Constitutional supremacy: Still a little dicey?

Evolution of a Revolution: Forty Years of the Singapore Constitution

Volumn 9780203885789, Issue , 2008, Pages 153-192

  Neo, Jaclyn Ling Chien ^b   Lee, Yvonne CL ^a  

^a NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE   (Singapore)

^b NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84911091096     PISSN: None     EISSN: None     Source Type: Book    
DOI: 10.4324/9780203885789     Document Type: Chapter

References (53)

1. AV Dicey, Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution, (LibertyClassics: Great Britain, 1982) at p. 3-4.
2. Harding provides an alternative view, see AJ Harding, 'Parliament and the Grundnorm in Singapore' (1983)25 Mal LR 351.
3. Public Prosecutor v Taw Cheng Kong [1998] 2 SLR 410 ('Taw Cheng Kong, C.A.'), at 431-7, paras 60-8.
4. See also Victor Leong Wai Meng and Roland Samosir, 'Forever Immune? Abdul Wahab b. Sulaiman v Commandant Tanglin Detention Barracks' [1986] 28 MLR 303.
5. Laurence H Tribe, American Constitutional Law, (3rd edn, Vol. 1), (New York: Foundation Press, 2000), at p 18.
6. Bruce Ackerman, We The People: Foundations (Massachusetts and England: Harvard University Press, 1991) p 9.
7. Alexander Bickel, The Least Dangerous Branch (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1962), p 18.
8. KC Wheare, Modern Constitutions, (2nd edn), (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966), p 52.
9. On the idea of 'soft' constitutional law, see Thio Li-ann, 'Constitutional 'Soft' Law and the Management of Religious Liberty and Order: The 2003 Declaration on Religious Harmony' (2004) Sing JLS 414.
10. Benedict Sheehy, 'Singapore 'Shared Values' and Law: Non East versus West Constitutional Hermeneutic', (2004) 34(1) HKLJ 67, at p 73.
11. See President Ong Teng Cheong, 'Extended Interview "I had a job to do" Whether the government liked it or not, says ex-president Ong' (Asiaweek, Vol. 26 No 9, 10 Mar 2000, available at http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/magazine/2000/0310/nat.singapore.ongiv.html).
12. 'White Paper on reserves to be made binding', The Straits Times (Singapore), 19 Aug 1999, at p 29.
13. See Constitution (Amendment) (Protection of the Sovereignty of the Republic of Singapore) Act No. 25 of 1972, and Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 32 (3 Nov 1972).
14. See Singapore National Referendum Ordinance 1961 and Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, Referendum on Reunification of Singapore and Federation of Malaya, vol. 18 (6, 9-10, July 1962).
15. Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 25, 17 Mar 1967, at col 1438.
16. See then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 44, 24 July 1984, at cols 1735-6, in relation to the creation of Non-Constituency Members of Parliament: 'There are as many constitutions as there are ingenious legal minds to translate popular will into a workable legislature and an effective Executive.'
17. Minister for Law and Science and Technology, EW Baker, Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Record, vol. 39, 30 Mar 1979, at col 295; 25 out of 40 constitutional amendment bills listed in the Legislation History of the Singapore Constitution were passed by Parliament after 1979.
18. See Thio Li-ann, 'Choosing Representatives: Singapore Does It Her Way' in The Peoples' Representatives - Electoral Systems in the Asia-Pacific Region, Graham Hassall and Cheryl Saunders, eds (Australia: Allen & Unwin Pty Ltd, 1997).
19. See then PM Goh Chok Tong, Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 50, 11 Jan 1988, at col 178, though the number of minority members remains at one in spite of the upsizing of the GRC from 3 to 4 and to 6 members.
20. See Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 54, at col 736 (29 Nov 1989).
21. See the former First Deputy PM and present Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 54, 30 Nov 1989, at cols 847-8.
22. See generally Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 56, (4 Oct 1990).
23. See Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 56, 4 Oct 1990, at col 495:
24. See then PM Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol.44, 24 July 1984 at cols 1735-6
25. HP Lee 'Constitutional Amendments in Malaysia' (1976) 18 Mal LR 59, at p 59.
26. See Kevin YL Tan, 'Towards a Bureaucratic-Authoritarian State: Consolidation in the Post-Independence Period 1965-1979' in The Development of Constitutional Government in Singapore 1945-1995 (unpublished Dissertation, JSD, Yale Law School, 1996), at p 321.
27. See Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 63, 25 Aug 1994, at col 430;
28. For a critique of the Special Tribunal's decision, see Thio Li-ann, 'Working Out the Presidency: The Rites of Passage' [1995]
29. SJLS 509 and the rejoinder by Chan Sek Keong, 'Working Out the Presidency: No Passage of Rights - In Defence of the Opinion of the Constitutional Tribunal' [1996] SJLS 1.
30. See generally, Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 63, 25 Aug 1994;
31. See then PM Goh Chok Tong in Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 66, 28 Oct 1996, at cols 763-4.
32. See Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 56, 3 Jan 1991, at cols 722-3.
33. See Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 63, 25 Aug 1994, at cols 421-2.
34. See Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 64, 7 July 1995, at cols 1321-2;
35. Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 66, 28 Oct 1996, at cols 763-4;
36. Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 72, 12 Mar 2001, at cols 742-3.
37. For a discussion on the amendments to the President's fiscal role, see Yvonne CL Lee, 'Under Lock and Key: The Evolving Role of the Elected President as a Fiscal Guardian' [2007] Sing. JLS 290.
38. This position has been recently reaffirmed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol 85, 21 Oct 2008 during the debate on the latest constitutional amendments concerning 'net investment returns' under Article 142.
39. See then PM and current Minster Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's speech in Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 44 25 July 1984 at cols 1818-19 where he shared with the House his experience in allowing the provision (now Art 46(2)(b)) stripping a member of his seat should he move from one party to another), and proposed amending the Constitution for the introduction of Non-Constituency Member of Parliament.
40. Art 167(5) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 available at http://www.concourt.gov.za/site/theconstitution/thetext.htm.
41. See TKK Iyer, 'Article 9 (1) and "Fundamental Principles of Natural Justice" in the Constitution of Singapore', [1981] 23 Mal LR 213.
42. See generally, Michael YM Hor, 'The Privilege against Self-Incrimination and Fairness to the Accused' [1993] Sing JLS 35.
43. See also Li-ann Thio, 'The Secular Trumps the Sacred: Constitutional Issues Arising from Colin Chan v Public Prosecutor' [1995] 3 SLR 26, at p. 34-8.
44. Carl J. Friedrich, Limited Government: A Comparison (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1974), at p 12.
45. James Madison, The Federalist No. 47, 30 Jan 1788, reprinted in Alexander Hamilton, et al., The Federalist Papers (New York: Bantam lassics, 2003 reissue).
46. See generally Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 52 (25 Jan 1989).
47. See Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 52, 16 and 25 Jan 1989.
48. See Ariel L Bendor and Zeev Segal, 'Constitutionalism and Trust in Britain: An Ancient Constitutional Culture, A New Judicial Review Model', (2002) 17 Am. U. Int'l L. Rev. 683.
49. See Department for Constitutional Affairs, 'Declarations of incompatibility made under section 4 of the Human Rights Act 1988', 1 Aug 2006, available at http://www.dca.gov.uk/peoples-rights/human-rights/pdf/decl-incompat-tabl.pdf.
50. See then Minister for Law and Science and Technology, EW Baker, Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 29, 12 June 1969, at col 66.
51. See then Minister for Law and Science and Technology, EW Barker, Singapore Parliamentary Debates Official Report, vol. 29, 12 June 1969, at cols 62-3.
52. Bruce Ackerman, We The People: Foundations, (Massachusetts and England: Harvard University Press, 1991), at p 34.
53. Laurence H. Tribe, American Constitutional Law, (3rd edn, Vol. 1), (New York: Foundation Press, 2000), at p 24.