Judicial precedent in emerging constitutional jurisdictions: Formulating a doctrine of constitutional stare decisis for Singapore

• Main Author: CHNG, Kenny
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2020
• Subjects: Singapore; constitutional law; stare decisis; precedent; Planned Parenthood v Casey; US Supreme Court; Constitutional Law; Courts
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/3164; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/5122/viewcontent/7_1_5.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Judicial precedents in constitutional law raiseunique stare decisis considerations. While they are authoritative pronouncementson the proper interpretation of the Constitution and are thus an essentialcomponent of constitutional law, they are also merely judicial precedents – andthus susceptible to being overturned. These considerations have been thesubject of a well-developed body of literature, especially in the context of USSupreme Court constitutional precedents.Yet, despite being a constitutional supremacy, little attention has beenpaid in Singapore to the question of the proper judicial approach towardsconstitutional precedents. This paper aims to address this issue. It will discernthe de facto principles that Singapore judges have thus far applied intheir considerations of constitutional precedents, engage with the insights ofUS jurisprudence on the proper approach to stare decisis in constitutional law,and finally, propose a legal framework that can guide principled stare decisisanalysis in Singapore constitutional law.