AB1301 Business Law Week 1

When you are citing the statutory provision, better to cite the exact section number.
When citing cases, try to rmb as much as possible

Definition & Function of Law

Law is the set of rights and obligations by which a community regulates its affairs.
Law protects a person from the arbitrary actions of others and provides remedies when a person’s rights are infringed.
The rights of each person, whether weak or strong, are protected.

Black’s Law dictionary: That which is laid down, ordained or established. That which must be obeyed and followed by
citizens, subject to sanctions or legal consequences

Classifications of Law
(Understand and be able to distinguish)
Note: Common law can mean different things in different contexts (3 into total)

FYI 1. Common Law Tradition FYI Civil Law Tradition

Starts off with particular cases and proceeds to derive Starts off with general rules which are then applied to
general rules particular cases

AKA From the outset civil law has codified law, law is in the
English law is the common law legal system of England form of legislation, compiled into written codes.
and Wales They stipulate general legal principles
Cases are then decided on the basis of these stated
principles
Inductive reasoning – process in which general is induced Deductive reasoning –process in which particular is
from the particular deduced form the general
Common law originated in England Originated with the Romans
Singapore’s law is based on this Japan, Most of South America, Parts of Asia
UK, US, Australia
Countries with both: Canada, South Africa and Sri Lanka

Common law v equity

2. Common Law
Law administered by judges that were going around
holding courts in villages and small towns, became
common in the whole of England
The judges would refer to past cases and use the
principles embodied in them to decide new cases, in turn
leading to greater consistency in judgments
Judge-made law
Case law
Developed by Common Law Courts of England. Strict →
Technicalities of common law at times prevented
remedies in clearly deserving cases
Equity
Developed by England Court of Chancery
→ Complements, softens and sometimes overrides the
harsh application of common law. Supplements the areas
of common law that are too rigid.
→ Equity prevails when conflict arise between Common
Law and Equity.
→ Courts free to apply both sets of principles
The distinction between the two is now largely
for historical purposes, useful when identifying
the source and ambit of specific legal and
equitable rules. Distinction no longer has much
practical effect.

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In a common law system, there is a traditional distinction between criminal law and civil law. This “civil law” is used here
in a different way from when it is used in reference to the European legal tradition. The meaning of “civil law” depends
on the context in which it is found.

Criminal law v civil law

Criminal Law Civil Law
Most business laws are found within civil law but some types of unfair or unlawful business conduct are criminal
offences.
Laws prohibiting certain acts which are harmful to the
community

Mainly Penal Code

Prosecuted by the state

Seeks to punish and deter potential offenders Seeks to compensate
→ With Sentences (e.g. Fine or Imprisonment) → With Remedies (e.g. Damages, Rescission). Usually
financial compensation to the injured party
Accused: Person accused of crime Plaintiff: Person bringing the action, required to sue and
State: Party prosecuting accused, brought by Public initiate court proceedings
Prosecutor on behalf of state Defendant: Person whom action is brought
Two key branches of law:
Law of Contract
 Governs agreements
Law of Tort
 Govern Rights and Obligations of Person
A single act may give rise to legal consequences in all 3
E.g. A sales employee steals from his employer’s shop
 Committed the criminal offence of theft
 Liable for detinue and conversion in tort because he breached his contract of employment with his employer

Another way in which the laws in a common law system can be classified
Case Law Statutes
3. Can also be called common law
Established through decisions made by Judges in past Laws which are enacted by the legislature
cases. Used when the legally material facts of the cases
are the same
In earlier times, common law system was dominated by case law.
More recent times, statues have overtaken case law as the more important source of law, particularly in the business
sector.
 Due to increasing government regulation of the economy
 Also due to the fact that legislation offers a faster, more pro-active approach to cope with the fast-changing
needs of business arising from economic growth

When common law / case law is conflicting against statutes, statutes will win

Case Law Technique

(resolve legal issues by using case law)
Doctrine of stare decisis
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Stare decisis – latin “to stand by decisions” (judge applying previous decisions)
Development of English common law is dependent upon the principle of precedent.
 Precedent is the principle whereby past cases decided by superior courts are binding and authoritative for future
cases decided by lower courts in the same hierarchy.

Theory of Binding Precedence (Stare Decisis):

Vertical The decisions of lower courts is bounded by the decisions of higher courts in
stare earlier cases, if the legally material facts are similar from a legal perspective.
decisis → Ensure Consistency

Ratio Decidendi Rationale underlying the decision

→ Binding on lower courts
Obiter Dictum Opinions/Comments not used in judgment
→ Persuasive Authority
→ Not binding on lower courts

Higher courts might use decisions made by lower court as persuasive authority,
although not strictly bounded.
Horizontal Court of Appeal not bound by own previous decisions, adapting to new changings/
trends

Ratio decidendi (ratio) Obiter dictum (dictum)

A principle or rule of law which forms the basis of the A statement or observation made in passing which does
judgment not form the basis of the judgment.

It is not the judge who decides this, it is the people Unlike ratio decidendi, obiter dictum is not the subject of
reading the judge’s judgment who decides. the judicial decision, even if they happen to be correct
statements of law.
Has binding authority Has persuasive authority
Ratio of the case Decisions of lower courts, dictum of higher courts and the
 binds all lower courts in the same hierarchy decisions of courts from other common law jurisdictions
meaning other countries court not affected may be cited to support arguments during a trial.
 A court is not bound by its own prior decisions, However, these are not of binding authority, they are of
but they’ll still follow its previous decisions. persuasive authority only.
The fact that a precedent case is old does not automatically make it a stronger or weaker authority.
E.g. of ratio decidendi being formed
Ginger beer and the ice cream
Donoghue friend has contract with the café cause the friend is the one who bought the beer.
Donoghue thus sued the manufacturer of the ginger beer. – this was the first ever case

So whatever the judge said is known as “Original Proceedings” – most celebrated cases in the law of negligence and
defective product.
The judge ruled that the manufacture must be responsible
Ratio decidendi of this case – aka the parts of the case that becomes the binding proceedings for all future cases – it
is not the judge who decides this, it is the people reading the judge’s judgment who decides.
 The manufacturer owes a duty to take reasonable care that the consumer is not injured by defective product
 A person owes a duty to take reasonable care that he does not commit any act which he could reasonably
foresee as injuring another person – very broad, very abstract – this became the ratio decidendi.

Making & Application of the Law

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 (Which branches of government makes and applies law in Singapore and the Singapore court structure and the various
jurisdictions of the courts)

Structure of government in Singapore (Singapore Constitutional Structure)

President
 Head of state
 Has a ceremonial role while the head of government, the Prime Minister, with the Cabinet, hold executive
power.
Executives
 Executive function refers to the power to execute decisions of the government
 Legislature makes laws, executive implements them
 Executive function is vested in the President, Prime Minister, the Cabinet or any Minister authorized by the
Cabinet
Legislative: Parliament (See below)
Judiciary (See below)
FYI Attorney-General (Not part of the government)
 Appointed by the President upon advice of the Prime Minister
 Acts as the main legal adviser to the government and is entrusted to perform all legal duties assigned to him by
the President and the Cabinet
 A lawyer
 Not part of the judiciary
 Attorney-General’s Chamber has five law-related divisions
o Civil Division – provides legal advice to the government on civil matters and represents the government
in civil proceedings
o Criminal Justice Division – advises government on criminal matters and conduct criminal prosecutions
o Financial & Technology Crime Division – deals with prosecutions and appeals concerning financial and
corruption crimes
o International Affairs Division – advises the government on international law issues such as multilateral
and bilateral treaties
o Legislation Division – has the responsibility for legislative drafting and law revision to ensure that
Singapore’s laws are of a high standard

Function of legislature
Legislature (A statute that precedes case law)
 Main law-making body in Singapore
 Statute: a written law passed by a legislative body.
 Law-making process requires all draft legislation, called “Bills”, to be passed by Parliament and thereafter
assented to by the President.
o Bill is read 3 times before voting
 First Reading – Introduction
 Second Reading – Debated and Amended
 Third Reading – No major amendments permitted. Debated.
o If successfully assented to by the President, the Bill becomes an “Act of Parliament” and a law of
Singapore (Written Law)
o Takes effect from date of publish in Government Gazette or date stated in “Act of Parliament”
Parliament
 Refers to the body of elected and non-elected representatives of the people
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  Main task is to enact legislation, control state finances and perform a critical and inquisitorial role to check
on the actions of governing party and Ministers.

Subsidiary legislation
 Rules of various forms to be used under the Acts of Parliament.
 It is a form of written law, made under authority delegated by Parliament (Minister to Committees).
o Many Acts of Parliament contain only the general provisions relating to the subject matter of the law
o Ministers are empowered to make more detailed rules to implement the provisions of the Act.
o The primary legislation is called “the empowering Act” while these are called “subsidiary legislation”
o The Interpretation Act provides general rules regarding subsidiary legislation.
 Takes effect from date of publish in Government Gazette

Function of judiciary
Judiciary
 Independent administration of justice
 Interprets and administrates / applies law
 Decision becomes Case Law
 Done through a system of courts in which disputes may be heard and decided according to the law

Court structure
Suprem Has jurisdiction over civil and criminal matters, not bound by horizontal stare decisis.
e Court Court of Appeal → Appellate Jurisdiction; Hearing appeals from High Court.
Parties Involved: Judges of Appeal, Chief Justice
High Court Jurisdiction to hear both civil and criminal cases at first instance
→ Appellate Jurisdiction; Hearing appeals from State Court
→ Civil claim exceeding $250,000 must be initiated in High Court
Parties Involved: Judges of High Court, Chief Justice
International Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC)
Commercial Court  A division of the High Court
 Manages international commercial disputes
Family Division Family Justice Courts consists of High Court (Family Division) and the
subordinate courts below: Family Court and Youth Court

Family division primarily hear appeals against decisions of the Family Court
and Youth Court
State State Courts deals with most of the legal proceedings in Singapore
Courts District Court Widest Jurisdiction
→ Civil Jurisdiction (Claims < $250,000, may exceed upon agreement
→ Criminal Jurisdiction (<10 Years Jail or Fine Only)
Parties Involved: District Court Judge
Magistrate → Civil Jurisdiction (Claims < $60,000)
Court → Criminal Jurisdiction (<5 Years Jail or Fine Only)
Parties Involved: Magistrate
Small Claims Governed by Small Claims Tribunals Act
Tribunal → Civil Jurisdiction ($10,000)
→ Cases involving contracts for sale of goods and provision of service, certain
property damage claims (excluding motor vehicles)
→ Jurisdiction overlap with Magistrate Court, but faster and cheaper

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 Employment Facilitate the expeditious resolution of employment disputes
Claims Judge-led
Tribunals No lawyers will be involved
Simple, expeditious and affordable
Claims of up to $20,000 or up to $30,000 if the dispute has undergone mediation
with trade union involvement
Coroner’s Court Governed by Coroners Act
→ Determines cause and circumstances of death in cases where person dies
suddenly, in an unusual manner, by violence or from unknown causes
Parties Involved: State Corner
Youth Court Youth Court
Governed by Children (<14 Years) and Young Persons (>14, <16 Years) Act.
Generally attempts to deal with juveniles using a restorative justice model with a
view towards reform and rehabilitation instead of penal sanctions
→ Restorative Justice Model (i.e. Reform and Rehabilitation)
Parties Involved: District Judge or Magistrate
Family Court Hear cases concerning divorce, adoption, maintenance, application of protection
orders, matters under Woman’s Charter etc.
Syariah Court Separate court system from the main judiciary
Hear cases on specific matters involving Muslims.
Does not hear business disputes

Singapore Legal System

(basic features, compare and contrast)
Common law legal system
Comparison with civil law legal system

Sources of Law
Constitution
Constitution: A body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other
organization is acknowledged to be governed.

Supreme law which prevails over all other laws. (Any subsequent laws inconsistent is void)
 Lays down structure of government, and basic principles such as freedom of religion, speech, expression and
equality
 Amendments require 2/3 vote in Parliament. If the amendments is especially important, then it requires 2/3
majority vote from people in a national referendum.

Acts of Parliament (See above)

Subsidiary legislation (See above)
Case law (See above)

Customary law
Based on Trade Customs
Or other E.g. Muslim Customs

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International law
Laws made applicable through international treaties, mutual agreements by countries to abide and enact

English law
2nd Charter of Justice 27th Nov 1826 made English Law applicable in Singapore (General Reception of English Law), on the
conditions that:
1. Only of General Policy and Application (Must be relevant)
2. Subject to local legislation

Specific reception provisions

 Due to confusion over the interpretation and application of English Law in Singapore, the Application of English
Law Act was passed, which states:
1. English common law (Case Law) and Equity continues to apply (s3)
2. English Acts listed in 1st Schedule or specified in any other written laws are applicable (s4)
3. No other English Acts applicable (s5)

 3.----(1) The common law of England (including the principles and rules of equity) so far as it was part of the law
of SG immediately before 12th Nov 1993, shall continue to be part of the law of Singapore
 A judge must have followed the law in the past before 12 th Nov 1993 for it to be considered to be part of
the SG law
 Look at legal search engines – NTU database called Lawnet
 Type in a case and see if the case was followed in SG
 Wilkinson v. Downton (activity 1) was followed by 4 cases
 Consider the facts in this case to decide if should follow ratio decidendi or obiter dicta
 Downton someone said something, Doris did not utter a word. therefore are the facts similar so
can argue this as a lawer for doris but if lawer fighting against doris, argue the abstract – dressed
as a ghost can be considered as a statement
 If the facts are the same then consider the ratio decidendi – Week 1 Prof felt that the narrower
interpretation is what you must give in this case as per what SG judge felt

Reduced influence as Singapore Legislature, Judiciary and Legal Profession Matures.

Statutory Interpretation
(resolve legal issues by using statues)
Interpretation act
Why this Act:
 Legislations are not always clear and precise, may give rise to ambiguity
o E.g. Mercantile Law – commercial law. Law of trade and commerce but hard to determine whether
something truly falls in that category
 s9A of the Interpretation Act is applicable when faced with an ambiguous provision, in order to determine the
intention of Parliament
o s9A: In the interpretation of a provision of a written law, an interpretation that would promote the
purpose or object underlying the written law shall be preferred to an interpretation that would not
promote that purpose or object, regardless of whether this purpose or object was expressly stated or
not

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When to use this Act:
 To confirm that the meaning of the provision is the ordinary meaning conveyed by the text of the provision,
taking into account its context in the written law and the purpose or object underlying the written law
o (AKA confirm the literal definition is what the parliament wants it to be/intention of the parliament)
 to ascertain the meaning of the provision when
o the provision is ambiguous or obscure; or
o the ordinary meaning conveyed by the text of the provision, taking into account its context in the
written law and the purpose or object underlying the written law, leads to a result that is manifestly
absurd or unreasonable.

What assistance can judges use for statutory interpretation:

1. Intrinsic aids
 All the things found within a statute
 Long title e.g. application of English law act of 2003
 Marginal/side notes
 Punctuations
 Definition sections
 Examples
2. Extrinsic aids
 All matters not forming part of the written law that are set out in the document containing the text of
the written law as printed by the Government Printer;
 Any explanatory statement relating to the Bill containing the provision;
 The speech made in Parliament by a Minister on the occasion of the moving by that Minister of a motion
that the Bill containing the provision be read a second time in Parliament;
 Hansard: Any relevant material in any official record of debates in Parliament;
 Any treaty or other international agreement that is referred to in the written law; and
 Any document that is declared by the written law to be a relevant document for the purposes of this
section.

Rules of interpretation (Different approaches to interpretation)

Literal rule
 Interpret based on the literal/original meaning of the provision.
 Applied when the statue appears to be clear.

Golden rule
 Interpretation which avoids absurd result (i.e. makes sense) chosen.
 Applied when absurdity or injustice arises if literal approach is strictly followed
o E.g. Cutter v Eagle Star Insurance Co Ltd 1998 – a carpark is a road
o E.g. Whiteley v. chappell 1868 – the dead cannot vote. Whiteley impersonated someone who was dead
to vote. The defense was that the dead was not entitled to vote. The judge uphold the defense because
of the literal rule.
o Alder v. George 1964 – obstructing Her Masjesty Forces ‘in the vicinity’ of a prohibited place but Alder
was in the army camp when he obstructed
 Can be via a narrow application or a broader application

Mischief rule
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  Interprets based on the purpose of the act. The interpretation which addresses the mischief is chosen
(Court looks at the law as it stood before a statute was enacted to discover the mischief that the statute sought
to remedy)
o Therefore, use of extrinsic aid for this is important
 Also known as the Rule in Haydon’s case (1584)
 S9A(1) Interpretation Act: Codified Version of Mischief Rule

Statute to be read as whole

Contextual interpretation
 Interpretation should be dependent on the context being used

Edusdem generis rule

 “of the same kind”
 When interpreting statutes, this rule applies in a situation where words which are specific are followed by words
which are capable of a general or broad interpretation. In such a case, the rule states that the general words
should be read to include only those things which are of a same type or group as those more specific words.
e.g. Apples, Oranges, Bananas, and any other food – Other foods should be treated as any other fruits

Noscitur a sociis rule

 Also applicable in a situation where words are used which are capable of a broad or alternative meanings
 However, noscitur a sociis rule states a different thing, which is that the word that is capable of a broad or
alternative meaning should be interpreted in a way that takes into account or is consistent with that other
words that accompany it.
 In this way, the scope of the word will in effect be limited.

 The meaning of a doubtful word can be known from the accompanying words, or from its association with other
words.
 In other words, the surrounding usage of words can reveal the meaning (therefore intent) of the questionable
words or phrases.
 E.g. Foster v. Diphwys [1887], a statute stated that explosives taken into a mine must be in a “case or cannister.”
The defendant instead used a cloth bag. The court ruled that a cloth bag WASN’T within the statutory definition
because the statute intended that the container should have the same strength as a case or cannister — and a
cloth bag didn’t have that strength.

Extra other law terms definition

Respondent – higher judge responding to this case
Appellate – a person who applies to a higher court for a reversal of the decision of a lower court.
Convicted – declare someone to be guilty of a criminal offence by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge in a
court of law
Acquit – free someone from a criminal charge by a verdict of not guilty
Prosecute – institute or conduct legal proceedings against a person or organisation
Injuria – invasion of another’s rights for which one may bring an action
Allege – to assert without proof or before proving
Defendant – someone who is being sued or accused
Impute – to credit or ascribe (something) to a person or cause
Make out – to complete something by supplying required info
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Blunderbuss – action or way of doing something regarded as lacking in subtlety and precision
Recourse – a source of help in a difficult situation

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