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Sources of Laws in Singapore

We get to know about Singapore Law from the publication of The Singapore Law Reports by the Singapore Academy of Law in 1992. It was an account of the judicial judgments framed by the High Court, Court of Appeal and Constitutional Tribunal of Singapore. Just like the laws of other nations, Singapore Laws derive its material mainly from the two sources, judicial precedents and customs. Let us take a look at the sources of Laws in Singapore in details.

Judicial Precedents:
Judgments declared by the courts are considered as the laws of the land. Thus, judicial courts form the basic source of Singapore Laws. These judgments might undergo a gradual change with the passage of time and gradually they turn out to be the common laws.

Judicial judgments get modified by statutes and contract law, trust law, tort law, and equity are made out of those. Though the Supreme Court of Singapore is the authority on Singapore Laws yet subordinate courts play an important role in framing the laws of the land. Common public can access the cases published in the Singapore Law Reports and the unreported judgments of the Supreme Court and Subordinate Courts through free internet based service called LawNet. It is the Singapore Academy of Law that updates the cases mentioned in LawNet.

Customs:
Laws originated from the common customs lack the force of the judicial laws. If anybody denies to obey the laws made out of customs, then, the offence is not punishable. A custom is a mode of behavior or a way of living that is accepted as the norm of the society by the people. Customs are always culture specific and laws made out of customs differ from nation to nation in spite of the similarities in the laws framed by the judicial courts. In Singapore, "Legal" or "Trade" customs are not considered as recognized form of laws. And unfortunately customs are not given much importance as vital source of laws in Singapore as most of them are not recognized by the judicial system of the nation.

It is interesting to note while going through the sources of laws in Singapore that common people are afraid of laws made out of judicial precedents as those are punishable but they actually love to obey the laws framed out of natural customs as they form the core of the part and parcel of their daily lives. Those are natural laws and people know about them since their childhood days.

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