Prospective Overruling in Singapore: A Judicial Framework for the Future?
Publication Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
1-2015
Abstract
The doctrine of prospective overruling has been applied in Singapore since the 1990s with a focus on the applicability of nullen crimen nulla poena sine lege embodied in the Singapore Constitution. The underlying objectives are to maintain fairness to the accused persons and to protect their legitimate expectations in criminal cases. The recent landmark decision in Public Prosecutor v Hue An Li has extended the applicability of the doctrine beyond criminal cases to also include civil matters. Though the general default position is that judicial pronouncements apply retrospectively and prospectively, the High Court has indicated that judges may exercise their discretion to limit the retroactive effect of such judicial pronouncements. It has developed a framework comprising a few factors for determining if prospective overruling should be invoked in a given case. The factors include the extent of the entrenchment of the existing rule or principle, the extent of change of the law, the reliance on the existing law and the level of foreseeability of the legal change. This judicial framework points the way forward for prospective overruling in Singapore and, at the same time, allows some flexibility for judicial identification and weighing of the specific factors according to the facts of the case.
Keywords
Singapore, Prospective Overruling, Judicial Precedents, Stare decisis, declaratory theory, Legitimate expectations
Discipline
Administrative Law | Asian Studies | Judges | Jurisprudence | Law
Publication
Comparing the Prospective Effect of Judicial Rulings Across the Jurisdictions
Editor
Steiner, Eva
First Page
359
Last Page
380
ISBN
9783319161747
Identifier
10.1007/978-3-319-16175-4_16
Publisher
Springer Verlag
City or Country
Heidelberg
Citation
CHAN, Gary Kok Yew.
Prospective Overruling in Singapore: A Judicial Framework for the Future?. (2015). Comparing the Prospective Effect of Judicial Rulings Across the Jurisdictions. 359-380.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/1587
Additional URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16175-4_16