Much Ado About Nothing? The Enigma of Engagement of Foreign Constitutional Law in Singapore

• Main Author: TAN, Eugene K. B.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2016
• Subjects: Singapore; constitution; constitutional jurisprudence; Asian Studies; Constitutional Law
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/1748; https://search.library.smu.edu.sg/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma99202911902601&context=L&vid=65SMU_INST:SMU_NUI&lang=en&search_scope=Everything&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=Everything&query=any,contains,Constitutional%20Interpretation%20in%20Singapore:%20Theory%20and%20Practice&offset=0
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Students of Singapore constitutional law are familiar with the 'four walls doctrine' in constitutional interpretation. Put simply, when interpreting the Singapore Constitution and public law statutes, and in development Singapore constitutional jurisprudence, Singapore courts should confine themselves within the four walls of the Constitution. At first blush, this suggests that legal developments outside of Singapore, especially judicial decisions of the courts of other jurisdictions facing similar constitutional issues, have little value - whether illustrative or didactic. Unlike the willingness to consider, adapt and apply foreign jurisprudence in commercial law matters, the Singapore courts have been cautious and, at times, even resistant to foreign jurisprudence in the public law sphere. This chapter examines the Singapore courts' evolving approach to and treatment of foreign law in the constitutional realm.