Practice Statement (Judicial Precedent)

JurisdictionSingapore
JudgeUnknown
Judgment Date11 July 1994
Neutral Citation[1994] SGCA 148
Year1994
Citation[1994] SGCA 148
Date1994
CourtCourt of Appeal (Singapore)
Published date27 November 2006

The following statement was read by the Honourable the Chief Justice at the commencement of hearings of the Court of Appeal on Monday, 11 July 1994.

With the abolition of all appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and the establishment of the Court of Appeal as the final appellate court in Singapore, we consider it desirable that we state the use of precedent in the Court of Appeal in future.

We recognize the vital role that the doctrine of stare decisis plays in giving certainty to the law and predictability on its application to similar cases. However, we also recognize that the political, social and economic circumstances of Singapore have changed enormously since Singapore became an independent and sovereign republic. The development of our law should reflect these...

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20 cases
  • Lee Chez Kee v PP
    • Singapore
    • Court of Appeal (Singapore)
    • 12 May 2008
    ...Singapore (and is hence spared from the constraints of stare decisis: see Practice Statement (Judicial Precedent) of the Court of Appeal [1994] 2 SLR 689) is constitutionally charged with the responsibility of departing from any existing interpretation if such interpretation no longer assum......
  • Wong Bark Chuan David v Man Financial (S) Pte Ltd
    • Singapore
    • Court of Appeal (Singapore)
    • 29 November 2007
    ...court) to depart from its own prior decisions pursuant to the criteria set out in this court’s Practice Statement (Judicial Precedent) [1994] 2 SLR 689. This court is, a fortiori, free not to follow prior English (or other foreign) decisions if finds the analysis and reasoning therein unper......
  • Sports Connection Pte Ltd v Deuter Sports GmbH
    • Singapore
    • Court of Appeal (Singapore)
    • 1 June 2009
    ...court) to depart from its own prior decisions pursuant to the criteria set out in this court’s Practice Statement (Judicial Precedent) [1994] 2 SLR 689. This court is, a fortiori, free not to follow prior English (or other foreign) decisions if finds the analysis and reasoning therein unper......
  • PP v Adnan bin Kadir
    • Singapore
    • Court of Appeal (Singapore)
    • 28 June 2013
    ...23 Of course, the Court of Appeal is not bound by its previous decisions: Practice Statement (Judicial Precedent) of the Court of Appeal [1994] 2 SLR 689, and we acknowledge that it may well be desirable to reconsider whether the IA's definition of ‘import’ should continue to apply to the M......
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10 books & journal articles
  • ENLARGED PANELS IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF SINGAPORE
    • Singapore
    • Singapore Academy of Law Journal No. 2019, December 2019
    • 1 December 2019
    ...ss 298(6)–298(7). 109 Mok Swee Kok v Public Prosecutor [1994] 3 SLR(R) 134. 110 Pursuant to the Practice Statement (Judicial Precedent) [1994] 2 SLR 689, similar to that issued by the House of Lords at [1966] 1 WLR 1234 and now applicable in the UK Supreme Court: Austin v Southwark London B......
  • CONTRACT LAW IN COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES: UNIFORMITY OR DIVERGENCE?
    • Singapore
    • Singapore Academy of Law Journal No. 2019, December 2019
    • 1 December 2019
    ...Court of Appeal decision in Au Wai Pang v Attorney-General [2016] 1 SLR 992 at [20]. 24 Practice Statement (Judicial Precedent) [1994] 2 SLR 689. 25 See para 8 above. 26 Attorney General of Belize v Belize Telecom Ltd [2009] 1 WLR 1988 at [21]. 27 See, for example, John W Carter, “The Impli......
  • (Non‐)Enforcement of Directors’ Duties in Corporate Groups: Goh Chan Peng v Beyonics Technology Ltd
    • United Kingdom
    • Wiley The Modern Law Review No. 81-4, July 2018
    • 1 July 2018
    ...of England and Walesgenerally bound by its own prior decisions, albeit with exceptions).87 Practice Statement (Judicial Precedent) [1994] SGCA 148; [1994] 2 SLR 689.88 Re Dominion International Group plc (No 2) [1996] 1 BCLC 572 (ChD), 634 per Knox J (directors’disqualification proceedings);......
  • RETHINKING THE DICHOTOMY BETWEEN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CONTEMPT OF COURT
    • Singapore
    • Singapore Academy of Law Journal No. 2015, December 2015
    • 1 December 2015
    ...Judges of the Supreme Court and the Senior District Judge, and does not involve Parliament. 44 Practice Statement (Judicial Precedent) [1994] 2 SLR 689. 45 The Rules of Supreme Court 1934, which were in force when Re Abdul Aziz's Application[1962] 28 MLJ 64 was decided, did not state that c......
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