The Constitution

Of the Republic of Singapore

Republic Government Constitution

• The Republic is a place where the matters of the state are a “Public Matter” and not the private matters of the rulers.+ But for a place to be ruled by the Public it needs a Government.

• The Government here refers to the “System” by which a place is organized and governed.+ But for a Government to function it is necessary for it to have a Constitution which will be the legal foundation for the Republic.

• The Constitution of any country is the Supreme Law of the country which defines every aspect of the Republic like its “Structure”, “Purpose”, “Rights-Duties”, “Provisions” etc.

The Idea of a Constitution• The Constitution is a set of Supreme rules and laws that are meant

to be followed in a Republic, unconditionally.• It is a base set of rules and guidelines on which a country operates

in every aspect.• It is created, defined and implemented for the people and by the

people. • A constitution consists of information, rules and guidelines

regarding:+ Who the People in the Republic are?+ What Provisions were made for these people?+ What their Duties and Rights as a citizen of the Republic are?+ How the government of the Republic is structured?+ What its entities and their functions are?

Singapore – A brief introduction

|Singapore: City-State | Area: 710 Sq.km | Population: ~53 lakhs|

Sri Vijaya Empire

Johor Sultana

te

British Rule

Part of Malaysi

a

Republic of

Singapore

200’s

1600’s – 1800’s

1963 – 1965

1965 Onwards

1819 – 1963A.D

• Unitary State with Unicameral legislature.

• Free Port Marketing economy to Manufacturing and Service Industry economy.

Singapore – The Constitution

• Introduced by Lee Kuan Yew on 9th of August, 1965.• It was based on the following sources:

Singapore Order in Council, 1958 (Constitution of a self governing state of the British Empire) – Formed a Head of State (the Prime Minister) and a wholly elected Legislative assembly with 51 members.

The Federal Constitution of Malaysia & The Constitution of the State of Singapore, 1963 – The Fundamental Liberties part of the Federal Constitution were made applicable to Singapore, but Right to Property was specifically omitted, for the enforcement of Land Acquisition Act of 1966.

The Republic of Singapore Independence Act, 1965 – The executive authority of Singapore was vested in the President and made exercisable by him or by the Cabinet.

Singapore – The Constitution

• Reprint of the Constitution, 1980 – In 1980, provisions from the three documents referred to above were consolidated into a single reprint for the first time.

• Judicial Interpretation of the Constitution – Another source of legally binding constitutional law consists of the body of Case Law decided by the courts interpreting the Constitution, which lay down the fundamental constitutional principles, not expressly mentioned in the Constitution.

• The Constitution that is in force today is the 1999 Reprint of the 1985 Revised Edition, which contains 14 Parts, 162 Articles and 5 Schedules.

Structure of the Constitution

• The Constitution is divided into 14 Parts, 162 Articles and 5 Schedules.I. PreliminaryII. The Republic and the

ConstitutionIII. Protection of the

sovereignty of the Republic of Singapore

IV. Fundamental LibertiesV. The GovernmentVI. The LegislatureVII.The Presidential Council

for Minority Rights

VIII. The JudiciaryIX. The Public ServiceX. CitizenshipXI. Financial provisionsXII. Special powers against subversion and emergency powersXIII. General provisionsXIV. Transitional provisions

The Government• The Government of the Republic of Singapore as defined by the

constitution is the Executive Body.• It comprises of the President and the Cabinet of Singapore.• The Cabinet is formed by the political party that gains a simple

majority in each general election.• The Cabinet of Singapore comprises of the Prime Minister and the

other ministers who are appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. They primarily direct and control the government with the help of Various Ministries and the Statutory boards under them.

• The Statutory boards of the Singapore Government are organizations that have been given autonomy to perform an operational function. They usually report to one specific ministry

The Legislature• Parliament is Unicameral and is made up of:

• Members of Parliament (MPs) who are elected• Non-constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) and

• Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) who are appointed.

• The main functions of Parliament are Lawmaking, Controlling the nation's finances, and Ensuring ministerial accountability.

• The Three important entities of the legislative body are:• The Speaker: Who has overall charge of the Parliament and its secretariat.• The Leader of the House: The MP appointed by the Prime Minister to

arrange government business and the legislative programme of Parliament.• The Leader of the Opposition: The MP who leads the

largest opposition party and is prepared to assume office if the Government resigns.

The Judiciary• The full Judicial power in Singapore is vested in the Supreme

Court as well as subordinate courts by the Constitution of Singapore.

• Supreme Court consists of:• Court of Appeal: It exercises appellate criminal and civil

jurisdiction• High Court: It exercises both original and appellate criminal and

civil jurisdiction.• Singapore practices the Common Law or Case Law legal system,

where the decisions of higher courts constitute binding precedent upon courts of equal or lower status within their jurisdiction.

• The current Criminal code was preceded by the Indian Penal Code which was adopted when Singapore was a crown colony.

Power of the Judiciary: Regarding the Constitution

• The Judiciary body(Court) has the power and duty to ensure that the provisions of the Constitution are observed.

• The court also has a duty to declare invalid any exercise of power, legislative and executive, which exceeds the limits of the power conferred by the Constitution, or which contravenes any prohibition which the Constitution provides.

• It has been said that the Singapore judiciary has a conservative attitude when interpreting the Constitution as it seems to be "more protective of executive interests than individual freedoms". *

• This is in line with the locally held judicial philosophy which features Deference to the Parliament and a strong Presumption of Constitutional validity.**

* Thio Li-ann (2009), "Protecting Rights", in Li-ann Thio; Kevin Y[ew] L[ee] Tan, eds., Evolution of a Revolution: Forty Years of the Singapore Constitution, London: Routledge-Cavendish, pp. 193–233 at 214** Taw Cheng Kong (H.C.), p. 89, para. 16.

Thank You