Sources of Singapore Law - Judicial Precedents

Judicial Precedents

As Singapore is a common law jurisdiction, judgments handed down by the courts are considered a source of law. Judgments may interpret statutes or subsidiary legislation, or develop principles of common law and equity which have been laid down, not by the legislature, but by previous generations of judges. Major portions of Singapore law, particularly contract law, equity and trust law, property law and tort law, are largely judge-made, though certain aspects have now been modified to some extent by statutes.

Legal certainty and the orderly development of legal principles are promoted by the application of the doctrine of stare decisis, also known as the doctrine of binding precedent. According to this doctrine, the decisions of higher courts are binding on lower courts. Thus, judgments of the Court of Appeal are binding on the High Court, and judgments of both of these superior courts are binding on subordinate courts. A judge is generally not bound by previous decisions made by other judges in courts of the same level; thus, a judge hearing a High Court case need not follow previous High Court decisions. Nonetheless, courts will generally do so as a matter of comity unless there are good reasons for doing otherwise. As the final appellate court in Singapore, the Court of Appeal is not bound by its previous decisions or those of predecessor courts such as the Privy Council. However, the Court continues to treat such decisions as "normally binding" and only departs from them "where adherence to such prior decisions would cause injustice in a particular case or constrain the development of the law in conformity with the circumstances of Singapore". Only the ratio decidendi (that is, the legal principle that determines the outcome) of a case is binding according to the doctrine of stare decisis; other legal principles expressed that are not crucial to the final decision (obiter dicta) are only persuasive.

As English courts do not form part of Singapore's hierarchy of courts, decisions of such courts are not binding on Singapore courts. However, as a result of Singapore's colonial heritage, English judicial precedents continue to exercise a strong influence on the legal system and are regarded as highly persuasive, particularly as regards the development of the common law, and the interpretation of English statutes applicable in Singapore and Singapore statutes modelled on English enactments. Judicial precedents from other jurisdictions may also be persuasive in specific areas of Singapore law. For instance, Indian decisions are persuasive in the areas of criminal law and procedure because Singapore borrowed heavily from India in these areas.

The Constitution provides that the President may refer to a tribunal consisting of not less than three judges of the Supreme Court for its opinion any question as to the effect of any provision of the Constitution which has arisen or appears likely to arise. Where a Constitutional Tribunal has given an opinion, no court has jurisdiction to question the opinion, or the validity of any law the bill for which was the subject of a reference to the Tribunal.

During Straits Settlements times, cases pertaining to Singapore appeared in various privately produced and official series of law reports such as Kyshe's Reports (covering cases decided between 1808 and 1939), the Straits Law Journal (1839–1891) and the Straits Settlements Law Reports (1867–1942). From 1932 until 1992, Singapore cases appeared regularly in the Malayan Law Journal (MLJ), the only local series of law reports to be published continuously since the 1930s except during World War II. The MLJ is still consulted for Singapore cases decided prior to full independence in 1965. Since 1992, judgments of the High Court, Court of Appeal and Constitutional Tribunal of Singapore have appeared in the Singapore Law Reports (SLR), which is published by the Singapore Academy of Law under an exclusive licence from the Supreme Court of Singapore. The Academy has also republished cases decided since Singapore's full independence in 1965 that appeared in the MLJ in special volumes of the SLR, and is currently working on a reissue of this body of case law. Cases published in the SLR as well as unreported judgments of the Supreme Court and Subordinate Courts are available on-line from a fee-based service called LawNet, which is also managed by the Academy.