8/12/20

AB1301 Business Law

Seminar 1
Society, Business & The Law
Corinne Tan
Aug 2020

Housekeeping
◉ Presentations (Groups of 4-5, 9 groups in total)
○ 4 groups of 4, 5 groups of 5 (approximately)
○ Possible change in numbers after add/drop period
◉ Presentations to run on Seminars 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11
◉ Presentations usually on concept (will be furnished a week ahead, latest by
Wednesday evening) or worksheet questions (as assigned / agreed with me)
◉ Preference to be in specific group – please email me at corinne.tan@ntu.edu.sg by
Wednesday, 12 August, 6 pm (otherwise random assignment) – Do list full names
of group members, Seminar group no. (in subject of email) and perhaps indicate
which Seminar you like to be responsible for (otherwise random assignment)
◉ Lookout for announcement on concept/worksheet questions to be presented on
for Week 2 put up on Wednesday evening, 12 August – If you are keen to do Week
2
2, let me know
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Overview

◉ Introduction to law and the Singapore legal

system
◉ Doctrine of judicial precedent
◉ Statutory interpretation

Definition and function of law

◉ Law: A set of rights and obligations in a given society

which are enforceable
◉ Purpose:
○ Maintain order in society
○ Promote the rule of law and preserve the rights and
liberties of individuals
○ Reflection of society’s moral values
○ Resolution of disputes
○ Facilitate entry into transactions and regulate relationships

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Structure of Government

Singapore Constitutional
Structure

President
(Head of State)

Prime Minister
Supreme Court
(Head of Government) Parliament
State Courts
Cabinet

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Parliamentary Process of Law

Making

First Reading of Bill Bill is introduced

Bill is debated and may be referred to a Select Committee for

Second Reading of Bill scrutiny

Third Reading of Bill Minor amendments, if any

Presidential Council for Minority Rights Adverse report by the Council can be overridden by a two-thirds
majority in Parliament

Passed by Parliament

Presidential Assent

Act of Parliament enters into force at the date of publication in the

Gazetted Government Gazette or the commencement date specified

Singapore Legal System

Singapore founded
• in 1819 (arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles)

Second Charter of Justice 1826

• Established the Court of Judicature in Singapore, Penang and Malacca with civil
and criminal jurisdiction & provided the legal basis for the general reception of
English law in Singapore

Civil Ordinance 1878

• provided that current English law would apply to all commercial matters (ie,
English mercantile law), unless there was local legislation in force, subsequently
developed into Section 5 of the Civil Law Act (now repealed)

Independence in 1965
• Singapore becomes a sovereign nation when it is separated from Malaysia

Application of English Law Act (“AELA”) 1993

• only English statutes (or specified parts of these statutes) listed in the First
Schedule apply (for eg, Marine Insurance Act, Unfair Contract Terms Act, Sale of
Goods Act, Carriage of Goods by Sea Act), see Section 4 8

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Autochthonous Legal System

◉ Concern around the incompatibility of English law

◉ Practice Statement on Judicial Precedent (1994)
○ “…[t]he development of our law should reflect these changes [that
political, social and economic circumstances have changed
enormously since Singapore’s independence] and the fundamental
values of Singapore society. ”
○ Permanent Court of Appeal not bound by prior decisions of the Privy
Council, Singapore’s predecessor courts as well as earlier Court of
Appeal
◉ Conscious approach to develop its own
jurisprudence
○ Abolishment of jury system
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Sources of Singapore Law

◉ Legislation (Statutes and Subsidiary

Legislation)
○ https://sso.agc.gov.sg/
○ http://www.lawnet.com.sg

◉ Case Law (also referred to as Common Law)

○ https://www.singaporelawwatch.sg/Judgments
○ http://www.lawnet.com.sg
Note : The term “common law” can be used in three distinct ways (ie, Common Law vs Equity; Common Law vs Statutory Law (as above) and
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Common Law vs Civil Law (as in the type of legal system)

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Classifications of Laws

◉ Common Law vs Civil Law (Legal System)

○ Common Law: Singapore, Australia, United Kingdom, United States, Hong
Kong, India
○ Civil Law: China, Japan, Germany, France, Spain, Vietnam

◉ Civil Law vs Criminal Law

○ Civil: One disputing party against another (eg, Donoghue v Stevenson
(1932) All ER 1)
○ Criminal: State against accused (eg, DPP v Tan Ah Know (2000) SLR 1)

◉ Other Classifications
○ Public Law vs Private Law
○ Substantive Law vs Procedural Law

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Statutory interpretation –
General approaches
Literal rule Words in statutory provisions should be construed according to their plain, ordinary and
literal meaning
Golden rule Where the literal rule gives rise to an absurd result that could not have been intended,
this rule can be applied to give a reasonable meaning in light of the statute as a whole
○ Court to ascertain the spirit and intention of Parliament here
Mischief rule Where the words in a statute are ambiguous, the court can examine the mischief that
the statute was intended to remedy
○ Also known as the rule in Heydon’s case (1584)
○ Of narrower application than the literal and golden rules
○ Eg, Smith v Hughes (1960)
■ Relevant statute made it an offence to “… loiter or solicit in the street for the
purposes of prostitution”
■ Defendant called to men in the street from balconies
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■ Court held that literal rule did not apply and applied the mischief rule instead.
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Statutory interpretation –
Other approaches

◉ Purposive rule
○ The purpose or object underlying the statute should be examined to ascertain
the meaning of the words (see Section 9A(1) of the Interpretation Act)

○ Act)

◉ Ejusdem generis
○ Where words in a statute contain specific words followed by general words,
the general words should be interpreted from the same kind or genus as the
specific words
○ Eg, “… cars, lorries, buses and any other such vehicles…”, what would “any other
such vehicles” be likely to refer to? (ie, trucks, motorcycles, aeroplanes, ships?)

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Statutory interpretation –
Intrinsic aids

◉ Preliminary (tells you what the Act is about)

◉ Definition / Interpretation (defines terms used
in the Act)
◉ Appendices or Schedules
◉ Legislative History

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Statutory interpretation –
Extrinsic aids

◉ Under Section 9A(2) of the Interpretation Act, extrinsic

materials can be used to:
○ Confirm the meaning of the statute taking into account its
purpose or object; or
○ Ascertain the meaning of the statute when there is:
■ Ambiguity or obscurity; or [Mischief Rule]
■ Ordinary meaning of the statute leads to a result that is
manifestly absurd or unreasonable. [Golden Rule]

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Statutory interpretation –
Extrinsic aids

◉ Extrinsic materials which may be used

(Section 9A(3) of the Interpretation Act)
include:
○ Explanatory statements relating to the Bill
○ Speeches
○ Parliamentary debates
○ Treaty or any other international agreement
○ Reports of relevant Committees

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Doctrine of Judicial Precedent

◉ Stare Decisis (Latin): Let the decision stand

◉ Once a decision (or precedent) on a certain set
of facts has been made, judges in lower courts Court of
Appeal
must abide by previous decisions made by
superior courts within the court hierarchy,
should the relevant cases present the same or High Court
similar set of facts
◉ Doctrine promotes uniformity and consistency
of decisions within the court hierarchy State Courts
○ Enhances certainty of the law for potential litigants

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Ratio decidendi
◉ Ratio decidendi (Latin): Reason for the decision
◉ Principle/rule of law which is applied to the facts of a case/dispute
and which forms the basis of a judicial decision
◉ The ratio is the binding authority (and sets the precedent) for judges
in future cases to follow
◉ R (Kadhim) v Brent London Borough Council Housing Benefit
Review Board [2001] QB 955 (CA) (Buxton LJ):
○ “the ratio decidendi of a case is any rule of law, expressly or
impliedly treated by the judge as a necessary step in reaching
his conclusion, having regard to the line of reasoning adopted
by him.”
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Obiter dictum

◉ Obiter dictum (Latin): Refers to a legal principle or

statement that is not directly applied to arrive at
the outcome in a case
◉ Include a statement made by the way as a passing
observation or a chance remark
◉ Obiter dictum is not binding even on a lower court,
merely persuasive
◉ May be identified by accompanying words such
as “suppose”, “assume” or “for example”

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Where precedent is not

binding

◉ Distinguishing facts
○ Facts of the present dispute can be materially “distinguished”
from the facts in the previous decision of the higher court so as
to render the ratio of the previous decision inapplicable
◉ Identification as obiter dictum
○ Legal principle in the previous decision sought to be applied was
merely obiter and hence not binding
◉ Overruling
○ The legal rule in an earlier case is seen to be wrong, see R v
Jogee [2016] UKSC 8 where a precedent that has been applied
for almost 30 years on joint enterprise is overruled

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Thanks!
Any questions ?
Stay on to have a chat after class or you can
email me at
◉ corinne.tan@ntu.edu.sg

Special thanks to all the people who made and released these awesome resources for free:
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Presentation template by SlidesCarnival

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