphine (also known as heroin) for the purpose of drug trafficking, an offence under section 5(1)(a) read with section 5(2) and section 12 of the Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185, 2008 Rev Ed) (“MDA”).

The Presumption Of Innocence: A Golden Thread Always To Be Seen, Mark Zi Han Chia

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

Although the presumption of innocence is fundamental to the modern criminal justice system, there is little clarity on what it is and how it applies. This essay argues that “innocence” in the criminal justice system should be confined to legal innocence and not factual innocence. Accordingly, the presumption of innocence should be confined to presuming the legal innocence of an accused. It follows then that the presumption of innocence cannot apply to any part of the criminal process apart from the trial itself. Further, jurisprudentially, given that the presumption of innocence is best understood as a procedural aspect of the …

Elections During Covid-19: Welcome Clarifications, Unanswered Questions, Joel Wei Xuan Fun

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

On 10th July 2020, Singapore held its Parliamentary Elections, while in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Elections have been similarly held elsewhere during this pandemic, and suffice to say that the pandemic, and its resulting implications, have raised various interesting legal questions in some of these jurisdictions.1 To that end, a wide range of regulations and rules pertaining to elections have also been passed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In some jurisdictions, such as certain states in the United States, voting by mail was allowed with no excuse required, so as to prevent the further spread of COVID19 …

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back? An Attempt To Cure Due Process Paranoia, Louis Yi Hang Lau

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

Time, cost and quality. These are the qualities that an efficient arbitration must have. In recent times, however, the arbitral process has struggled to maintain this balance, with the efficiency of the arbitral process rated among the top five worst characteristics of international arbitration. The fact that parties may resort to a curial review of arbitral awards in an annulment or refusal of enforcement action merely adds on to this delay.

Accrual Of Cause Of Action In Negligence: Ipp Financial Advisers Pte V Saimee Bin Jumaat, Gary Kok Yew Chan

Singapore Law Journal (Lexicon)

Damage is the gist of the action in negligence. An action in negligence is said to accrue only when damage arises. The precise timing of the damage is an important factor in an application to strike out a claim in negligence on the ground that it was filed out of time contrary to the Limitation Act. Consequently, the lawsuit may have to be initiated within a specified period from the accrual of the cause of action.