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Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

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We All Stand Together: The Role Of The Association Of Asian Constitutional Courts And Equivalent Institutions In Promoting Constitutionalism, Maartje De Visser May 2016

We All Stand Together: The Role Of The Association Of Asian Constitutional Courts And Equivalent Institutions In Promoting Constitutionalism, Maartje De Visser

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article critically evaluates the interplay among courts with constitutional jurisdiction in Asia. This is done in the specific context of the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions (AACC). The article finds that the AACC has to date made only a nominal contribution to cultivating inter-court relations in furtherance of common goals and advances the claim that its members ought to rectify this state of affairs. On the one hand, transnational judicial alliances have instrumental value for participating courts in the discharge of their mandate. On the other hand, the AACC can be a useful conduit in nurturing …


Voters’ Choice Showed Their Pragmatic Side, Tan K. B. Eugene May 2016

Voters’ Choice Showed Their Pragmatic Side, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The electoral victory by the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) Murali Pillai in Saturday’s by-election in Bukit Batok did not come as a surprise. Mr Murali won 61.2 per cent of the votes, defeating Singapore Democratic Party’s (SDP) Chee Soon Juan in a straight fight.


Submission On Specific Aspects Of The Elected Presidency, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee Mar 2016

Submission On Specific Aspects Of The Elected Presidency, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This submission, to which minor redactions have been made, was prepared in response to a call for public feedback (archived here) by the Constitutional Commission to study and make recommendations on specific aspects of the Elected Presidency chaired by the Honourable Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon.


The Features Of China's Recent Fta And Their Implications: An Anatomy Of The China-Korea Fta, Heng Wang Mar 2016

The Features Of China's Recent Fta And Their Implications: An Anatomy Of The China-Korea Fta, Heng Wang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The paper analyzes the following questions from a Chinese perspective: what are the characteristics of the China-Korea FTA? And what are their underlying considerations and implications? It argues, first, that the China-Korea FTA is characterized by expanded coverage, highlighted focus on services and investment, increased non-trade concerns of competition and environment, and enhanced good governance norms. Generally the features are not fully developed largely due to the gentle pace of the China-Korea FTA. Among the features, good governance is more salient than others. Second, these features may be attributable to a variety of factors, particularly the response to trade practice …


The Resolution Of Disputes Before The Singapore International Commercial Court, Man Yip Mar 2016

The Resolution Of Disputes Before The Singapore International Commercial Court, Man Yip

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The jurisdictional framework of the Singapore courts has become more nuanced with the establishment of the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) on 5 January 2015 and the signing of the Hague Convention on the Choice of Court Agreements 2005 (Hague Convention) on 25 March 2015. Although the Hague Convention has yet to be incorporated in domestic law, it is expected this will happen in the near future. The SICC project, on the other hand, is part of Singapore's strategy to promote the jurisdiction as an international dispute resolution hub. In essence, the SICC is a domestic specialist court established to …


Modernising Company Law: The Singapore Experience, Pey Woan Lee, Christopher C. H. Chen Mar 2016

Modernising Company Law: The Singapore Experience, Pey Woan Lee, Christopher C. H. Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In October 2014, the Singapore Parliament passed the Companies (Amendment) Act 2014 (Singapore). Encompassing the most comprehensive revision of corporate legislation in the history of Singapore, this Act has been implemented in two phases. This article will consider the impetus for as well as the salient themes that guided this wide-ranging review in the period 2014-2016.


A Vanishing Silhouette: Acts Of State Doctrine(S) And Interim Relief In Singapore, Mahdev Mohan Mar 2016

A Vanishing Silhouette: Acts Of State Doctrine(S) And Interim Relief In Singapore, Mahdev Mohan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This digest examines the intersection between the act of State doctrine, and the power of Singapore courts under Singapore's International Arbitration Act ("IAA") to grant interim relief. It is well settled that this private international law doctrine can be applied by courts at common law when they examine purported sovereign acts of a foreign government to decide on whether they ought to assume or decline jurisdiction.


Mr Lee’S Lasting Legacy: A S’Pore That Continues To Thrive, Tan K. B. Eugene Mar 2016

Mr Lee’S Lasting Legacy: A S’Pore That Continues To Thrive, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Life goes on, a year since Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s passing. This is a reflection of the evolution and adaptability of the Lee Kuan Yew governance model since he stood down as Prime Minister in 1990.


Will Tan Cheng Bock’S “Political Gambit” For Presidency Pay Off?, Tan K. B. Eugene Mar 2016

Will Tan Cheng Bock’S “Political Gambit” For Presidency Pay Off?, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong described Dr Tan’s move as a “calculated political gambit”, which came as a nine-member Constitutional Commission is reviewing the Elected Presidency framework, including the eligibility criteria for candidates. Mr Goh added that Dr Tan risked being misunderstood that he was trying to influence the Commission’s work.


How Should We Honour Our Pioneers Properly?, Tan K. B. Eugene Mar 2016

How Should We Honour Our Pioneers Properly?, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Last Wednesday’s commemoration of the passing of Singapore’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew revealed a nation-state coming to terms with the fact that the first among equals in the founding generation of leaders is no longer with us.


Upholding The Integrity Of The Ncmp Scheme, Tan K. B. Eugene Feb 2016

Upholding The Integrity Of The Ncmp Scheme, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Last Friday’s combative parliamentary debate on filling Ms Lee Li Lian’s vacated Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seat offered a foretaste of the dynamics between the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) and the Workers’ Party’s (WP) in the 13th Parliament.


Use Our Diversity To Strengthen Social Cohesion, Tan K. B. Eugene Feb 2016

Use Our Diversity To Strengthen Social Cohesion, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Two Cabinet Ministers recently offered a sobering view of the state of ethnic relations in Singapore, against the backdrop of rising religiosity and global terrorism. Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam spoke of four threats to social cohesion, including Muslims growing more distant from the rest of society and feelings of Islamophobia among non-Muslims. Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli reiterated the importance of practising religion suited to the local context and for Muslims not to be influenced by radical foreign ideologies — often easily spread through social media.


Myanmar- A New Law For A New Era, Mahdev Mohan Feb 2016

Myanmar- A New Law For A New Era, Mahdev Mohan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

On 5 January, Myanmar’s parliament enacted the Arbitration Law 2016 – Union Parliament Act No. 5 of 2016 – which repeals and replaces the Myanmar Arbitration Act 1944 and represents an important step forward in creating a legal environment that is attractive for investment and commerce.


No U-Turn Needed On The Elected Presidency, Tan K. B. Eugene Jan 2016

No U-Turn Needed On The Elected Presidency, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan cited the commentary "Let's talk about policy failures and the elected presidency" by Professor Kishore Mahbubani, where the latter argued that Singapore’s policy of an elected presidency should be revisited, and perhaps "the time has come to do a U-turn", stop having direct elections and go back to the previous practice of having Parliament elect the president. While Associate Prof Tan noted that Prof Mahbubani's concern is legitimate, he emphasised that the way forward is not a U-turn, but rather, a collective effort to determine how we can reduce the likelihood of electing …


Corporate Reorganisation Of China’S Listed Companies: Winners And Losers, Zinian Zhang Jan 2016

Corporate Reorganisation Of China’S Listed Companies: Winners And Losers, Zinian Zhang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article is the first empirical study investigating the corporate reorganisation of Chinese domestically-listed companies. Through examining these cases, it challenges the assertion made by most of these corporate reorganisation plans and by Chinese state-run media reports that creditors and general public shareholders were the major beneficiaries. Through an analysis of the data generated from all forth-three such cases, this articles reveals that: First, unsecured creditors could have, on average, received 61.37% more of their claims if the fundamental value distribution principle, the absolute priority norm, could have been complied with in these reorganisations; Second, if the general-public-shareholder-protection scheme issued …


The Illegality Defence In Corporate Law Claims Against Directors And Officers, Wai Yee Wan Jan 2016

The Illegality Defence In Corporate Law Claims Against Directors And Officers, Wai Yee Wan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

If a company incurs substantial fines or other pecuniary losses as a result of its unlawful conduct, can the company obtain an indemnity from its director/officer for having caused the company to incur such fines and losses? In particular, can the director/officer utilise the defence of illegality, notwithstanding that he has breached his duties owed to the company? The illegality defence, which raises the twin issues of the relationship between the unlawful act to the corporate claim and the attribution of the unlawful act to the company, has been the subject of detailed analysis recently in England, Singapore and Hong …


The Discretionary Death Penalty For Drug Couriers In Singapore: Four Challenges, Siyuan Chen Jan 2016

The Discretionary Death Penalty For Drug Couriers In Singapore: Four Challenges, Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In 2012, Singapore amended its Misuse of Drugs to give courts hearing capital drug trafficking cases the discretion to replace the default death penalty with life imprisonment and caning, provided that the accused person can show that he was merely a drug courier and the prosecution certifies that he had substantively assisted the authorities in disrupting drug trafficking activities. The Singapore High Court and Court of Appeal have since made important pronouncements on the 2012 amendments, but several challenges remain: first, whether the privilege against self-incrimination has been further eroded; secondly, whether an accused person can invoke the statutory relief …


The State Courts Centre For Dispute Resolution: Serving The Society With Quality Dispute Resolution Services, Dorcas Quek Anderson Jan 2016

The State Courts Centre For Dispute Resolution: Serving The Society With Quality Dispute Resolution Services, Dorcas Quek Anderson

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Court Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) has its origins in a 1994 pilot project in the Subordinate Courts (as it was known then) to have selected District Judges assist in resolving civil disputes using ADR processes. Within two decades, Court ADR has been extended to the entire gamut of cases filed in court, including civil claims, minor criminal offences and family disputes. Court ADR services, which have been known as “Court Dispute Resolution”, have become integral to the delivery of justice in the State Courts. As the Honourable The Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon has observed, ADR has been promoted as the …


Corporate Reorganisation Of China's Listed Companies: Winners And Losers, Zinian Zhang Jan 2016

Corporate Reorganisation Of China's Listed Companies: Winners And Losers, Zinian Zhang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article is the first empirical study investigating the corporate reorganisation of Chinese domestically-listed companies. Through examining these cases, it challenges the assertion made by most of these corporate reorganisation plans and by Chinese state-run media reports that creditors and general public shareholders were the major beneficiaries. Through an analysis of the data generated from all forth-three such cases, this articles reveals that: First, unsecured creditors could have, on average, received 61.37% more of their claims if the fundamental value distribution principle, the absolute priority norm, could have been complied with in these reorganisations; Second, if the general-public-shareholder-protection scheme issued …


A Closer Look At Ncmp, Elected President Reforms, Tan K. B. Eugene Jan 2016

A Closer Look At Ncmp, Elected President Reforms, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The proposed changes to the political system continue the Government’s narrative that political reforms ought to enhance Parliament’s representativeness and increase Singaporeans’ civic participation. They reinforce the Government’s abiding belief that the political system must produce a Government with a clear mandate, demonstrated through a strong parliamentary majority, for it to govern resolutely and decisively in the long-term interests of Singapore.


Much On The Agenda In New Term Of Parliament, Tan K. B. Eugene Jan 2016

Much On The Agenda In New Term Of Parliament, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan highlighted several key issues as President Tony Tan Keng Yam opens the 13th Parliament’s five-year term tomorrow, which include the challenges facing the fourth generation (4G) leaders, the role of the Worker’s Party, as well as the critical issues for Parliament to tackle. Associate Prof Tan said that the 4G leaders will have to develop individual and collective identities and be able to win the confidence and trust of Singaporeans as the leadership transition substantially progresses further in the next few years. He noted that the critical issues for Parliament …


Going Beyond Exams In Educating A Nation, Tan K. B. Eugene Jan 2016

Going Beyond Exams In Educating A Nation, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Today’s the start of the new school year for thousands of students in Singapore: A new beginning, especially for those transitioning from primary to secondary schools. School is such a significant part of our lives, especially in today’s knowledge-based economy.


Weighing The Possible Changes To Singapore’S Political System, Tan K. B. Eugene Jan 2016

Weighing The Possible Changes To Singapore’S Political System, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan shared his views on the key issues outlined by President Tony Tan Keng Yam during his opening address at the first session of the 13th Parliament. Associate Prof Tan noted that President Tan had emphasised that our political system must be refreshed from time to time, as our circumstances change, and that the Government will study this matter carefully, to see whether and how we should improve our political system so that we can be assured of clean, effective, and accountable government over the long term. Associate Prof Tan said …


China’S New Law On Exploration And Exploitation Of Resources In The International Seabed Area Of 2016, Nengye Liu, Rakhyun Kim Jan 2016

China’S New Law On Exploration And Exploitation Of Resources In The International Seabed Area Of 2016, Nengye Liu, Rakhyun Kim

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Despite its rich metallic mineral resources on land,1 the People’s Republic of China (China) has been actively exploring for deep seabed minerals in the international seabed area (the Area).2 The legal framework is provided by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC).3 China and the Russian Federation are the only States currently sponsoring exploration of all three types of deep seabed mineral deposit in the Area (polymetallic nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone, seafloor massive sulphides in the South West Indian Ridge, the Central Indian Ridge, and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts in the …


Learn To Play, Play To Learn: Designing A Digital Board Game For A Law Of Torts Class, Gary Kok Yew Chan, Swee Liang Tan, Khe Foon Timothy Hew, Li Siong Lim, Bernie Grayson Koh Dec 2015

Learn To Play, Play To Learn: Designing A Digital Board Game For A Law Of Torts Class, Gary Kok Yew Chan, Swee Liang Tan, Khe Foon Timothy Hew, Li Siong Lim, Bernie Grayson Koh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper documents the learning journey and outcomes of designing an electronic roll-and-move board game, The Grade Inflation Game (GIGAME). It was developed by the Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) for classes conducted in the School of Law at the Singapore Management University (SMU). It investigates the effectiveness of using an electronic board game in teaching and learning. Based on the survey on 64 student-players of the game, the study revealed that the game enabled students to consolidate objective skills and knowledge while having 'serious' fun.


Criminal Law Act Is Useful — But Handle With Care, Tan K. B. Eugene Dec 2015

Criminal Law Act Is Useful — But Handle With Care, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a significant decision last week, Singapore’s highest court ruled that alleged global football match-fixer Dan Tan Seet Eng’s preventive detention was unlawful. His detention went beyond the scope of discretionary power vested in the Minister for Home Affairs under the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act (CLTPA). The court’s ruling drew criticisms from a former Interpol chief and, ironically, FIFA, football’s graft-ridden governing body.


We Built This City: Public Participation In Land Use Decisions In Singapore, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee Dec 2015

We Built This City: Public Participation In Land Use Decisions In Singapore, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article considers the extent to which the legal framework for making land use decisions in Singapore allows for public participation. It examines the issue from two angles: the creation and preservation of the built environment, and the transient use of public space. The first angle is discussed primarily from a heritage law viewpoint, focusing on planning law, compulsory acquisition law, and the legal regime for creating national monuments. As for the second angle, the article looks at how the use of common spaces for assemblies and processions is regulated. The foregoing are examined in the context of Edward Soja’s …


Accessory Liability In Tort And Equity, Pey Woan Lee Dec 2015

Accessory Liability In Tort And Equity, Pey Woan Lee

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Unlike the position in criminal law, there does not currently exist a general doctrine of accessory liability in civil law. Thus, a person may be liable as an accessory in equity for dishonestly assisting with a breach of trust, but there is no tort for dishonest assistance. Rather, one who participates in another's tort will only be liable if he is a joint tortfeasor acting pursuant to a common design with the primary tortfeasor. This article examines the reasons for this divergence and evaluates the case for their assimilation. It observes that, contrary to common perception, the scope of participatory …


Freedom From Fear In The City Of Light, Tan K. B. Eugene Dec 2015

Freedom From Fear In The City Of Light, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan pointed out that it is absolutely essential to the fight against terrorism that the operational imperative of order and security be balanced against the critical need to ensure that the values a society holds dear are not compromised or undermined. It would be unfair and profoundly subversive to its social cohesion for France to expect the majority of its Muslims to take responsibility for the acts of a few. He added that what is at stake is the inclusiveness of the French national identity, heritage and values — its figurative …


Mediation Goes Global In Singapore, George S. C. Lim, Eunice Chua Nov 2015

Mediation Goes Global In Singapore, George S. C. Lim, Eunice Chua

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Singapore has positioned itself as an international dispute resolution hub in Asia by providing a complete suite of services for international arbitration, international litigation and mediation through the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”), the Singapore International Commercial Court (“SICC”) and the Singapore International Mediation Centre (“SIMC”). SICC and SIMC build on Singapore’s reputation for quality legal services, including its status as the most preferred seat of arbitration in Asia and the third most preferred seat of arbitration in the world.[1] They bring more options to parties facing cross-border disputes who need tailored solutions that meet their needs.