Singapore Legislation

Conducted by: Carol Wee & Bissy IthackContent by: Lee Su-Lin

14th August 2013 © C J Koh Law Library 2009-2014

Journal articles

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, without the written permission of the copyright holder, application for which should be addressed to the author. Such written permission must also be obtained before any part of this publication is stored in a retrieval system of any nature.

No copyright is claimed in the text of statutes, regulations and court decisions quoted within this work.

© C J Koh Law Library 2009-2014

© C J Koh Law Library 2009-2014

This tutorial is specifically designed for the Legal Analysis, Writing and Research course for first year law students (AY2013/2014).

The purpose of this tutorial is to teach students how to find• Singapore legislation &• articles in local law journals.

© C J Koh Law Library 2009-2014

Contents1.Primary sources of law p.5

2.Singapore legislation p.6

3.Secondary sources of law p.19

4.Law journals and reviews p.21

5.Articles on Singapore law p.23

Primary Sources of Law

Primary sources of law are authoritative records of law made by the law-making bodies of Singapore.

The 2 main sources of law are:

1. Legislationo Statuteso Subsidiary legislationo Quasi-legislation.

2. Case LawDecisions of the Singapore courts.

Let’s Re-cap

5

The 2 main sources of legislation in Singapore today:

I. Statutes of the Republic of Singapore (primary legislation) Ref: K7399 1985

II. Subsidiary Legislation of the Republic of Singapore (secondary legislation) Ref: K7449 1990

Singapore LegislationIntroduction

6

Singapore LegislationLegislative Process

The Legislature, the law-making body in Singapore, compriseso the President o the Parliament of Singapore.

Statutes begin life as Bills which are drafted by legal officers in the Attorney-General's Chambers.

A Bill becomes law when it iso passed by Parliament and o assented to by the President.

An Act comes into force on a date determined by the Minister and notified by a Commencement Notification in the Government Gazette.

7

Attorney-General’s ChambersBill is drafted

Parliament•Bill will be debated or referred to a Select Committee•Bill is passed by Parliament and assented to by the President

Government Printer•Act is published in the Government Gazette•Act comes into force on date determined by the Minister and notified by Commencement Notification in the Gazette

Singapore LegislationLegislative Process

becomes law

8

For more details, see The Legislative Process (by AGC)

9

The Act Amendments to Act

Substantial amendments to ActRevised edition of Act(authoritative version)Ref: K7399 1985

Act SupplementE.g. 36 of 2000Ref: K7399 SA

Subsidiary LegislationSupplementE.g. S 262/2004Ref: K7449 SLS

Consolidation of amendmentsConsolidated version of ActOnline: http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/

•Bill•Parliamentary debate/ Select committee report

Rules madepursuant to ActSingapore SubsidiaryLegislationRef: K7449 1990

Singapore LegislationAmendments to Acts

10

Acts Supplement

Singapore LegislationAmendments to Acts

Examples: No.1 of 2004 and No.3 of 2004

Ref: K7399 SA

11

Earlier Revised Editions of the Singapore Statutes

1970 Rev. Ed.1955 Rev. Ed. 1985 Rev. Ed.

Singapore LegislationAmendments to Acts

I. Latest Revised Edition

• heavily amended Acts are revised by the Law Revision Commission, AGC• these are the authoritative versions of Singapore Acts• available at the Law Library RBR.

• Singapore Acts are updated regularly by the Attorney General’s Chambers• available on Singapore Statutes Online: http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/

II. Consolidated Version

Singapore LegislationCurrent Versions of Acts

12

Title of ActChapter No.

Original Act

Current Rev. Ed.

PreviousRev. Eds.

Previous Rev. Eds.amended byActs Supplements

Date currentRev. Ed. came into effect

I. Latest Revised Edition (at Law Library RBR)

e.g. Computer Misuse Act

Singapore LegislationCurrent Versions of Acts

13

Original Act

PreviousRev. Eds.

Acts Supplementsamending the revised editions

I. Latest Revised Edition (at Law Library RBR)

e.g. Computer Misuse Act

Singapore LegislationCurrent Versions of Acts

14

The legislative history of the Act can also be found towards the back of the Act:

II. Consolidated Version (http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/)e.g. Computer Misuse Act

Singapore LegislationCurrent Versions of Acts

15

II. Consolidated Version (http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/)e.g. Computer Misuse Act

Singapore LegislationCurrent Versions of Acts

16

If you browse the list of Current Acts:

Note: Title of the Computer Misuse Act was amended in 2013

II. Consolidated Version (http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/)e.g. Computer Misuse Act

Singapore LegislationCurrent Versions of Acts

17

Amendments after 2007

Click on sliderto see legislative history

Need latest Rev. Ed. or Consolidated version?

Rev. Ed.

Find out Cap no. of Act using Alphabetical List of Public Acts at Loans Desk. Then ask librarian for printed Act by Cap no.

Consolidatedversion

Search or browseSingapore Statutes Onlinehttp://statutes.agc.gov.sg/

Getting the Statutes

Singapore LegislationCurrent Versions of Acts

18

Secondary Sources of Law

Secondary sources are publications which refer and relate to the law, but are not themselves sources of law. These include:

1.Textbooks, casebooks, etc.2.Legal encyclopaedias3.Law journals & reviews4.Research literature. E.g. Theses5.Reference works. E.g. Dictionaries, directories, bibliographies, digests, citators, indexes, etc.

Secondary sources o assist in locating relevant primary sources of lawo assist in the interpretation of relevant primary sources.

19

Secondary Sources of Law

The use of LINC to search for books in the NUS Libraries was covered in the Orientation Lecture on Monday.

This tutorial will focus on locating articles in law journals, particularly local ones.

20

21

Law Journals and ReviewsWhat are they?

Law journals and reviewso provide information on the latest developments in the law as well as comments and criticisms of the lawo are published periodically.

E.g. Criminal Law ReviewHarvard Law ReviewJournal of Equity

Singapore Journal of Legal Studies

22

Law Journals and ReviewsArticle Citations

Citations are references to where you can locate articles.

Examples:1. Dora Neo, “The Sale of Goods (Amendment) Act 1996: Satisfactory Quality, an Undivided Share in a Bulk and other Amendments” (1997) 9 SAcLJ 362.

2. David Feldman, “The Nature of Legal Scholarship” (1989) 52 Mod.L.Rev. 498.

o Authoro Title of articleo Year the article was publishedo Volume number of the journalo Journal abbreviationo 1st page of article

Articles on Singapore Law

23

Step 1.Search an index to legal abbreviations to find out which law journal the abbreviation stands for.

Step 2. Search LINC for the title of the law journal to determine its location in the library.

How to Find Print Articles

24

Law Journals and Reviews

Step 1.Use an index to legal abbreviations to find out what journal the abbreviation SAcLJ stands for:

oPrint: Index to Legal Citations & Abbreviationsby Donald Raistrick (Ref: KB280 Rai 2008)

o Online: Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations

E.g. Dora Neo, “The Sale of Goods (Amendment) Act 1996: Satisfactory Quality, an Undivided Share in a Bulk and other Amendments” (1997) 9 SAcLJ 362.

How to Find Print Articles

25

E.g. Use the Cardiff Index: http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk/

Law Journals and ReviewsHow to Find Print Articles

E.g. Dora Neo, “The Sale of Goods (Amendment) Act 1996: Satisfactory Quality, an Undivided Share in a Bulk and other Amendments” (1997) 9 SAcLJ 362.

26

Law Journals and ReviewsHow to Find Print Articles

E.g. Dora Neo, “The Sale of Goods (Amendment) Act 1996: Satisfactory Quality, an Undivided Share in a Bulk and other Amendments” (1997) 9 SAcLJ 362.

E.g. Use the Cardiff Index: http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk/

27

Law Journals and ReviewsHow to Find Print Articles

Step 2. Search for the Singapore Academy of Law Journal in LINC to determine its location in the library.

E.g. Dora Neo, “The Sale of Goods (Amendment) Act 1996: Satisfactory Quality, an Undivided Share in a Bulk and other Amendments” (1997) 9 SAcLJ 362.

28

Law Journals and ReviewsHow to Find Print Articles

Step 2. (contd.)

E.g. Dora Neo, “The Sale of Goods (Amendment) Act 1996: Satisfactory Quality, an Undivided Share in a Bulk and other Amendments” (1997) 9 SAcLJ 362.

29

Law Journals and ReviewsHow to Find Print Articles

Step 2. (contd.)

E.g. Dora Neo, “The Sale of Goods (Amendment) Act 1996: Satisfactory Quality, an Undivided Share in a Bulk and other Amendments” (1997) 9 SAcLJ 362.

30

Law Journals and ReviewsHow to Find Print Articles

Step 2. (contd.)

E.g. Dora Neo, “The Sale of Goods (Amendment) Act 1996: Satisfactory Quality, an Undivided Share in a Bulk and other Amendments” (1997) 9 SAcLJ 362.

Copies of Volume 9 (1997)can be found in theBound Journals andSingapore–Malaysia collections

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Articles on Singapore LawSearching LawNet

If you have the full citation of a local journal article, you can obtain a print copy of it using the method suggested in slides 22 to 28.

However, if you are given a partial citation or a topic, we recommend you search online using LawNet.

Access: via Faculty of Law Resources

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Articles on Singapore LawSearching LawNet

On the Faculty of Law homepage (http://www.law.nus.edu.sg/),select LawNet from the Resources listing:

33

Articles on Singapore LawSearching LawNet

Then enter your NUS userid and password on the next pageand click on the Login button:

34

Articles on Singapore LawSearching LawNet

E.g. Where do I find articles on Euthanasia in Singapore?

1. Legal Research

2. Reference Material

4. Click on Search button

3. Enter keywordsin Simple Search box and select “all of the words” from drop down menu

After login, select:

35

Articles on Singapore LawSearching LawNet

E.g. Where do I find articles on Euthanasia in Singapore?

Select the relevant article from the list for full text:

LAW LIBRARY TOUR

In order to familiarise yourselves with the Law Library collection (and to be able to answer the library treasure hunt questions), please attend the library tour on Thurs, 15th Aug 2013.

TGs will be informed of time slots for tours by Sonita Jeyapathy, Deputy Director, Legal Skills Programme.

Content by: Lee Su-LinUpdated 10th Aug 2013

© C J Koh Law Library 2009-2014

Thank you

You have reached the end of this tutorial.

If you have any queries, please email cjkohlib@nus.edu.sg orspeak to a librarian at the C J Koh Law Library Information Desk: 6516 2043.