Sources of Singapore law

Judgments may interpret statutes or subsidiary legislation, or develop principles of common law and equity laid down, not by the legislature, but by previous generations of judges.

Statutes are written laws enacted by the Singapore Parliament, as well as by other bodies such as the British Parliament, Governor-General of India in Council and Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements, which had power to pass laws for Singapore in the past.

[5] In practice, most legislation is initiated by the Cabinet, either acting on its own or on the advice of senior civil servants.

Copies of the bill are then distributed to MPs, and it is published in the Government Gazette for the public's information.

The bill then proceeds to the committee stage, where the details of the drafting of the proposed law are examined.

Bills that are more controversial, or that require the views of interested groups or the public, are often referred to a select committee.

The select committee then reports its findings, together with any suggested amendments to the bill, to Parliament.

However, bills seeking to amend the Constitution must be carried by a special majority: not less than two-thirds of all MPs on the second and third readings.

However, an urgent bill accompanied by a Certificate of Urgency signed by the President may have all of its three readings done in the same sitting.

[10][11] Once most bills have been passed by Parliament, they must be submitted to a non-elected advisory body called the Presidential Council for Minority Rights (PCMR).

The PCMR's responsibility is to draw attention to any legislation that, in its opinion, is a "differentiating measure", that is, one that discriminates against any racial or religious community.

If the PCMR submits an adverse report, Parliament can either make amendments to the bill and resubmit it to the council for approval, or decide to present the bill for the President's assent nonetheless provided that a Parliamentary motion for such action has been passed by at least two-thirds of all MPs.

In that case, the bill only becomes law if it is supported by not less than two-thirds of the total number of votes cast at the referendum.

[23] This ensures that changes to the President's discretionary powers can only be made by way of constitutional amendments and not ordinary statutes.

[24] If Parliament does not do so within 30 days of the withholding of assent, it may authorize expenditure or supplementary expenditure, from the Consolidated Fund and Development Fund during the relevant financial year,[25] provided that:[26] If 30 days have passed after a Supply Bill, Supplementary Supply Bill or Final Supply Bill has been presented to the President for assent and her or she has not signified the withholding of assent, the President is deemed to have assented to the bill on the day immediately following the expiration of the 30-day period.

Although there is no general requirement (as there is in the United Kingdom) for subsidiary legislation to be laid before Parliament for its information, this is usually done in Singapore.

Section 2(1) of the Interpretation Act[42] defines "subsidiary legislation" as meaning "any order in council, proclamation, rule, regulation, order, notification, by-law or other instrument made under any Act, Ordinance or other lawful authority and having legislative effect".

[50] This means that any subsidiary legislation that was made ultra vires its parent Act (that is, the Act did not confer power on the agency to make the subsidiary legislation) or is not consistent with any other statute is void to the extent of the inconsistency.

Judgments may interpret statutes or subsidiary legislation, or develop principles of common law and equity that have been laid down, not by the legislature, but by previous generations of judges.

[64] 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.