Singapore law

The law of Singapore describes the totality of legally enforceable social norms in Singapore .

Legal history

After the Sultan of Johore had signed a friendship and assistance treaty with Stamford Raffles in 1819 , the 2nd Charter of Justice in 1826 established the Court of Judicature of Prince of Wales Island, Singapore and Malacca. In what is now Singapore, for the first time there was a court system based on the Western understanding. In the Straits Settlements founded in the same , the British Crown combined its colonies in Southeast Asia and made them subject to the Indian Presidency. When the Straits Settlements were separated from India in 1867 , the Court of Judicature of Prince of Wales Island, Singapore and Malacca was replaced by the Supreme Court of the Straits Settlements. This started the process of making the legal system independent. The Supreme Court was the court of first instance and only subordinated to the Privy Council in London; It was not until six years later that a separate appellate court came into being with the Court of Appeal .

After the Second World War and the occupation of Singapore by the Japanese, the Straits Settlements were dissolved and became an independent colony. Independence from Malaysia followed in 1965 . The core of Singapore's law consists largely of received English law. It was not until 1993 that the Application of English Law Act ended the strict adherence to English law, and in 1994 the Privy Council as the court of last instance was abolished. Notwithstanding this, Singapore belongs to the common law jurisdiction; links with English law remain strong.

Legal sources

In Singapore, there are three types of sources of law to be observed, which are hierarchically related to one another: First is the constitution of Singapore , followed by the entire statute law . Laws of the Singaporean legislature take precedence over all other, especially English, laws. The Application of English Law Act 1993 now finally enumerates all laws of the English Parliament that must also be observed in Singapore; these are:

Mercantile Law Amendment Act 1856
Policies of Assurance Act 1867
Factors Act 1889
Partnership Act 1890
Marine Insurance Act 1906
Third Party (Rights against Insurers) Act 1930
Corporate Bodies' Contracts Act 1960
Misrepresentation Act 1967
Unfair Contracts Terms Act 1977
Sale of Goods Act 1979
Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982
Minors' Contracts Act 1987
Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992

In the absence of statute law , common law applies.

The following applies to the doctrine of stare decisis in Singapore: As in England, the binding effect in Singapore only applies to the ratio decidendi . The Court of Appeal was bound by its own prejudices until 1994. With the abolition of the appeal to the Privy Council , the Court of Appeal also became the highest court and declared that it would no longer be bound by its own precedents :

“It is proper that the Court of Appeal should not hold itself bound by any previous decisions of its own or of the Privy Council, which by the rules of precedent prevailing prior to April 8, 1994 were binding on it, in any case 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.
Therefore, whilst this court will continue to such prior decisions as normally binding, this court will, whenever it appears right to do so, depart from such prior decisions. Bearing in mind the danger of retrospectivity disturbing contractual, proprietary and other legal rights, this power will be exercised sparingly.
This statement is not intended to affect the use of precedent in the High Court or in any subordinate courts. "

- Practice Statement on Judicial Precedent (1994) 2 SLR 689

Family law

The family law of Singapore regulates the legal relationships of the persons connected by marriage, family and relatives.

marriage

The marriage law of Singapore differentiates according to the religious affiliation of the persons concerned. For non-Muslim marriages, the Women's Charter (Cap. 353) applies (cf. p. 3 (2) Women's Charter ), for Muslim marriages the s. 89 to 109 of the Administration of Muslim Law Act (Cap. 3). Requirements for a non-Muslim marriage under the Women's Charter are:

one of the couple must have been a resident of Singapore for at least fifteen days and
both parties must be at least 21 years old or divorced or widowed or a party to a previous marriage or certain declarations of consent for minors must be available. None of those willing to marry may be under 18 years of age.
There must be no special impediment to marriage.

If all requirements are met, the registrar approves according to s. 17 (1) Women's Charter the marriage is concluded at the earliest 21 days after the listing has been ordered. If the marriage is not concluded within 21 days, the contingent must be ordered again.

family

After s. 68 Women's Charter parents have to pay child support to their legitimate and illegitimate children until they have reached the age of 21. According to the Guardianship of Infants Act, custody is shared between both parents for children born in wedlock, and regularly with the mother for children born out of wedlock. According to the Maintenance of Parents Act, children have to pay their parents from the age of 60 maintenance to cover living conditions if the parents can no longer support themselves adequately.

divorce

P. 92 sqq. The Women 's Charter contains five final reasons that can justify a divorce petition . All of them are based on the irreversible breakdown of marriage:

Adultery,
behavior of one party after which the other party can no longer be expected to continue living with the other party,
Leaving one party by the other for at least two years before filing for divorce,
The partners have been separated for at least three years if the partners agree to the divorce,
Partners have been separated for at least four years.

Criminal law

Criminal law concerns acts that are linked to punishment .

Legal sources

Although Singapore's law is one of the common law systems, the central source of criminal law, the Penal Code , is codified , which means that it is a so-called Statute Law . Some provisions which, according to the continental European system, would be part of substantive criminal law ( criminal responsibility , penalty framework, suspension on probation) can be found in the Criminal Procedure Code . There are also a number of subsidiary laws:

Arms Offences Act
Computer Misuse Act
Highjacking of Aircraft and and Protection of Aircraft and International Airports Act
Kidnapping Act
Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act
Misuse of Drugs Act
Official Secrets Act

Principles

After s. 11 of the Singapore Constitution, the principle of nulla poena sine lege applies in Singapore . s. 11 (2) forbids prosecuting offenses again if the previous prosecution has already ended with acquittal or judgment.

Structure of the Penal Code

Chapter I - Preliminary: In the preliminary remarks of the Penal Code , the application of Singaporean criminal law to offenses committed abroad in s. 3 of interest.
Chapter II - General Explanations: The General Explanations contain a large number of legal definitions. As in the rest of the Penal Code , this chapter is interspersed with numerous illustrations , which gives the continental European reader the impression that they are looking at an academic textbook rather than a law.
Chapter III - Punishments: The main criminal penalties in Singapore are imprisonment , confiscation of property , fines , death penalty (by hanging ) and caning, which is corporal punishment with a rattan stick.
Chapter IV - General Exceptions: The General Exceptions are a list of reasons for exclusion. The age of criminal responsibility begins at the age of seven, but awareness of wrongdoing and culpability must be determined separately up to the age of twelve.
Chapter V - Abetment: This chapter contains explanations on incitement and aiding and abetting.
Chapters Va to XXII: Chapters Va to XXII contain the individual criminal offenses.
Chapter XXIII - Attempts To Commit Offences: Before the offense is completed, according to the provisions of XXIII. Chapter criminal liability for attempt .

Criminal offenses

Homicides

The willful killing of a person is according to s. 299 Penal Code punishable as culpable homicide (~ manslaughter); culpable homicide is according to s. 304 Penal Code with up to ten years imprisonment and / or caning (~ sticking ) and / or a fine. If further characteristics are present, see p. 300 Penal Code a murder (~ murder) is present, which is always punished with death. A legal and political peculiarity of Singaporean law is the criminal liability of attempted suicide according to s. 309 Penal Code.

Drug offenses

The Singaporean criminal law is interesting from a legal and political point of view because of its draconian threats for drug offenses by European standards. Hard drug trafficking is in the SS. 2, 5 and 33 of the Misuse of Drugs Act with mandatory death penalty. Above certain degrees of purity and quantities of drugs, drug trafficking is irrefutably suspected even with mere possession. Even those who stay below these limits can expect up to 30 years imprisonment and / or 15 rattan stick blows.

Copyright law

Copyright law is a special area of law in Singapore that aims to protect intellectual property and is governed by the Copyright Act (Cap. 63) of 1987.

Protected works

Subject of protection of copyright are according to s. 7 (1) Copyright Act literary, dramatic, musical and all kinds of works of art.

Content of copyright

The scope of protection of copyright varies according to s. 26 Copyright Act depending on the type of work. The most comprehensive set of rights consists of literary, dramatic, and musical works: reproduction, publication, public performance, broadcast on radio and television, introduction to a cable program, adaptation, and related acts. For works of art, copyright includes reproduction, publication, display on a television program, and inclusion in a cable program. In the case of computer programs, copyright includes the right to rent out the work, unless it is only an insignificant part.

Term of protection

After s. 28 Copyright Act , the term of protection for literary, dramatic and musical works as well as for works of visual art (except photographs) is 70 years post mortem auctoris . Deviating from this 70 years from the time of the first publication for sound reproductions and films, for photographs 70 years after the first publication. For radio, television and cable programs, s. 94 Copyright Act has a shorter term of 50 years. In the case of a published edition of a work, the copyright protection according to s. 96 limited to 25 years.

Copyright Infringement

There is a violation of copyright according to s. 31 Copyright Act when someone other than the copyright owner or licensee claims any right owned by the copyright owner. The ss. 32 to 34 of the Copyright Act also contain some special regulations for importing, public offering, selling and renting. After s. 35, however, there are exceptions to the above-mentioned violations if the offending act is covered by so-called fair dealing .

If there is a copyright infringement, the owner can sue for omission, compensation, surrender of the enrichment and accounting or assert temporary legal protection.

Web links

literature

Michael Hwang: Country Report Singapore . In: Anthony Colman (Ed.): Encyclopedia of International Commercial Litigation . Graham & Trotman, London 2004.
Ahmad Ibrahim: Country Report Singapore . In: International Encyclopedia of Comparative Law .
Hans-Wilhelm Jenckel: The legal system of the Republic of Singapore. A study of the reception of English law in the Commonwealth . Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1986, ISBN 3-8204-9424-3 .
Rolf A. Schütze and René-Alexander Hirth : Introduction to the law of Singapore . CH Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-55730-9 .
Thomas R. Klötzel and Robert Vieweger: Country Report Singapore , Law of the International Economy 2017, pp. 209–213.
Ahmad Ibrahim: Towards a History of Law in Malaysia and Singapore . Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur 1992, ISBN 978-983-62-3053-9 .
Beate Müller: The Development of Private Law in Singapore . Lit, Münster 1999, ISBN 3-8258-4140-5 .
Ahmad bin Mohammed Ibrahim: Family Law in Malaysia and Singapore . 1984.
Wai Kum Leong: Elements of family law in Singapore . LexisNexis, 2007, ISBN 978-981-236-599-6 .
Victor V. Ramraj, Chan Wing Cheong and Michael Hor: Fundamental Principles of Criminal Law . LexisNexis , Singapore 2005.
Chan Wing Cheong and Andrew Phang: The Development of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice in Singapore . Singapore 2001, ISBN 981-04-3720-X .
George Wei: The law of copyright in Singapore . 2nd Edition. Singapore National Printers, Singapore 2000, ISBN 978-981-00-0856-7 .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Rolf A. Schütze and René-Alexander Hirth : Introduction to the law of Singapore . CH Beck, Munich 2007, p. 1-3 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c René-Alexander Hirth: § 10. Family and inheritance law . In: Rolf A. Schütze and René-Alexander Hirth (eds.): Introduction to the law of Singapore . CH Beck, Munich 2007, p. 52-57 .
^ ^A ^b ^c ^d Rolf A. Schütze and René-Alexander Hirth : Introduction to the law of Singapore . CH Beck, Munich 2007, p. 153-156 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Rolf A. Schütze : § 18. Commercial legal protection - IV. Copyright . In: Rolf A. Schütze and René-Alexander Hirth (eds.): Introduction to the law of Singapore . CH Beck, Munich 2007, p. 130-132 .

[schuetzehirth1_2-1] Rolf A. Schütze and René-Alexander Hirth : Introduction to the law of Singapore . CH Beck, Munich 2007, p. 1-3 .

[hirth-2] René-Alexander Hirth: § 10. Family and inheritance law . In: Rolf A. Schütze and René-Alexander Hirth (eds.): Introduction to the law of Singapore . CH Beck, Munich 2007, p. 52-57 .

[schuetzehirth153_156-3] A ^b ^c ^d Rolf A. Schütze and René-Alexander Hirth : Introduction to the law of Singapore . CH Beck, Munich 2007, p. 153-156 .

[schuetze-4] Rolf A. Schütze : § 18. Commercial legal protection - IV. Copyright . In: Rolf A. Schütze and René-Alexander Hirth (eds.): Introduction to the law of Singapore . CH Beck, Munich 2007, p. 130-132 .