Joel Soon Jian Wei & Chang Wen Yee I. IntroductionIn Tan Seet Eng v Attorney-General, Chief Justice (CJ) Sundaresh Menon famously quipped that “[t]he rule of law is the bedrock on which our society was founded and on which it has thrived.”[1] Yet, the rule of law “is not one that admits of a fixed … Continue reading The Rule of Law: A Brief Explanation
Redress for Legal Misconduct: Iskandar bin Rahmat v Law Society of Singapore [2021] 1 SLR 874
Part VII of the Legal Profession Act (“LPA”) sets out the complex process whereby complaints and investigations into legal misconduct may be undertaken. Section 96 LPA specifically gives a complainant the right to appeal to the High Court (“HC”) for the complaint to be advanced to a disciplinary tribunal where the Council of the Law Society has recommended that the complaint should be dismissed. The Court of Appeal in Iskandar bin Rahmat v Law Society of Singapore clarified that it had the jurisdiction to hear a section 96 LPA appeal against a decision of the HC to dismiss the complaint and decline to advance it to a disciplinary tribunal.
Pleading guilty in Singapore
Bill Puah Ee Jie and Keith Low* I. IntroductionA guilty plea refers to an admission by someone who is accused of a crime that he or she did, in fact, commit the crime. Often, pleading guilty affords an accused a significant discount in sentencing. This discount, accompanied with the costs and time involved in claiming … Continue reading Pleading guilty in Singapore
A Novel Approach to Deriving Sentencing Frameworks: Sentencing as a Science and/or Art? Takaaki Masui v Public Prosecutor [2021] 4 SLR 160
In Takaaki Masui v Public Prosecutor and another appeal and other matters [2021] 4 SLR 160, the High Court introduced a new sentencing framework for purely private corruption offences under ss 6(a) and 6(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Significantly, the HC utilised mathematical concepts to evaluate and determine the content of sentencing frameworks, and also employed multiple two-dimensional and three-dimensional graphs to represent various sentencing frameworks.
The Law Governing Contract Formation: Solomon Lew v Kaikhushru Shiavax Nargolwala and other and another appeal [2021] SGCA(I) 1
Cross-border contracts often raise questions as to which country’s law should govern the contract. A three-stage test is usually used to determine the governing law. The first two stages determine, respectively, whether parties had expressly or impliedly chosen a governing law, and the third stage determines the governing law based on the law with the closest connection to the contract (if no express or implied choice had been made). However, this test assumes that a contract exists in the first place. If the very existence of a contract is disputed and each contracting party argues that a different law governs the issue of contract formation, does the three-stage test apply or is a different approach required?
The State of Statements in Singapore’s Legal System
Bill Puah Ee Jie* I. Introduction During the investigations of crimes, numerous statements are often recorded by the police. Different types of statements might also be taken at different times. Unfortunately, the process remains relatively unknown to the public and therefore may create an undue amount of uncertainty and unease for those undergoing the process. … Continue reading The State of Statements in Singapore’s Legal System
The penal-compensatory dichotomy of liquidated damages clauses: Denka Advantech Pte Ltd v Seraya Energy Pte Ltd [2021] 1 SLR 631
In Denka Advantech Pte Ltd v Seraya Energy Pte Ltd [2021] 1 SLR 631, the Court of Appeal affirmed the old rule on contractual penalties as articulated by Lord Dunedin in Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company, Ltd v New Garage and Motor Company, Limited [1915] AC 79: a liquidated damages clause is only enforceable if it is compensatory in nature, meaning that it provides a “genuine pre-estimate” of the likely loss caused by the breach.
Establishing the Authenticity of a Document: CIMB Bank Berhad v World Fuel Services (Singapore) Pte Ltd and another appeal [2021] SGCA 19
The authenticity of a document is of paramount importance in the law of evidence. This was illustrated in CIMB Bank Berhad v World Fuel Services (Singapore) Pte Ltd and another appeal [2021] SGCA 19, which concerned the authenticity of a deed of debenture, i.e. a document which creates or acknowledges a debt.
Judicial Review of Prosecutorial Decisions
Written by Fun Wei Xuan, Joel* I. IntroductionProsecutorial discretion, broadly speaking, refers to the Public Prosecutor’s ability to, in its sole discretion, make a myriad of decisions, including: whether to initiate prosecution, what charge to prefer, whether to amend a charge, and whether to discontinue prosecution.[1] This power is provided for in Article 35(8) of … Continue reading Judicial Review of Prosecutorial Decisions
The Right Time and Place for a Criminal Motion: Amarjeet Singh v Public Prosecutor [2021] SGHC 73
Criminal motions are routinely filed to seek a broad range of remedies associated with the court’s criminal jurisdiction. There being no explicit limits on the sort of remedies pursuable by way of a criminal motion, it risks being abused to subvert established mechanisms that gatekeep other court procedures. The question then is: in what context would the filing of a criminal motion be appropriate (or not)?
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