Singapore and UK Case Law Conducted by: Carol Wee

Singapore and UK Case Law Conducted by: Carol Wee
Content by: Lee Su-Lin 20 August 2018 © C J Koh Law Library

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, without the written permission of the copyright holder, application for which should be addressed to the author. Such written permission must also be obtained before any part of this publication is stored in a retrieval system of any nature. No copyright is claimed in the text of statutes, regulations and court decisions quoted within this work. © C J Koh Law Library

This tutorial is specifically designed for the Legal Analysis, Research and Communication (LARC) course for first year law students at NUS Law. The purpose of the tutorial is to teach students how to read Singapore and UK case citations, and to locate cases in the printed law reports. © C J Koh Law Library

Contents 1. Primary sources of law p.5
2. Singapore case law p.6 3. Law reports of Singapore p.8 4. The case citation p.16 5. How to find a case if I have a citation p.21 6. UK case law p.34 7. Law reports of UK p.35 8. Finding cases with citations p.41 9. Alternative citations p.56 © C J Koh Law Library

Primary Sources of Law Primary sources of law are authoritative records of law made by the law-making bodies of Singapore. The 2 main sources of law are: Legislation Statutes Subsidiary legislation Quasi-legislation 2. Case Law Decisions of the Singapore courts.

Singapore Case Law Lady Justice in the centre of the tympanum of the old Supreme Court building Case law – the law as established by the decisions of courts. Stare decisis – principle of English law by which precedents are authoritative and binding.

Singapore Case Law Court Structure © C J Koh Law Library

Law Reports of Singapore
Law reports are the published judgments of court cases. Cases are only selected for reporting if they are deemed to be of significant legal interest, such as those that create a new precedent, modify or clarify an existing principle of law. Therefore, only a small proportion of cases are reported, and these are mainly from the Supreme Court (i.e. High Court and Court of Appeal).

A. Singapore Law Reports The principle law report series in Singapore is the Singapore Law Reports. It covers cases from 1965. Ref: K7599 SLR (1992-); K7599 SLR ( )

B. Singapore Law Reports (Reissue) The Academy of Law re-issued the Singapore Law Reports from 1965 through 2009, with re-written headnotes for the reports from 1965 to 2002, and re-edited judgment texts to conform with the SAL house-style. This set of reports is called the Singapore Law Reports (Reissue). Both the original SLR volumes from 1965 to 2002, and the Reissue are equally authoritative as each judgment reported in both remains in substance, though not in form, the same. Ref: K7599 SLR

C. Malayan Law Journal The other law report series which is the major source of reported Singapore court decisions from 1932 to 1991 is the Malayan Law Journal. Ref: K7599 MLJ

D. Singapore Syariah Appeals Reports
Law Reports of Singapore D. Singapore Syariah Appeals Reports The Singapore Syariah Appeals Reports is the official report series of grounds of decisions delivered by the Syariah Appeal Board from 1980 to 2015. Ref: K7599 SSC

Major Law Reports of Singapore – A Reverse Chronological List
E. Older Law Reports Series Major Law Reports of Singapore – A Reverse Chronological List Title Abbreviation Publication Date Location Singapore Law Reports SLR 1965- Print: K7599 SLR; K7599 SLR Online: LawNet (NUS Law) (Other NUS staff & students) Singapore Law Reports (Reissue) SLR(R) Print: K7599 SLR Online: LawNet (NUS Law) (Other NUS staff & students) Malayan Law Journal MLJ Print: K7599 MLJ Online: LawNet (NUS Law) (Other NUS staff & students) Online: Lexis Singapore Straits Settlements Law Reports SSLR (new series) (old series) Print: K7596 SSLR Federated Malay States Law Reports FMSLR (covers ) Print: K7600 FMSLR Kyshe’s Reports Ky (covers ) Print: K7596 Ky Straits Law Reports SLR Leic 1877 (covers ) Print: K7596 SLR There are several discontinued series of law reports that contain older cases from the courts of Singapore, Malaya and Borneo. A complete listing of these reports can be found on p.vii-viii of Mallal’s Digest: Consolidated Table of Cases 2015 Reissue under the section entitled “Reports and Publications and Their Abbreviations”. (Ref: K Md) Here is a reverse chronological list of major law reports through the years: For a more complete listing, refer to the LibGuide.

A. Unreported Judgements
Other Sources of Case Law A. Unreported Judgements These are full text transcripts of written judgments as handed down in the State Courts, High Court and Court of Appeal. They are available online via LawNet . Earlier judgments are also available in print in the Law Library: Ref: K7599 CA (Court of Appeal, Civil Appeals) K7599 CRA (Court of Appeal, Criminal Appeals) K7599 DC (District Court) K7599 J (High Court) K7599 MC (Magistrates’ Court)

B. Decisions of Boards & Tribunals
Other Sources of Case Law B. Decisions of Boards & Tribunals Decisions include those of the Disciplinary Tribunals (Law Society of Singapore) Income Tax Board of Review Intellectual Property Office of Singapore Military Court of Appeal Strata Titles Boards. Most decisions are not readily available in print. Available online via LawNet. Several decisions are also freely available online.

The Case Citation A. What Is It?
A case citation is a reference to a legal case in the law reports. It generally includes the names of the parties to the case year the decision of the court was delivered or published volume number of the law report abbreviation of the law report series first page at which the case is reported. Civil case: Anwar Siraj and Another v Ting Kang Chung John [2010] 1 SLR 1026 Criminal case: Public Prosecutor v Chew Suang Heng [2001] 1 SLR(R) 127

The Case Citation B. Neutral Citation
The neutral citation system is defined in s.74(8) of the Supreme Court Practice Directions as follows: “A neutral citation is a Court-approved system of citation which is independent of the series of law reports or other publication, and unique to each written judgment. Each written judgment from a particular level of Court is assigned a sequential number, starting from 1 at the beginning of each calendar year.” A similar definition can be found in s.73(1) of the State Courts Practice Directions (2006 Ed.)

The Case Citation B. Neutral Citation The neutral citation includes
names of the parties to the case year of the court decision jurisdiction/level of court Court designators include SGCA – Singapore Court of Appeal SGHC – Singapore High Court SGDC – Singapore District Court SGMC – Singapore Magistrates’ Court sequential number paragraph number(s) Example Public Prosecutor v Nguyen Tuong Van [2004] SGHC 54, [1]

The Case Citation C. Citation Practice
According to s74(6) of the Supreme Court Practice Directions, counsel who cite a judgment must use the official series of the law report(s) or, if this is not available, any other law report series in which the judgment was published. Local law reports are to be cited in order of preference as follows (refer to s74(6) for more details): 1. Singapore Law Reports (2010-) 2. Singapore Law Reports Reissue 3. Singapore Law Reports ( ) 4. Malayan Law Journal. Also note: Cases reported in the Singapore Law Reports shall be cited using their Singapore Law Reports citations, in priority to their neutral citations (s74(8)).

The Case Citation D. Comparative Citations
If you have a case with an original SLR, MLJ or neutral citation and need to determine the corresponding SLR(R) citation, refer to the Singapore Law Reports (Reissue): Comparative Table of Citations & Table of Cases Reported 1965 to (Ref: K7599 SLR) Corresponding SLR(R) citation original SLR citation

E.g. Salmah v Chop Chin Guan Hong [1929] SSLR 172
How to Find a Case If I Have a Citation? E.g. Salmah v Chop Chin Guan Hong [1929] SSLR 172 Step 1: Find out what law report the abbreviation stands for by checking an index to legal abbreviations e.g. SSLR Step 2: Search LINC for the specific law report to determine its location in the library

How to Find a Case If I Have a Citation? Step 1.
Find out what “SSLR” in the citation stands for by consulting an index to legal abbreviations. For law reports of Singapore, use Singapore Legal Abbreviations, published by the C J Koh Law Library. The index shows that SSLR stands for the Straits Settlements Law Reports

How to Find a Case If I Have a Citation? E.g. Salmah v Chop Chin Guan Hong [1929] SSLR 172 Step 2. Search for the law report in LINC. Enter title of law report Select Title from drop down menu

How to Find a Case If I Have a Citation? E.g. Salmah v Chop Chin Guan Hong [1929] SSLR 172 Step 2 (contd) Select relevant record

How to Find a Case If I Have a Citation? E.g. Salmah v Chop Chin Guan Hong [1929] SSLR 172 Step 2 (contd) The 1929 volume can be found in various locations in the Law and Central Libraries. But the most convenient locations for retrieval are the Legislation/Reports and Singapore-Malaysia collections in the Law Library. Once you obtain the law report, turn to page 172 for the case. Enter year of law report

How to Find a Case Online?
You may also obtain Singapore cases from full text databases. Databases are particularly useful when you only have partial citations or need to search for cases on a particular topic: LawNet The only database that contains a comprehensive collection of Singapore cases. Access: NUS Law Resources Lexis Singapore Contains Singapore cases reported in the Malayan Law Journal from 1931 to Access: NUS Libraries E-Resources

E.g.1 Find the case heard in 2010 where one party was Ng Swee Hua
How to Find a Case Online? LawNet (via NUS Law Resources) E.g.1 Find the case heard in 2010 where one party was Ng Swee Hua Select LawNet

How to Find a Case Online?
E.g.1 Find the case heard in 2010 where one party was Ng Swee Hua Enter NUS ID and password

How to Find a Case Online? E.g.1 Find the case heard in 2010 where one party was Ng Swee Hua After login, select: 1. Legal Research, followed by Basic Search 2. Enter name of party within quotation marks and the year case was heard 4. Click on Search 3. Tick possible relevant options

How to Find a Case Online? E.g.1 Find the case heard in 2010 where one party was Ng Swee Hua

How to Find a Case Online? E.g.1 Find the case heard in 2010 where one party was Ng Swee Hua Reported citation Neutral citation

E.g.2 Find the case with the neutral citation [2013] SGHC 122
How to Find a Case Online? E.g.2 Find the case with the neutral citation [2013] SGHC 122

UK Case Law Lady Justice atop the Old Bailey courthouse in London English case law has had a heavy influence on the development of Singapore law, especially in traditional common law areas.

Law Reports of UK A. Modern Reports The Law Reports (1865 - )
The official set of law reports published by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales Text of each report is reviewed by judges before publication. So, it takes between 10 and 14 months to report cases The only set of reports that has a summary of the arguments of counsel The Senior Courts of England and Wales, including the Crown Court, county courts and magistrates’ courts require that where a judgment is reported in the Official Law Reports that report must be cited. These are the most authoritative reports. See Practice Direction (Citation of Authorities) [2012] 1 WLR 780

Law Reports of UK A. Modern Reports The Law Reports (1865 - ) (contd.)
The 4 current series of the Law Reports are: Title Reports Decisions of … Ref Appeal Cases (AC) Supreme Court, Privy Council, Court of Justice of the European Union, (Earlier volumes - House of Lords) K2022 4C Queen’s Bench (QB) Queen’s Bench Division, Court of Appeal (Civil Division), Court of Appeal (Criminal Division), Court Martial Appeal Court K2022 2E Family (Fam) Family Division, Family Court, Court of Protection, Court of Appeal (Civil Division), Ecclesiastical courts K2022 1C Chancery (Ch) Chancery Division, Court of Protection, Court of Appeal (Civil Division) K2022 3B Online: ICLR

Law Reports of UK A. Modern Reports
2. The Weekly Law Reports (WLR) ( ) Timely, full text reports. Ref: K2020 WNR Online: ICLR 3. All England Law Reports (All ER) ( ) Timely, full text reports; contains editorial notes. Ref: K2020 AELR Online: Lexis Library

Law Reports of UK A. Modern Reports 4. Specialist series
Contain a selection of cases in a discrete practice area. e.g. Lloyds Law Reports (maritime and commercial law) Ref: K2020 LLLR Online: i-law 5. Newspapers Brief, edited reports. e.g. The Times Law Reports Ref: K2020 TR/ K2020 TLR Online: Lexis Malaysia (1987 -)

Law Reports of UK B. Nominate Reports
The Nominate Reports refer to the various published reports of English cases from the Middle Ages to the 1860s. They are known by the names of the reporters and have been reprinted in: 1. The English Reports ( ) Most comprehensive compilation. 176 volumes of cases & 2 index vols. Ref: K2020 ER Online: HeinOnline CommonLII (free access) 2. The All England Law Reports Reprint ( ) Criterion for inclusion: present day relevance or value to the legal profession. Ref: K2020 AE/ K2020 AEE (extension volumes) Online: Lexis Library

The English Reports Ref: K2020 ER
Law Reports of UK B. Nominate Reports The English Reports Ref: K2020 ER

Finding Cases with Citations
A. Law Reports Examples of Case Citations 1. Civil cases Sam v Atkins [2006] RTR 171 Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile v Sogemin Metals Ltd and others [1997] 2 All ER 917, [1997] 1 WLR 1396 2. Criminal cases R v Campbell [1956] 2 QB 432; [1956] 2 All ER 272; [1956] 3 WLR 219 R v B (1990) Times, 1 March In English cases, only surnames of the parties are used “R” stands for Rex or Regina, depending on the reigning monarch at the time

A. Law Reports Need a Print Copy? Step 1: Search an index to legal abbreviations to find out which law report the abbreviation stands for e.g. WLR Step 2: Search LINC for law report by title to determine its location in library

A. Law Reports Indexes to Legal Abbreviations Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations Online: “Table of Abbreviations” in the first volume for the year in the Current Law Yearbook Ref: KB3 CLY Index to Legal Citations & Abbreviations (by Donald Raistrick, 3rd ed., 2013) Ref: KB280 Rai 2013 “Law Reports and Journals and Their Abbreviations” in Osborn’s Concise Law Dictionary Ref: KB12 Osb 2013

A. Law Reports E.g. Use Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations

B. Nominate Reports/English Reports
Finding Cases with Citations B. Nominate Reports/English Reports Examples of Nominate Report Citations Hall v Hall, 3 Sw. & Tr. 347 Horn v Quash, 1 Keb. 5 Kinshela v Lee, 7 Beav. 300 Lord Fairfax v Lord Derby & Al’, 2 Vern. 612 Uvedale v Halfpenny, 2 P Wms 151

Finding Cases with Citations B. Nominate Reports/English Reports I. Need a Print Copy? Use the indexes to the English Reports. These indicate the volumes of the English Reports in which the cases have been reprinted: a. English Reports: Index of Cases (Vols. 177 & 178) Alphabetical listing of cases. Use this if you know the name of the case, e.g. Alexander v Comber. Ref: K2020 ER b. English Reports Wall Chart Use this when you only have the citation to the case, e.g. I Keb Location: On wall opposite Law Library Information Desk

Example. Using CommonLII
Finding Cases with Citations B. Nominate Reports/English Reports II. Searching Online Example. Using CommonLII Search for case by citation or case name in HeinOnline or CommonLII (free access). Click on Database Search to search for a case Or browse decisions

Finding Cases with Citations B. Nominate Reports/English Reports II. Searching Online Using CommonLII e.g. Williams v Byrne, 7 Ad. & E. 177 If you select Database Search, you can: a. search by case name or b. search by citation

Finding Cases with Citations B. Nominate Reports/English Reports II. Searching Online Using CommonLII e.g. Williams v Byrne, 7 Ad. & E. 177 English Report citation Click on link for PDF

C. Neutral Citations Examples of neutral citations A v Hoare and other appeals [2008] UKHL 6 Mealing (a child suing by her grandmother and litigation friend) v Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust [2008] EWHC 1664 (QB), [2008] All ER (D) 306 (Jul) Home Office v Tariq [2011] UKSC 35 United Kingdom House of Lords England & Wales High Court United Kingdom Supreme Court A neutral citation contains the jurisdiction of the court and court designator.

C. Neutral Citations Example. Use BAILII Free resources from other jurisdictions E.g. AustLII, CanLII, HKLII Case law search

C. Neutral Citations Use BAILII e.g. Barnett & Ors v Nigel Hall Menswear Ltd

C. Neutral Citations Use BAILII e.g. Barnett & Ors v Nigel Hall Menswear Ltd Click on case for full text

C. Neutral Citations Use BAILII e.g. Barnett & Ors v Nigel Hall Menswear Ltd

D. Using Databases Major databases: WestLaw Next Access via NUS Law Resources Lexis Singapore Access via NUS Libraries E-Resources ICLR (covers the official Law Reports & WLR) HeinOnline (English Reports only) BAILLI Free website at

Alternative Citations
A. What Are They? An important case may be reported in several places. There will be a different citation for each law report. Examples: David Wilson Homes Ltd v Survey Services Ltd (In Liquidation) [2001] EWCA Civ 34; [2001] 1 All E.R. (Comm) 449, CA; [2001] Build LR 267, 80 ConLR 8 Donoghue (or M’Alister) v Stevenson [1932] AC 562; 101 LIPC 119; 48 TLR 494; 37 Com Cas 350; 1932 SC (HL) 31 Note: Where a Law Report citation is available, the case should be cited from that source.

B. Finding Alternative Citations One way to find alternative citations for UK cases is to refer to The Digest. This is a multi-volume set containing summaries of UK cases. The set is accompanied by the Consolidated Table of Cases, an index of all cases referred to in The Digest. Ref: K2028 EED

C. Using The Digest Step 1. Refer to the relevant volume of the Consolidated Table of Cases There are 3 index volumes (A-G; H-P; Q-Z). Search for the case in the relevant index volume. The volume of The Digest that contains the case is printed next to the case name. Step 2. Look for the case in the “Table of Cases” in the relevant volume of The Digest The case number is adjacent to the case name. Step 3. Refer to the relevant case number The paragraph provides a summary of the case followed by the citation(s) of the case.

C. Using The Digest Example: Donoghue v Stevenson Step 1. Refer to volume “A-G” of the Consolidated Table of Cases 2016. Search for Donoghue v Stevenson in the alphabetical list. The table shows that the case summary can be found in Volume 35(3) on “Negligence”. The case summary is located in Vol 35(3) on Negligence

C. Using The Digest Example: Donoghue v Stevenson Step 2. Search the “Table of Cases” in Volume 35(3) for the case. The case number in Volume 35(3) where the case summary can be found is indicated next to the case name. Refer to para 1851 in Vol 35(3)

C. Using The Digest Example: Donoghue v Stevenson Step 3. Refer to paragraph 1851. The paragraph provides a summary of the case followed by its citations. Para 1851 Citations for Donoghue v Stevenson

Copyright © 2017 Allen Sng Kiat Peng Law Library Tours
In order to familiarise yourselves with the Law Library and be able to complete the Library Treasure Hunt, please attend the library tours. Time slots for tours have been allocated by the Deputy Director (Legal Skills Programme) as follows: 11.00 – am (TGs 5, 10, 15, 19) 11.30 – 11.50am (TGs 4, 9, 14, 20) 12.00 – 12.20pm (TGs 3, 8, 13, 18) 12.30 – 12.50pm (TGs 2, 7, 12, 17) 1.00 – 1.20pm (TGs 1, 6, 11, 16)

Thank you! You have reached the end of this tutorial.
If you have any queries, or speak to a librarian at the C J Koh Law Library Information Desk: For feedback, send an to: Su-Lin last updated 20 August 2018 © C J Koh Law Library Updated © C J Koh Law Library

Singapore and UK Case Law Conducted by: Carol Wee

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