PSS101: The Nature of the Law, The Classification of the Law, The Sources of Singapore Law, Singapore Court Structure: Introduction to the Singapore Legal System Case Study, SUSS, Singapore

Singapore Legal System

Contents

A. The Nature of the Law
B. The Classification of the Law
C. The Sources of Singapore Law
D. Singapore Court Structure

A. THE NATURE OF THE LAW

A.1 Definition

1.1 A simple definition of law is a set of rules to be obeyed (ie. there may be laws of science, laws of morality, the law of God, or the law of a state).

A.2 The Need for Law

2.1 Let us imagine that there are no rules to be obeyed and everyone is allowed to do as he or she likes.

2.2 There will be insecurity and fear in the people. This is because crimes will be freely committed against the innocent as there will be no rules against committing such crimes which will discourage the criminal with punishment.

2.3 There will also be no certainty in business transactions. This is because a person can freely break any business agreement as he will not be liable for the resulting loss if there are no rules against breaking the agreement.

2.4 Law is, therefore, necessary to protect the rights of the individual and to ensure that society is in good order so that it may progress further.

A.3 Law and Morality

3.1 Morality is based on generally accepted values such as principles of right, good, and fairness that are used by society to distinguish between wrong and right.

3.2 Most moral values have been adopted as part of the law of the state. However, there are exceptions where immoral acts like adultery are not crimes, and abortion is legally allowed. The law will only enforce a moral obligation if it is also a legal obligation.

B. THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE LAW

B.1 Criminal Law and Civil Law

1.1 The two most common types of classification of law are criminal law and civil law which are the most likely to affect our daily lives.

1.2 Civil law defines the rights and duties of the individual in his dealings with other individuals in society. It thus includes the law of contract, the law of tort, property law, and family law. If a person is in breach of contract he has to compensate the injured or aggrieved party for the loss.

e.g. Soh contracts to sell Tan 100 lbs of sugar for $400.00. Soh deliberately fails to deliver the goods and therefore is in breach of contract. Tan has to buy the sugar from another source for $450.00. Soh must compensate Tan for the loss suffered by the latter i.e. $50.00.

1.3 Criminal Law comprises rules which regulate the behavior of people in the state. The state is concerned to see that misconduct, or crime, which affects the community as a whole is punished. Therefore, if a person violates any of the rules, he will be dealt with and punished by the state.

e.g. It is a criminal offense to rape or rob and if a person is convicted of the offense, punishment like imprisonment or canning or both may be ordered by the court.

1.4 The classification of the law into civil and criminal law in one way enables us to determine with certainty whether a wrongful act is a criminal wrong or a civil wrong.

However, there are instances where a single act may involve the violation of both criminal and civil laws. e.g. John punches Kelly and injures him. John has committed a crime of causing hurt and may be punished by a fine and/or imprisonment.

He has also committed a civil wrong against Kelly and may be sued by Kelly for monetary compensation like hospital charges, pain, and suffering.

1.5 Although in this course we are only learning about civil law, it is useful to know some differences between the two laws:

(1) In criminal law, the State Prosecutor, either a police inspector or a Deputy Public Prosecutor will prosecute the accused known as the Defendant in court for the crime committed.

The case since it is brought by the Public Prosecutor will take the form of PP v Lim Tua Tow, where Lim Tua Tow is the accused.

In civil law, the person injured, known as the Plaintiff, will sue the wrongdoer, also known as the Defendant, for the civil wrong that is done. Because all lawsuit in civil law is brought by one individual against another (although the “individual” can be a company or a government department), the case takes the form of Ting Tong Foo v Peng San, where Ting Tong Foo is the plaintiff and Peng San is the defendant.

(2) In prosecuting the defendant, the prosecutor must be able to prove that the defendant is guilty by producing evidence. The standard of proof must be that of Beyond Reasonable Doubt in order for the prosecution to be successful.

In a civil lawsuit, the Plaintiff needs only produce evidence to prove that the defendant is liable on a Balance of probability standard.

(3) Once the court decides that the defendant is guilty, he will be convicted of the crime and a sentence will be passed. The guilty person may then be punished by a fine, imprisonment, canning, a combination of the three or death depending on the nature and gravity of the crime.

But in a civil suit where the court decides that the defendant is liable, a judgment will be given against him. The defendant may be ordered to make compensation to the plaintiff. In most cases, the defendant must pay money to the plaintiff.

C SOURCES OF SINGAPORE LAW

C.1 Written And Unwritten Laws

1.1 In order to identify the scope of Singapore law, we must know its sources. The sources of Singapore law are either written or unwritten law. Written law is superior to unwritten law.

1.2 “Written law refers to the law that is enacted by Parliament. This is sometimes known as statute or enactment. On the other hand, unwritten law includes case law and custom.”

C.2 Written law

Written law includes:
(1) The Constitution of Singapore;
(2) Legislation; and
(3) Subsidiary Legislation.

C.3 The Constitution of Singapore

3.1 The Constitution of Singapore provides for the running of the state (such as the structure of government) and the fundamental rights of the individuals (such as the right to personal liberty, equality before the law, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, etc).

3.2 The Constitution is the supreme law of the land. Any legislation that is inconsistent with the Constitution is void to the extent of the inconsistency.

3.3 In Singapore, the system of government consists of the Executive, the Legislature, and the Judiciary. The Constitution governs all three branches of the government.

(1) The Executive is made up of the President, the Prime Minister, and his Cabinet.
(2) The Legislature consists of the Parliament and the President.
(3) The Judiciary consists of the judges of the Supreme Court and the Subordinate Courts.

C.4 Legislation

4.1 Legislations are statutes made by the Parliament. There are over three hundred statutes such as the Bankruptcy Act, Employment Act, and the Copyright Act. Judges are required to interpret the provisions of the statute, but they cannot change them.

4.2 When Parliament decides to make a new law, the proposed law starts as a Bill which is usually introduced by a government minister. The Bill goes through 3 readings. After which, the Bill is then put to a vote. As a general rule, a simple majority is required to pass a Bill.

4.3 Once the Bill is passed by Parliament it is presented to the Presidential Council for Minority Rights. Once the President assents to the Bill it becomes an Act of Parliament. However, the law comes into force only on the date of its publication in the Government Gazette.

C.5 Subsidiary Legislation

5.1 A Legislation may deal with technical or other matters that require specialized knowledge in which case the Legislation may give power to a minister or other persons or bodies to make rules or regulations for specified purposes. It will lay down the outline and general principles leaving the minister responsible or a government body to fill in the additional rules and regulations.

5.2 These rules and regulations are called subsidiary or delegated legislation. The legislation (i.e. An Act, for example, the Road Traffic Act, will outline general principles but will leave the details to be formulated in the subsidiary legislation, for example, the Motor Vehicles (Restricted Zone and Area Licensing) Rules 1975 or the Road Traffic Regulations.

C.6 Unwritten Law

Unwritten law includes:
(1) Case law; and
(2) Custom

C.7 Case Law (Common Law)

By case law (sometimes referred to as Common Law) is meant the decision of judges laying down legal principles given the facts of the particular disputes. Historically, these decisions were by the judges of the English King’s Courts.

The word “unwritten” means that the law was not embodied in a code or statute for a good deal of the English common law has come down in the recorded judgments of those judges who interpreted it. Judges have sometimes said that they do not make law but merely discover and declare it. Of course, in reality, they do make law, for example, the common law principles as found in the English Court of Appeal case of Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co [1893] and the famous English landmark case of Donoghue v Stevenson [1932].

{NB: The title of the case which the judges have heard and decided upon may be: Ah Beng v Ah Lian. Here, the plaintiff could be Ah Beng and the defendant Ah Lian. But the fact that Ah Beng’s name appears first in the title does not necessarily mean that he is automatically the plaintiff. Ah Beng could have been the defendant who has lost the case and is now appealing.

The law reports reporting the judgment on appeal may then cite his name first as he is now known as the appellant. If so, Ah Lian is known as the respondent. It is always prudent to check the status of the parties from the judgment.} The common law therefore continues to develop as our Singaporean judges continue to formulate legal principles through their judgments. Equity, as well as common law can be developed by the judges.

A good example of how a Singaporean judge has shaped the development of equity is in the Singapore High Court case of Sumitomo Bank v Madam Kartika Ratna Thahir [1992] the judge, Lai Kew Chai J. made a milestone ruling on the law of corruption.

C.8 Judicial Precedent (A Past Legal Example)

8.1 The reason why importance is attached to case law is explained by the doctrine of judicial precedent which is also known as stare decisis (let the decision stand). This means that when a judge decides on a case, he must always look back to see how previous judges have dealt with previous cases (precedents) which have involved similar facts in that branch of the law. In looking back, the judge will expect to discover those principles of law which are relevant to the case before him. The principle of law that emerges from the case is known as the ratio decidendi (reason for the decision) of the case. An example may help to illustrate the nature of the ratio decidendi.

eg. X, a worker at a factory owned by Y, is ordered to perform a welding task by Z, the supervisor, and is not supplied with a protective shield. While performing the task, he loses the sight of one eye as a result of a spark damaging it. We assume that there is  no existing case law or statute on the point to assist the judge. The judge decides that in these circumstances, Y is negligent and is therefore liable to X (i.e. the ratio decidendi). Obviously, this means that in any future case a worker required to do welding work without a protective shield can sue his employer if he is injured. The injured worker’s lawyer would cite the case of X v Y as authority for the proposition that his client should succeed.

8.2 Sometimes in the course of his judgment, a judge may make comments which do not contribute to the court’s decision. Such comments are obiter dicta and have no binding authority. eg. The judge in X v Y may comment that Y will escape liability if he can show that X is an experienced welder and had habitually refused to use a protective shield even though one had been provided for him.

8.3 The main advantage of the doctrine of judicial precedent is that it leads to consistency in the application of legal principles in each branch of the law (i.e. there must be similar treatment in the case of similar facts).

8.4 Whether a court is bound by the doctrine of judicial precedent depends on the following:

1) It is bound to follow only the legal principle (ratio decidendi) of the past decision if the facts of the case are similar;
2) It is bound to follow the decision of a superior court; and
3) The availability of a good and reliable system of law reporting.

8.5 Case law in Singapore comprises:

(1) Singapore Case Law (ie. cases decided by a Singapore court)
(2) English cases that are received through the Singapore legislation. The Application of English Law Act is an important example
(3) Case Law from other common law jurisdictions interpreting provisions in their statutes which are similar or identical to our local statutes

C.9 Equity

9.1 In receiving English case law, Equity was also received. As common law was developed by the King’s Courts in England, this development of English common law was later rivalled by the development of Equity in the English Court of Chancery. Equity was developed to ensure that a remedy exists for grievances for which the common law supplies no remedy. Equity owes its origin to the doctrine that the King is the “fountain of justice” and that he must ensure that justice is done. Thus a practice grew amongst dissatisfied litigants in the 13th century to petition the King to remedy their troubles.

For a time, the King-in-Council determined these petitions himself. Later the petitions became too numerous for the King to handle personally. He therefore delegated this task to his principal Minister, the Lord Chancellor. At first, the Lord Chancellor would deal with the petitions in the name of the King, but he soon realised that he might as well deal with it in his own name. The year 1474 is regarded as the rise of the Court of Chancery for in that year we find the first recorded cases where the Lord Chancellor issued a decree in his own name rather than in the name of the King.

Equity would not disregard the common law but fill in the gaps which the common law would not reach. In other words, equity supplements common law. Thus Equity developed the remedies of specific performance and injunction and gave relief where contracts had been entered into by mistake or where induced by fraud. In fact, the whole law of trusts is the result of the product of Equity.

The principles that emanated or flowed from the Court of Chancery are therefore known as equitable principles. You will encounter these equitable principles in the later lectures. Equity therefore supplements common law. eg. Under common law, a plaintiff is compensated with money if the defendant fails to deliver goods as agreed so that replacement goods may be bought. But under Equity, the court may order the defendant to deliver the goods to the plaintiff instead where the goods are unique and replacement goods are not available in the market. This court order is known as specific performance.

C.10 Custom

10.1 Custom as a source of law must be looked into. In a multi-racial state like ours, there are several customs like Malay, Indian and Chinese. These customs have been applied mainly in Family Law (i.e. rules on marriages, divorces, etc)

10.2 Today, these customs have been replaced by two pieces of legislation. They are the Women’s Charter and the Administration of Muslim Law Act.

10.3 There are also “legal” and “trade” customs which becomes a source of law if the courts accept such customs to be a source of law.

D. THE COURT STRUCTURE

D.1 Introduction

1.1 Courts exist so that disputes may be brought before them for their judicial decisions.

1.2 Courts may be classified as either a court of first instance or an appellate court.

1.3 The court that first hears the dispute is the court of first instance. If any party is not satisfied with this court’s decision, they may appeal against the decision in an appellate court.

1.4 This appellate court’s decision may in turn be appealed against as provided by the relevant
statutes.

D.2 The Courts

2.1 The following courts are part of the court structure in Singapore:
(1) The Subordinate Courts;
(2) The Supreme Court; and
(3) The Syariah Court. (For additional information only) – which deals with religious, matrimonial and related matters concerning the Muslim community

D.3 Jurisdiction of the Courts

3.1 Jurisdiction refers to the limit of a court’s power to deal with different types of cases. For example, in civil matters, a magistrates’ court’s jurisdiction is limited to hearing claims of not more than $60,000. It does not have the jurisdiction (power) to hear claims of more than $60,000.

D.4 The Subordinate Courts

4.1 The subordinate Courts of Singapore include:

(1) Juvenile Courts;
(2) Family Court;
(3) Coroners’ Courts:
(4) Small Claims Tribunals;
(5) Magistrates’ Courts; and
(6) District Courts.

4.2 There can be and are other subordinate courts, if the President of Singapore creates them. In this module, we are more concerned about the Small Claims Tribunals, the Magistrates Courts and the District Courts.

D.5 Small Claims Tribunals

5.1 They are courts of first instance with Referees presiding. Proceedings at the Small Claims Tribunal are conducted in an informal manner and lawyers are not allowed to represent the parties to the dispute. The parties conduct their own proceedings before a Referee who is legally trained.

5.2 The Small Claims Tribunals has limited jurisdiction (power). It hears disputes arising from contracts for the sale of goods or the provision of services, and claims relating to damage to property (excluding property damage arising from motor vehicle accidents) where the amount in dispute does not exceed $10,000.

5.3 Where the amount in dispute is over $10,000 but below $20,000, the parties to the dispute can agree in writing to have the case heard by a tribunal.

5.3 The parties may appeal to the High Court on grounds of law but not facts.

5.4 The advantage of such an action is that it is cheap and quick although it does not prevent the plaintiff from commencing an action in the Magistrates’ Courts.

D.6 Magistrates’ Courts

6.1 They are also courts of first instance with Magistrates presiding.

6.2 Magistrates’ Courts also hear both civil and criminal cases.

6.3 The civil jurisdiction of Magistrates’ Courts is $60,000.

6.4 In criminal cases, Magistrates’ Courts may try offences where the maximum term of imprisonment does not exceed 3 years, or where only a fine can be imposed.

6.5 Appeals against the magistrates’ courts’ decisions on both civil and criminal matters can be made to the High Court. But there shall be no appeal in a civil matter if the parties agree in writing that the decision of the court is final.

D.7 District Courts

7.1 Like the magistrates’ courts, they are also courts of the first instance but with district court judges presiding instead.

7.2 Generally, District Courts deal with civil claims not exceeding $250,000 in value.

7.3 In criminal cases, District Courts may try offenses where the maximum term of imprisonment does not exceed 10 years.

7.4 Parties in cases before the district courts can also appeal to the High Court on similar conditions as set out for parties before the Magistrates’ Courts.

D.8 The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court consists of:
(1) the High Court;
(2) the Court of Appeal;

D.9 The High Court

9.1 The High Court is very powerful and can preside over any dispute whether civil or criminal except those matters relating to the Muslim community which is dealt with by the Syariah Court.

9.2 There is usually one Supreme Court Judge sitting in the High Court when the court is in session.

9.3 The High Court has unlimited jurisdiction in all kinds of civil and criminal matters.
9.4 The High Court is also an appellate court. It can hear appeals from the Subordinate Courts, whether criminal or civil.

D.10 The Court of Appeal

10.1 The Court of Appeal is an appellate court. The Court of Appeal hears appeals against judgments of the High Court in civil and criminal matters whether the High Court is sitting as a court of instance or an appellate court.

10.2 The court consists of the Chief Justice and the Judges of Appeal. The Chief Justice may appoint 1 or more Judges of Appeal as vice-presidents of the Court of Appeal. Civil and criminal jurisdiction exercised by 3 or any greater uneven number of Judges of Appeal.

10.3 There is an automatic right of appeal to the Court of Appeal from the High Court in civil matters if the claim exceeds $250,000. Where the claim is $250,000 or less, the party that wants to appeal must obtain permission to appeal from the High Court or the Court of Appeal.

D.11 Concept of Superior Court

11.1 A judicial precedent is binding only if it comes from a superior court.

11.2 In the section on court structure, we note that the courts have different jurisdictions of varying powers. These courts can be arranged in an order of descending power as follows:
(1) The Court of Appeal;
(2) The High Court; and
(3) The Subordinate Courts.

11.3 Using this arrangement, the rules as laid down by case law may be explained as follows:

(1) The decision of any court ie. superior to the one below it in terms of power, binds all the courts below them. eg. The decision of the Court of Appeal binds the two levels of the courts below it.

(2) A court is bound only by the courts that are above them ie. superior to it. eg. The High Court is bound by decisions of the Court of Appeal but it is not bound by the Subordinate Courts.