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Full-Text Articles in Law
Equality And Singapore’S First Constitutional Challenges To The Criminalization Of Male Homosexual Conduct, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Equality And Singapore’S First Constitutional Challenges To The Criminalization Of Male Homosexual Conduct, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Jack Tsen-Ta LEE
In 2013, in Lim Meng Suang and Kenneth Chee Mun-Leon v Attorney-General and Tan Eng Hong v Attorney-General, the High Court of Singapore delivered the first judgments in the jurisdiction considering the constitutionality of section 377A of the Penal Code, which criminalizes acts of 'gross indecency' between two men, whether they occur in public or private. The Court ruled that the provision was not inconsistent with the guarantees of equality before the law and equal protection of the law stated in Article 12(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore. The result was upheld in 2014 by the Court …
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
Jack Tsen-Ta LEE
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 …
Protecting Human Rights: The Approach Of The Singapore Courts, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Protecting Human Rights: The Approach Of The Singapore Courts, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Jack Tsen-Ta LEE
The Constitution is the supreme law of Singapore, but have the courts unnecessarily limited their role of upholding the Constitution? This article is based on a speech delivered at an event at the Conrad Centennial Singapore on 4 December 2014 entitled The Role of the Judiciary in the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights organized by the Delegation of the European Union to Singapore to commemorate Human Rights Day.
A Legal Backgrounder On By-Elections, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
A Legal Backgrounder On By-Elections, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Jack Tsen-Ta LEE
The expulsion of Yaw Shin Leong, the Member of Parliament for Hougang Single Member Constituency, from the Workers’ Party has once again thrust the issue of the Singapore Government’s policy on by-elections into the limelight. This opinion piece considers whether the Government is right in taking the view that it has wide discretion to determine when, and if, to hold a by-election; and the possible consequences of an existing Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) standing as a candidate in a by-election.
The Mandatory Death Penalty And A Sparsely Worded Constitution, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
The Mandatory Death Penalty And A Sparsely Worded Constitution, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Jack Tsen-Ta LEE
It was not unexpected that the Singapore Court of Appeal would reaffirm the constitutionality of the mandatory death penalty for certain forms of drug trafficking in Yong Vui Kong v Public Prosecutor [2010] 3 S.L.R 489. ... The appellant made submissions based on Articles 9(1) and 12(1) of the Constitution, which respectively guarantee rights to life and personal liberty, and to equality before the law and equal protection of the law. This note examines aspects of the Article 9(1) arguments.
Equal Protection And Sexual Orientation, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Equal Protection And Sexual Orientation, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Jack Tsen-Ta LEE
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 …