Articles
Singapore Laws On The Internet
Introduction
Having Singapore laws on the Internet really took off in 1998 with the launch of Legal Workbench, a subscription service aimed at the legal professionals. This is Singapore's first comprehensive source of primary legal resources available on the Internet. Law reports, legislation, parliamentary reports and unreported judgments can be found in Legal Workbench.
Since then Singapore legal resources on the Internet has grown in geometric proportions with many freely accessible resources.
The Singapore Legal System
As a former British Crown Colony, the Singapore Legal System is based on the English common law system. The term "Common Law" is usually taken to mean the unwritten law and legal customs which have been recognised and given the force of law. Common law is "unwritten" in the sense that the law was not embodied in a code or statute but is found in the recorded judgments of those judges who interpreted the law. These judgments have been recorded in various law reports and text-books.
It should also be mentioned that although Singapore Law has predominantly an English common law flavour (as modified by statutes), there is some degree of pluralism in that Muslim Law governs the Muslim community in religion, matrimonial and related matters and is administered by a separate system of courts known as the Syariah Courts.
The supreme law in Singapore is its Constitution. The Constitution provides for written laws or statutes to be enacted by Parliament. In Singapore, the Parliament is a unicameral legislature, ie "one chamber". A piece of legislation starts as a Bill. When a Bill is passed, it becomes an Act of Parliament. However, the Act only comes into force with the President's assent and is published
in the Gazette with a specified date when the Act comes into force.
It is common practice in Singapore for Acts of Parliament to confer powers on a Minister or other persons or bodies to make rules or regulations for specified purposes. Such rules and regulations are known as subsidiary legislation.
Judicial power in Singapore is vested in the Supreme Court and in the Subordinate Courts. The Supreme Court consists of the High Court and the Courts of Appeal. The Subordinate Courts consist of District Courts and Magistrates' Courts. Both the Supreme Court and the Subordinate Courts handle civil and criminal cases. The Subordinate Courts, being a lower court, deals with the "smaller" cases.
A List Of Singapore Legal Resources on the Internet:
Singapore Sources
Singapore Statuteshttp://statutes.agc.gov.sg/Full texts of updated Singapore statutes, including the legislative history of each Act. Administered by the Attorney-General's Chambers.
Rules of Courthttp://app.supremecourt.gov.sg/Rules made pursuant to the Supreme Court of Judicature Act relating to all proceedings within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and Subordinate Courts.
Published by the Subordinate Courts.
Family Case Search
http://app.familycourtofsingapore.gov.sg/A searchable database of cases maintained by the Family Court of Singapore.
Judgments on procedure in the Family Court are also available
Internet Regulatory Framework
http://www.mda.gov.sg/The Media Development Authority regulates Internet Service Providers and Internet Content Providers through the Class Licence scheme and
Internet Code of Practice.
MAS - Legislation & Noticeshttp://www.mas.gov.sg/The Monetary Authority of Singapore publishes statutes, regulations and notices which it administers as well as other legislation which govern the financial industry in Singapore.
IDA Singapore - Policy and Regulationhttp://www.ida.gov.sg/Codes of practice and guidelines regulating the IT and telecommunications sectors,
including the Telecom Competition Code. Published by the Infocomm Development
Authority of Singapore.
Insolvency & Public Trustee's Office Practice Circulars http://www.minlaw.gov.sg/Official Assignee (2002-), Public Trustee (2000-) and Official Receiver (2001-)
practice circulars.
Maritime and Port Authority Circularshttp://www.mpa.gov.sg/Full texts of the MPA's port (1997-) and shipping (1986-) circulars.
Media Competition Codehttp://www.mda.gov.sg/The Code of Practice for Market Conduct in the Provision of Mass Media Services
released by the Media Development Authority.
Competition Commission Guidelineshttp://www.ccs.gov.sg/Guidelines issued by The Competition Commission of Singapore.
National Environment Agency - Publicationshttp://app.nea.gov.sg/The Agency's codes of practice, guide books and handbooks regulating the environment.
Singapore Land Authority Circularshttp://www.sla.gov.sg/Land Survey (1991-), Land Registry (2003-) and Land Sales (2000-) circulars.
Subordinate Courts of Singapore Practice Directionshttp://www.subcourts.gov.sg/The Subordinate Courts Practice Directions (2004 Ed).
Supreme Court Policies and Procedureshttp://app.supremecourt.gov.sg/Practice Directions as at 5 September 2004, and
Registrar's Circulars (2000-).
IRAS E-Tax Guideshttp://www.iras.gov.sg/E-Tax Guides is an electronic store of tax guides. It aims to provide convenient
and timely access to tax information.
Publications - Attorney General's Chambers of Singapore http://www.agc.gov.sg/Website containing full texts of the AGC's law reform reports and consultation papers.
Singapore International TreatiesFree Trade Agreementshttp://www.fta.gov.sg/Full texts of free trade agreements concluded between Singapore and?other countries.
Tax Treatieshttp://www.iras.gov.sg/The Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreements concluded by Singapore since 1965
are listed here.
Singapore Legal Periodicals & ArticlesACRA Legal Digest http://www.acra.gov.sg/Full text. 2003-
Articles on Family Law and Court Procedureshttp://www.subcourts.gov.sg/By Family Court of Singapore
Wikipediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_SingaporeInformation on the laws of Singapore found on Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia.
Subletting Your Property HDBhttp://wwwhdb.gov.sg/Verification Of Foreigner Immigration Statuswww.psi.gov.sg/Mahkamah Syriah Singapura.www.syariahcourt.gov.sg/Majlis Ugama Islam Singapurahttp://www.muis.gov.sg/Kementerian Tenaga Buruhhttp://www.mom.gov.sgDepartment Imigrasihttp://www.ica.gov.sgCheck Status Work permit Holderhttp://ifaq.mom.gov.sg/