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Sal Style Guide Quick Reference 2007
Sal Style Guide Quick Reference 2007
Publications Department,
Singapore Academy of Law
The Singapore Academy of Law Style Guide
for freelance editors of journal articles and other legal works
2007 Edition
prepared by Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, Ranald Or, Anita Parkash and Hung Ning Shing for the
Publications Department, Singapore Academy of Law
LATEST UPDATES
A FORMATTING RULES
A–1 Heading Levels and Styles. Use the following heading levels and styles, which
are all to be aligned with the left margin:
A. Second-level heading
Second-level heading
Third-level heading
Fourth-level heading
FIFTH-LEVEL HEADING
Where headings are to be in italics (such as second- and third-level headings), and
contain a word or words which need to be italicised (such as case names or Latin
words), change the particular word(s) to normal font.
Examples:
A–3 Lists. For items in a list, the numbering level (1), (2), (3), etc, is not to be used
because the use of Arabic numerals is reserved for numbering paragraphs. Do not
use bullet points to introduce items in a list either. To number items in a list, use
the following numbering levels:
After each paragraph or item number, a tab should be inserted before the text, ie,
“(a)TabA lipstick”.
• If the items in the list are incomplete sentences, each item should begin
with a lowercase letter and end with a semicolon. The second-last item in
the list should end with a semicolon followed by a conjunction, such as
and or or.
• If the items in the list are complete sentences or consist of more than one
sentence, each item should begin with an uppercase letter and end with a
full stop.
Examples
(a) a lipstick;
(b) chequebooks from the following banks:
(i) POSB;
(ii) Citibank;
(c) a bunch of keys; and
(d) a penknife.
A–4 Quotations.
Examples
In addition, s 2 also states that these activities must be done “in any
place to which the public or any class of the public has access
whether gratuitously or otherwise”. [Full stop after the closing
quotation mark as the quotation is not a complete sentence.]
When asked what was in the bag, the defendant told the narcotics
officer, “I am carrying Chinese medicine.” [Full stop within the
quotation marks as a complete sentence is quoted; no additional
full stop required after the closing quotation mark.]
A–4.2 Quotations in a separate block. A quotation longer than three lines should be
set out in a separate block indented from both the left and right margins. Do not
enclose the quotation in quotation marks. A quotation is introduced with a colon;
not a dash or a colon with a dash.
Examples
Drawing from the notes of evidence, she gave reasons why Yeo
did not raise his concerns formally with the company. To this end,
she stated:
Examples
In that case, the judge expressed the view that “it is trite
law that there must be consideration for a contract”
[emphasis added]. I cannot agree more that the law in
this area is settled.
Where a quotation set out in a separate block consists of several paragraphs, the
phrase “[emphasis added]” or its variants should be on a new line.
Example
[emphasis added]
Examples
The contract specified that “property in the goods shall not pass to
the Buyer [ie, the plaintiff] until payment in full has been received
by the Vendor [the defendant]”.
A – Formatting Rules …5
Examples
The trial judge took the view that the case was governed by the
principle in Rylance [sic] v Fletcher.
The trial judge took the view that the case was governed by the
principle in [Rylands] v Fletcher.
(a) Where the quotation is in a separate block, and what is quoted, although mid-
sentence, can still be a complete sentence, change the first letter into a capital
letter, enclosing the capital letter within square brackets. Exception to this rule is
when the quote starts with the word “I”, which is already a capital letter, in which
case begin the quote with an ellipsis.
Examples
[S]he gave reasons why Yeo did not raise his concerns formally
with the company.
Original text is:
When quoting the second part of the text, use an ellipsis. Thus:
(b) Where the quotation is in a separate block, but what is quoted does not form a
complete sentence in itself, then start off with an ellipsis.
Example
Drawing from the notes of evidence, she gave reasons why Yeo:
... did not raise his concerns formally with the company.
(c) Where the quotation is not in a separate block, there is no need to begin the
quote with a capital letter within square brackets, nor to use ellipses, whether at
the beginning or at the end. If the quote ends with a full-stop or a comma, the
punctuation marks may be ignored. (See also the first example given at para A-4.1
above.)
Examples
In addition, s 2 also states that these activities must be done “in any
place to which the public or any class of the public has access
whether gratuitously or otherwise”.
Example
The above example shows that the rest of the first paragraph has been omitted from
the quote, while the second paragraph is quoted mid-paragraph, with the rest of it
omitted. It then shows that the next paragraph is entirely left out. Note that there is no
need for an ellipsis to appear at the end of the quotation, unless the quotation ends
mid-sentence.
(b) An ellipsis is treated like a word, so there should be both a space before
and a space after an ellipsis.
(a) To emphasise words and phrases, eg, “The defendant’s fingerprints were
found inside the suitcase containing the drugs.” Do not use boldface type
or underlining for this purpose.
(b) To cite the names of ships. Do not italicise the definite article “The” unless
it forms part of a ship’s name, eg, “The Ivanovo collided into El
Neputuno.”
(c) To cite foreign words and phrases that have not been assimilated into the
English language. See Î Appendix 1A for a table of foreign words and
phrases that should be italicised.
A–6 Spaces. There should only be one space between words and sentences. Do not
use double spaces between sentences. When editing a typeset, switch on the
Show/Hide button by clicking the icon with the paragraph symbol (¶) on your
toolbar. You will then be able to see clearly whether there are any double spaces
in the document.
Examples
A non-breaking space is also inserted between the day and month in dates, such as
29 November 2005 (the non-breaking space is between “29” and “November”).
C – Citations …9
B RULES OF EXPRESSION
B–1 Spelling. Apply British spelling conventions as set out in the current edition of
the Oxford English Dictionary. Note the following preferred spellings.
-re/-er – centre, litre, metre, theatre; or -re – centre, litre, metre, theatre; but
center, liter, meter, theater “meter” for a measuring device
-t/-ed – burnt, learnt, spelt, spoilt; or -t – burnt, learnt, spelt, spoilt (but
burned, learned, spelled, spoiled learned counsel)
Variant spellings in quotations from other sources (such as cases, letters or notes
of evidence) should not be altered.
3m €25,400.50
16.5mg RM105,000
A non-breaking space should be typed between a citation word and a digit. (In
Microsoft Word, a non-breaking space can be typed by pressing
Ctrl+Shift+Space.)
Examples
Note the preferred abbreviations set out in Appendix 2A (words and phrases that
may be abbreviated after the first occurrence) and Appendix 2B (words and
phrases that may always be abbreviated), as well as the words and phrases that
should not be abbreviated that are set out in Appendix 2C.
Important: Except for forms of address (eg Mr, Mrs, Mdm, etc), do not
abbreviate the first word of a sentence.
Examples
B–3.1 Dates.
y “24 September 1999” (use a non-breaking space between the day and
month, ie, between “24” and “September”).
y 24–27 September 1999
y 30 April and 1 May 2006
y Spell days of the week in full.
B–3.2 Times.
y “10.00am”, “3.15pm”.
y “12.00 noon”, “12.00 midnight”.
y Periods of time: “from 11.00am to 1.00pm”, “between 7.00pm and
9.00pm”.
B–4 Numbers.
y Spell out numbers ten and below: “one”, “two”, “three”, … , “nine”, “ten”,
“11”, “12”, etc.
y “First”, “second”, “third”, … , “ninth”, “tenth”, “11th”, “12th”, etc. Do not
use superscript type when setting out ordinal numbers, eg, “15th”, not
“15th”.
y Numbers greater than 999: “1,004.35”, “1,098,999”.
y Numbers from a million that are used in the context of measurement or
currency may be abbreviated thus: “$1m”, “RMB4.75m”, “US$1bn”. In
other contexts, the words “million” and “billion” should be spelt in full, eg,
“Singapore has a population of about four million people”, “He received
one million shares”.
y Where a sentence starts with a number, the number should be spelt in full,
eg, “Twenty-seven grams of raw heroin were found in the bag”. If a
number would be unwieldy if expressed in words, the sentence should be
rephrased so that is does not begin with the number, eg, “The bag was
found to contain 127.5g of raw heroin”.
y Percentages may be expressed thus: 5%, 100%, 22.33%
B–5 Punctuation.
B–5.1 The comma – bracketing commas. The general rule is that a pair of bracketing
commas is used to mark off a weak interruption of the sentence – one that does
not disturb the flow of the sentence.
Examples
To check if bracketing commas have been correctly used, remove the weak
interruption from the sentence. The result should still be a complete sentence that
makes good sense, eg, “These findings … cast doubt upon his evidence”.
Generally, use a pair of commas before and after “inter alia”, “ie” and “however”.
Examples
Bracketing commas should not be used with clauses that are required to identify
what is being talked about, rather than merely adding additional information.
Example
Because of problems with the test, all the people who were told
that they were HIV-negative had to be recalled. [No bracketing
commas used around the clause “who were told that they were
HIV-negative”, as without this clause it would not be evident
which people were being referred to.]
B–5.2 The colon. The colon is used to indicate that what follows it is an explanation or
elaboration of what precedes it. If the material introduced by a colon is a formal
C – Citations … 13
statement or quotation, or consists of more than one sentence, it should begin with
a capital letter; otherwise, it may begin with a lowercase letter.
Examples
Although her testimony was not always clear, she was sure of one
thing: she did not intend to enter into a contract with him.
The question was: Why did the plaintiff not report the matter to the
authorities?
B–5.3 The semicolon. The semicolon is used to join two complete sentences into a
single written sentence when all of the following conditions are met: (a) the two
sentences are felt to be too closely related to be separated by a full stop; (b) there
is no connecting word that would require a comma, such as “and” or “but”; and (c)
the special conditions requiring a colon are absent (see Î paragraph B–5.2).
It was believed that the existence of the will was known only to the
deceased’s widow; however, it is now evident that this is not the
case.
Where a sentence contains numerous commas, for clarity semicolons may be used
in place of some of the commas to mark important breaks in the sentence.
Example
B–5.4 The apostrophe. As a general rule, use the possessive ending “ ’s ” after
singular words, including words or names that end in “s”. Note, however, two
exceptions: (a) a plural noun which already ends in “s” takes only a following
apostrophe, ie, “ s’ ”; and (b) a name ending in “s” takes only an apostrophe and
not “ ’s ” if the possessive form is not pronounced with an extra “s”.
Examples
Do not use an apostrophe in setting out plural forms of decades, eg, “This research
was carried out in the 1970s”, not “This research was carried out in the 1970’s”.
B–5.5 The hyphen. Note the compound words that should be hyphenated (see Î
Appendix 3A) and those that should not (see Î Appendix 3B).
B–5.6 The dash. Dashes should be typed using en-dashes (“–”). Do not use a hyphen
(“-”) or an em-dash (“—”). To type an en-dash using Microsoft Word, hold down
the Ctrl key on your keyboard and press the minus-sign key on the numeric
keypad.
A dash may be used to indicate a range of numbers such as amounts, dates and
numbers in the form “between X and Y” or “from X to Y”. No spaces should be
typed between the dash and the words or numbers with which it appears. As the
dash replaces the words “between … and …” and “from … to …”, do not write
“between X–Y” or “from X–Y”. If it is desired to use the words “between” and
“from”, the range should be written in full (“between X and Y”) and the dash
should not be used.
A dash may also be used to express a relationship between two nations, places or
other objects.
Examples
(NB: For Annual Review) The facts of the case have been
discussed at paras 11.15–11.17 above.
B–5.7 Capital letters. Capitalise the following categories of words and phrases:
(a) The first word, and each significant word, of a title of a case, piece of
legislation, treaty, book, journal, newspaper, television programme, film,
musical composition, etc. Small words like “and”, “in”, “on”, “of”, “the”
and “with” need not be capitalised unless it is the first word, eg,
“Singapore Academy of Law Journal”, “On Golden Pond”.
(b) Proper names, that is, names or titles that refer to an individual person,
place, institution or event, eg, “President S R Nathan”, “Yong Pung
How CJ”, “Robert Miller”, “Raffles Square”, “the Supreme Court”,
“Singapore”, “the Internet”, “the World Wide Web”, “Commonwealth
Heads of Government Meeting 2003”.
(e) Manufacturer’s brand names and products (if they have not become
generic labels for classes of objects), and trade marks, eg, “Microsoft
Windows XP”, “Sony Discman”, “Coca-Cola”.
(f) Words or titles that do not refer to any specific person or thing, eg, “The
company hired a new managing director in September” and “Marion
Wong was the managing director of the company”, but “Marion Wong,
Managing Director of ABC Company”.
(g) References to the court, the judge, the trial judge, etc, except where
required or appropriate (eg, where “the Court” in a statutorily provision
has a specific definition)
(h) References to the parties in proceedings, eg, “the second defendant”, not
“the Second Defendant”. However, when referring to opposing sides in
criminal proceedings, capitalise “the Prosecution” and “the Defence” (see
Î (c) above).
(i) References to currencies, eg, “dollar notes”, “five 20-sen coins”, “an
account denominated in pound sterling”.
(j) References to specific court documents, eg, “the second paragraph of the
statement of claim”, “the defendant’s affidavit of evidence-in-chief”, and
to documents generally, eg, lease agreement, letter of offer, deed of
separation, memorandum and articles of association.
B–5.8 Quotation marks. Apart from their use in quotations, quotation marks should be
used in the following situations:
(a) To cite English words or short phrases that are being talked about, eg, The
phrase “wrongful gain” is defined in s 23 of the Penal Code (Cap 224,
1985 Rev Ed) as meaning “gain by unlawful means of property to which
the person gaining it is not legally entitled”.
(b) To cite the names of trade marks, eg, ‘the plaintiff’s trade mark “Breez” ’.
B–6.1 Corporate and unincorporated entities. When using terms like “plaintiff”,
“defendant”, “appellant” and “respondent” in reference to corporate and
unincorporated entities, including associations, bodies corporate, companies,
partnerships, societies and statutory boards, use the singular forms of the terms.
The plural forms “plaintiffs”, “defendants”, “appellants” and “respondents”
should be used for multiple parties.
C – Citations … 17
B–6.2 Names of law lords. Where the name of a law lord of the House of Lords bears
a place-name, eg, “Lord Keith of Kinkel”, “Lord Keith of Avonholm”, “Lord
Bingham of Cornhill”, “Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead”, the first occurrence of the
judge’s name should include the place-name. Thereafter, “Lord Keith”, “Lord
Bingham”, “Lord Nicholls” will suffice.
C CITATIONS
Use the following citation forms set out in the examples below.
C–1 Cases.
(a) Case names. Case names should be exactly as they appear in the report.
However, phrases such as “(a firm)”, “and another”, “and others”,
“formerly known as …”, “(in liquidation)” and “trading as …” should be
omitted. Generally, omit whatever appears in round brackets, except where
the case is numbered or the name of the case is redacted or it is part of the
party’s name (eg, Lee Kuan Yew v Tang Liang Hong (No 2), Re A (an
infant), Taylor (Pte) Co v Toyo (Singapore) Pte Ltd.
Also omit all full-stops (especially for abbreviations) in the case names
unless a full-stop is part of a party’s name, eg, The Two.99 Shop v
Electromall.com.
Where the case name is the name of a ship, the quotation marks can be
omitted, eg, The Rainbow Joy.
(b) SLR citations. When a Singapore case has been reported in the SLR, use
the SLR citation. If a MLJ or Singapore neutral citation is used by the
author, check the Legal Workbench on LawNet to see if the case has been
reported in SLR.
Tan Ching Seng v Raffles Town Club Pte Ltd [2002] 3 SLR 345 at
[10]
Example
(f) US cases. Put the year of the judgment at the end of the citation, following
the US practice
Example: Lojuk v Quandt 706 F 2d 1456 at 1458 (7th Cir, 1983)
(g) Indicating court levels. Use abbreviations “HC” for High Court, “CA” for
Court of Appeal, “HL” for House of Lords, “DC” for District Court, “PC”
for Privy Council, starting always with the lower/lowest court. If, however,
neutral citations (which are self-explanatory) are used, there is no further
need to indicate court levels using the abbreviations.
Example: The Seaway [2004] 2 SLR 577 (HC), [2005] 1 SLR 435
(CA)
If, however, the name of the case is changed on appeal, both names will have to
set out.
Example: Burswood Nominees Ltd v Liao Eng Kiat [2004] 2 SLR
436 (HC), Liao Eng Kiat v Burswood Nominees Ltd [2004]
4 SLR 690 (CA)
C–2 Statutes.
y Cite a statute by its chapter number and edition year.
Examples
The Constitution
Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (1999 Reprint) Art 14(1)
Where a chapter number has been assigned
Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185, 2001 Rev Ed) s 2(1)
A Malaysian statute
Film Censorship Act 2002 (No 620 of 2002) (M’sia) s 5
A UK statute
Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003 (c 27) (UK) s 3
US legislation
Non-Detention Act 18 USC (US) §4001(a) (2000)
NB: USC stands for United States Code.
Examples
Examples
Bills
Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill 2003 (Bill 22 of 2003) cl 4
Parliamentary debates
Singapore Parliamentary Debates, Official Report (31 October
2002) vol 20 at cols 1424–1426 (David T E Lim, Acting
Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts)
C–5 Books.
Examples
Kevin Y L Tan, Yeo Tiong Min & Lee Kiat Seng, Constitutional
Law in Malaysia and Singapore (Malayan Law Journal,
1991)
Legal Journals
Examples
Scientific Journals
Examples
Note that for scientific journals, the year of publication appears before the
volume number and is separated from the volume number by a semi-colon
and a non-breaking space. The part or issue number appears in round
brackets immediately after the volume number. Use a non-breaking space
after the colon before indicating the page numbers.
Examples
Examples
Examples
Examples
Examples
(a) For paragraphs in cases, use “[ ]” and for all other materials including
articles and books, use “para”. When referring to pages, prefix with a “p”
except when the pin cite is to a page in a case or journal article.
(b) For Singapore legislation, the sub-provisions (a), (b), (c), etc are in italics.
Section 10(3)(a)(ii) of the Civil Law Act (Cap 43, 1999 Rev Ed)
D FOOTNOTES
D–1 Types of Footnotes. Citation footnotes are used to indicate the authority for a
proposition made in the text of an article, or the source of the material referred to.
Only the names of cases and legislation should be set out in the main text – the
citations of the cases and legislation should appear in footnotes. A series of
citations should be arranged in some order (eg, in chronological or reverse
chronological order) and should be separated with semicolons.
C – Citations … 25
Textual footnotes can be used to set out information that is related to the subject
matter of the article, but which is considered sufficiently peripheral such that
putting it in the body of the article would detract from the propositions being
made.
Examples
Example
Confer (cf); compare The authority provides a contrast which illustrates the
proposition. Do not use cf or “compare” when what is
meant is “see”.
D–3.1 Academy Journal. In general, for the Academy Journal, the first occurrence of
a source in an article should have a full citation set out in a footnote. Subsequent
references to the same source should then refer to the full citation.
The general format for prior and subsequent references in footnotes is as follows:
When giving pinpoints, avoid the use of et sequentes (abbreviated et seq; Latin:
‘and those (pages, sections, etc) that follow’). Instead, set out a range of page
numbers, paragraph numbers, etc.
For references to portions of the main text, use the formats in the examples below:
Examples
11 See Part II.of the main text below for more on this topic.
C – Citations … 27
D–3.2 Ibid and Id. Ibidem (abbreviated ibid; Latin for ‘in the same place’) is used to
refer to an authority in the footnote immediately preceding the current footnote,
and the same pinpoint is being referred to. If the authority is the same but the
pinpoint is different, use idem (abbreviated id; Latin for ‘the same’).
Ibid should also be used for subsequent references to a particular authority in the
same footnote.
Type a comma between ibid or id and the phrase “at pinpoint”. The comma
should not be italicised.
If the authority referred to is not in the footnote immediately preceding the current
footnote, use supra (Î paragraph D-3.2 below).
Examples
____________________
D–3.3 Supra and Infra. Supra (Latin: ‘above’) is used to refer to a prior footnote but
not to a prior part of the main text (Î paragraph D-3 above).
Infra (Latin: ‘below’) is used to refer to a subsequent footnote or part of the main
text. Where possible, avoid the use of infra by providing the full citation at the
first reference.
To refer to a footnote and the text to which it refers, use the following format:
“Supra/infra n footnote number and the accompanying text”. Do not put a comma
after “supra” or “infra”. Put it after the footnote number, and before the phrase “at
pinpoint”. For references to portions of the main text only, see the examples at
paragraph D-3 above.
Do not use “above”, “below”, ante (Latin: ‘before’) or post (Latin: ‘after’). Also,
do not use the expressions loco citato (loc cit) (Latin: ‘in the place cited’, used to
mean ‘at the passage of a book cited’), opera citato (op cit) (Latin: ‘the book
previously cited’) or quod vide (qv) (Latin: ‘which see’) as such expressions make
it more difficult for readers to locate references.
Examples
26 Supra n 20.
59 See also Pettit, Equity and the Law of Trusts, supra n 50, at p 9.
D–3.4 Annual Review Where a case has been cited previously with its full citation,
any subsequent references to the case, within the same chapter and same section,
are to be followed by “(supra para x.yy)” where x.yy is the paragraph number
where the case is first cited. The exception to this rule is where the subsequent
reference is only one or two paragraphs away from the first reference (as the
citation will still be fresh in readers’ minds).
APPENDIX 1A
actus reus (Latin: “guilty act”) wrongful deed that comprises the
physical components of a crime and that generally must be
coupled with mens rea to establish criminal liability
administration de bonis non (Latin) administration granted for the purpose of settling the
remainder of an estate not administered by the previous
executor or administrator
administration pendente lite (Latin) administration granted during the pendency of a suit
concerning a will’s validity
audi alteram partem (Latin: “hear the other side”) no one should be condemned
unheard or without prior notice of allegations against him
bona vacantia (Latin: “vacant goods”) property not disposed of by will and
to which no relative is entitled under intestacy laws;
ownerless property
causa sine qua non (Latin) a necessary cause, the cause without which the thing
cannot be or the event could not have occurred
cestui que trust; (Law French) one who possesses equitable rights in property
plural cestuis que trust and receives the rents, issues and profits from it; a
beneficiary
de bene esse (Latin: “of well being”) as conditionally allowed for the
present, in anticipation of a future need
de facto (Latin: “in point of fact”) having effect though not formally
or legally recognised
de minimis non curat lex (Latin) the law does not concern itself with trifles
donatio inter vivos; (Latin) gift made during the donor’s lifetime and delivered
plural donationes inter with the intention of irrevocably surrendering control over
vivos the property; an absolute gift
ejusdem generis (Latin: “of the same kind or class”) a canon of construction
that when a general word or phrase follows a list of specific
persons or things, the general word or phrase will be
interpreted to include only persons or things of the same type
as that listed
en banc (Law French: “on the bench”) with all judges present and
participating, in full court
en ventre sa mere (Law French: “in the womb of the mother”) (of a fetus) in
the mother’s womb
ergo (Latin) therefore
et sequentes (et seq) (Latin) and those (pages, sections, etc) that follow
ex parte (Latin: “from the part”) on or from one party only, usually
without notice to or argument from the adverse party
ex post facto (Latin: “from a thing done afterward”) after the fact,
retroactively
ex turpi causa non oritur (Latin) from an immoral consideration an action does not
actio arise (a party does not have a right to enforce performance of
an agreement founded on a consideration that is contrary to
the public interest)
expressio unius est exclusio (Latin) a canon of construction holding that to express or
alterius include one thing implies the exclusion of the other or of the
alternative
forum non conveniens (Latin: “an unsuitable court”) the doctrine that an
appropriate forum, even though competent under law, may
divest itself of jurisdiction if, for the convenience of litigants
and witnesses, it appears that the action should proceed in
another forum in which the action might originally have been
brought
habeas corpus (Latin: “have the body [brought before the judge]”) writ
requiring a prisoner to be brought into court for a judge to
decide if the imprisonment is legal
ibidem (ibid) (Latin) in the same place – used in legal citation to denote
that the reference is to a work cited immediately before, and
that the cited matter appears on the same page of the same
book
idem (id) (Latin) the same – used in legal citation to refer to the
authority cited immediately before
ignorantia juris non excusat (Latin: “ignorance of the law is no excuse”) lack of
knowledge about a legal requirement or prohibition is never
an excuse to a criminal charge
in loco parentis (Latin: “in the place of a parent”) acting temporarily as the
guardian of a child
inter partes (Latin: “between the parties”) between two or more parties,
with two or more parties in a transaction
ipse dixit (Latin: “he himself said it”) something asserted but not
proved
ipsissima verba (Latin: “the very (same) words”) the exact words used by
somebody being quoted
ipso facto (Latin: “by the fact itself”) by the very nature of the situation
ipso jure (Latin: “by the law itself”) by the operation of the law itself
jus dispositivum (Latin: “law subject to the disposition of the parties”) a norm
created by the consent of participating nations, as by an
international agreement, and binding only on nations that
agree to be bound by it
jus soli (Latin: “right of the soil”) the rule that a child’s citisenship
is determined by place of birth
lex domicilii (Latin: “law of the domicile”) the law of the country where a
person is domiciled
Foreign Word or Phrase English Meaning
lex fori (Latin: “law of the forum”) the law of the jurisdiction where
the case is pending
lex loci celebrationis (Latin: “law of the place of the ceremony”) the law of the
place where a contract, especially a marriage, is made
lex loci contractus (Latin: “law of the place of the contract”) the law of a place
where a contract is executed or to be performed
lex loci delicti or lex loci (Latin: “law of the place of the wrong” or “law of the place
delicti commissi of commission of the wrong”) the law of the place where a
tort was committed
lex loci solutionis (Latin: “law of the place of solution”) the law of the place
where the contract is to be performed (especially by
payment)
lex situs (Latin: “law of the location”) the law of the place where
property is located
lex posterior derogat priori (Latin: “a later law derogates from an earlier one”) the
principle that a later statute negates the effect of a prior one if
the later statute expressly repeals or is obviously repugnant
to the earlier statute
locus actus (Latin: “place of the act”) the place where an act is done, the
place of performance
locus contractus (Latin: “place of the contract”) the place where a contract is
made
locus delicti (Latin: “place of the wrong”) the place where an offence is
committed; the place where the last event necessary to make
the actor liable occurs
locus poenitentiae (Latin: “place of repentance”) the point at which it is not too
late for one to change one’s legal position; the possibility of
withdrawing from a contemplated course of action,
especially a wrong, before being committed to it
mens rea; (Latin: “guilty mind”) state of mind that the prosecution, to
plural mentes reae secure a conviction, must prove that a defendant had when
committing a crime; criminal intent
mutatis mutandis (Latin) all necessary changes having been made, with the
necessary changes
nemo dat quod non habet (Latin) no one can give what he does not have
nemo judex in causa sua (Latin) no one should be a judge in his own cause
non est factum (Latin: “it is not his deed”) a denial of execution of an
instrument sued upon
non sequitur (Latin: “it does not follow”) inference or conclusion that
does not logically follow from the premises
Foreign Word or Phrase English Meaning
novus actus interveniens (Latin: “a new act intervening”) event that comes between
an initial event in a sequence and the end result, thereby
altering the natural course of events that might have
connected a wrongful act to an injury
nunc pro tunc (Latin: “now for then”) having retroactive legal effect
through a court’s inherent power
pacta sunt servanda (Latin: “agreements must be kept”) the rule that agreements
and stipulations, especially those contained in treaties, must
be observed
parens patriae (Latin: “parent of one’s country”) the state in its capacity as
provider of protection to those unable to care for themselves
pendente lite (Latin: “while the action is pending”) during the proceedings
or litigation; contingent on the outcome of litigation
prima facie (Latin: “at first sight”) on first appearance but subject to
further evidence or information
pro tanto (Latin: “to that extent”) for so much, as far as it goes
pro tempore (pro tem) (Latin) for the time being, appointed to occupy a post
temporarily
pur autre vie (Law French: “for another’s life”) for or during a period
measured by another’s life
quantum meruit (Latin: “as much as one has deserved”) damages awarded in
an amount considered reasonable to compensate a person
who has rendered services in a quasi-contractual relationship;
a claim or right of action for the reasonable value of services
rendered
quantum valebant (Latin: “as much as they are worth”) an equitable remedy to
provide restitution for unjust enrichment by awarding the
reasonable value of goods and materials supplied
quia timet (Latin: “because one fears”) a legal doctrine that allows a
person to seek equitable relief from future probable harm to a
specific right or interest
quicquid plantatur solo, solo (Latin: “whatever is fixed to the soil belongs to the soil”)
cedit
Foreign Word or Phrase English Meaning
quid pro quo (Latin: “something for something”) thing that is exchanged
for another thing of more or less equal value; a substitute
quo warranto (Latin: “by what authority”) a writ used to inquire into the
authority by which a public office is held or a franchise is
claimed
quoad hanc (hunc) (Latin) so far as this woman (man) is concerned (with
reference to nullity of marriage or to sexual impotence)
res inter alios acta, or res (Latin: “a thing done between others”) a doctrine holding
inter alios acta alteri that a contract cannot unfavourably affect rights of a person
noncere non debet not a party to the contract
res ipsa loquitur (Latin: “the thing speaks for itself”) a doctrine providing
that, in some circumstances, the mere fact of an accident’s
occurrence raises an inference of negligence so as to
establish a prima facie case
sic (Latin: “so, thus”) used to indicate that the preceding word
or phrase in a quoted passage is reproduced as it appeared in
the original document
sine die (Latin: “without day”) with no day assigned (as for
resumption of a meeting or hearing)
sub nomine (sub nom) (Latin: “under the name”) used in case citations to indicate
that there has been a name change from one stage of the case
to another
subpoena ad testificandum (Law Latin: “for testifying under penalty”) order directing a
witness to appear in court and give testimony
subpoena duces tecum (Law Latin) order directing a witness to appear in court and
bring specified documents or records
sui generis (Latin: “of its own kind”) of its own kind or class; unique or
peculiar
sui juris (Latin: “of one’s own right”) of full age and capacity;
possessing full social and civil rights
ultra vires (Latin: “beyond the powers of”) beyond the scope of power
allowed by a company charter or by law, unauthorised
vice versa (Latin: “the position being reversed”) with the order or
correspondence reversed; the other way round
videlicet (viz) (Latin) to wit, that is to say, namely – used to point out,
particularise or render more specific what has been stated in
general (or more obscure) language
voir (or voire) dire (Law French: “to speak the truth”) a preliminary
examination to test the competence of a witness or evidence
volenti non fit injuria (Latin: “a person is not wronged by that to which he or she
consents”) the principle that a person who knowingly and
voluntarily risks danger cannot recover for any resulting
injury
… 43
APPENDIX 2A
Chief Justice Yong Pung How or Yong The Chief Justice or Yong CJ
Pung How CJ
The Acting Chief Justice Tan Ah Tah or The Acting Chief Justice or Tan Ag CJ
Tan Ah Tah Ag CJ
Judge of Appeal Andrew Phang Boon Phang JA
Leong or Andrew Phang Boon Leong JA
Judges of Appeal L P Thean and Chao Thean and Chao JJA
Hick Tin or L P Thean and Chao Hick
Tin JJA
Justice V K Rajah or V K Rajah J Rajah J
Justices Kan Ting Chiu and Belinda Ang Kan and Ang JJ
Saw Ean or Kan Ting Chiu and Belinda
Ang Saw Ean JJ
Judicial Commissioner T Q Lim or Lim JC
T Q zaLim JC
Senior District Judge Richard Magnus The Snr District Judge or
Snr District Judge Magnus
District Judge Mavis Chionh District Judge Mavis Chionh or
District Judge Chionh
Deputy Registrar Dy Registrar
Senior Assistant Registrar Snr Asst Registrar
Assistant Registrar Asst Registrar
Senior Deputy Registrar Snr Dy Registrar
Attorney-General AG
Solicitor-General SG
Public Prosecutor PP
Deputy Public Prosecutor DPP
Assistant Public Prosecutor APP
Senior State Counsel Snr State Counsel
Investigating Officer IO
Narcotics Officer NO
APPENDIX 2B
Forms of Address
Mister (correctly Master) Mr
Missus (correctly Mistress) Mrs – “Ms” may be used instead
Madam Mdm – “Ms” may be used instead
Messrs (correctly Messieurs) M/s
Doctor Dr
Professor Prof
Associate Professor Assoc Prof
Assistant Professor Asst Prof
Queen’s Counsel QC – only after counsel’s name
Senior Counsel SC – only after counsel’s name
Baron B
Lord Chancellor LC
Lord Justice(s) LJ(J)
Lord President LP
Master of the Rolls MR
Vice Chancellor VC
Currencies
Singapore dollar $
(or, if necessary for clarity, S$)
Australian dollar A$
Deutsch mark (Germany) DM
Euro (European Monetary Union) €
New Zealand dollar NZ$
Pound sterling (United Kingdom) £
Renminbi (People’s Republic of RMB
China)
Ringgit Malaysia RM
United States dollar US$
Yen (Japan) ¥
compiler(s) comp(s)
confer (Latin: “compare”) cf
Division(s) (of legislation) Div(s)
editor(s), general editor(s) ed(s), gen ed(s)
edition (of a book or of legislation) Ed
et alii or et alia et al
(Latin: “and other persons”)
et cetera (Latin: “and others”) etc
et sequentes et seq
(Latin: “and those that follow”)
exempli gratia (Latin: “for example”) eg
exhibit(s) Exh(s)
figure(s) fig(s)
(and the pages) following ff
ibidem (Latin: “in the same place”) ibid
id est (Latin: “that is”) ie
idem (Latin: “the same”) id
Illustration(s) Illus
note(s) (references to footnotes within n(n)
an article)
Notification Number (subsidiary N
legislation)
number(s) (in legislation citations or No(s)
suit or application numbers)
order(s) (eg of the Rules of Court) O – for “orders”, use,
eg, “O 3 and O 4”
Order Number (subsidiary legislation) O
paragraph(s) and sub-paragraph(s) (of para(s), sub-para(s) –
court documents, letters, legal do not use the ¶ symbol.
texts, etc) For references to paragraphs
of case reports and judgments, use
square brackets: see Î para C–1(d)
Part(s) (of legislation) Pt(s)
regulation(s) reg(s)
Regulation Number (subsidiary Rg
legislation)
Revised Edition (of a book or of Rev Ed
legislation)
rule(s) r(r)
Rule Number (subsidiary legislation) R
Schedule(s) (of legislation) Sched(s)
but First Schedule, Second Schedule,
etc (spell out in full)
section(s) and subsection(s) s(s), sub-s(s) –
do not use the § symbol except when
referring to US legislation: see Î
para C–2
translator(s) trans
… 47
APPENDIX 3A
APPENDIX 3C