1. Researching Singapore Case Law
By Lee Su-Lin
© C J Koh Law Library

2. 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.

3. Introduction
This tutorial was originally designed in 2004 for first year law students on the LAWR Programme (now called LARC). Hence, it focuses on researching “modern” Singapore cases and the use of print resources for research as requested by the Course Director then.

4. CONTENTS 1. Primary sources of Singapore law p.5
2. Singapore case law p.6
3. Law reports of Singapore p.8
3. The case citation p.17
4. Research tools p.22
5. How do I find a case
a. if I have a citation? p.23
b. if I only have a partial citation? p.27
c. on a particular subject? p.29
d. that cites a particular statute? p.34
e. online? p.36
6. Noting up p.40
7. Understanding case law p.46

5. Statutes of the Republic of Singapore
Primary Sources of Singapore Law
Primary sources of law are authoritative records of law made by the law-making bodies of Singapore:
1. Legislation
Statutes
Subsidiary legislation
Statutes of the Republic of Singapore
Ref: K7399 (year)
2. Case Law Decisions of the Singapore courts. 5

6. 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. 6

7. Singapore Case Law Singapore Court Structire
Supreme Court
Court of Appeal
Family Justice Courts
High Court
Family Division of the High Court
State Courts
Family Courts
Youth Courts
District Courts
Magistrates’ Courts
Coroner’s Court
Small Claims Tribunal 7
© C J Koh Law Library

8. Law Reports of Singapore
Law reports are the published judgments of the courts. 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). 8

9. Law Reports of Singapore Singapore Law Reports
The principle law report series for Singapore is the Singapore Law Reports. It covers cases from 1965.
Ref: K7599 SLR ( ); K7599 SLR (1992 -)
Online: LawNet (NUS Law; Other NUS staff & students) 9

10. Law Reports of Singapore 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 that conform to 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
Online: LawNet (NUS Law; Other NUS staff & students) 10

11. Law Reports of Singapore Malayan Law Journal
The other law report series which is a major source of reported Singapore court decisions from 1931 to 1991 is the Malayan Law Journal.
Ref: K7599 MLJ
Online: 1) LawNet (NUS Law staff & students; Other NUS staff & students)
2) Lexis Singapore 11

12. Law Reports of Singapore Singapore Syariah Appeals Reports
The Singapore Syariah Appeals Reports was launched on 21 May 2012.
This series contains the authoritative grounds of decisions delivered by the Syariah Appeal Board from 1980 to It also includes grounds of decisions for appeals heard by the Appeal Board from the decision of the Registrar of Muslim Marriages.
Ref: K7599 SSC 12

13. Major Law Reports of Singapore – A Reverse Chronological List
Law Reports of Singapore Older Law Reports
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 13

14. Law Reports of Singapore Older Law Reports
For a fuller listing, see Historical Sources of Singapore LibGuide 14

15. Other Sources of Case Law
I. Unreported Judgments
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 in LawNet. (Access: NUS Law; Other NUS staff & students)
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) 15

16. Other Sources of Case Law
II. Decisions of Boards/Tribunals
Decisions include those of the
Disciplinary Tribual (Law Society of Singapore)
Income Tax Board of Review
Intellectual Property Office of Singapore
Military Court of Appeal
Strata Titles Boards.
Most of these decisions are not available in print but are available in LawNet.
(Access: NUS Law; Other NUS staff & students)
Several decisions are also freely available online. 16

17. The Case Citation What is it?
A case citation is a reference to a case in the law reports. You will need this in order to locate the report of a case.
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 17

18. The Case Citation 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.) 18

19. The Case Citation 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] 19

20. The Case Citation 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:
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)). 20

21. The Case Citation 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 21

22. Research Tools
For a listing of materials used for researching cases, refer to Legal Research Tools.
Mallal’s Digest
Ref: K Md
Halsbury’s Laws of Singapore
Ref: KE5011 Hal Online: via Lexis Singapore 22

23. Example. PP v Tan Kiam Peng [2007] 1 SLR(R) 522
How Do I Find a Case … if I have a citation?
Example. PP v Tan Kiam Peng [2007] 1 SLR(R) 522
Step 1. Find out what the abbreviation SLR(R) stands for by consulting an index to legal abbreviations.
For local law reports, it is recommended that you use
the online index Singapore Legal Abbreviations: 23

24. Example. PP v Tan Kiam Peng [2007] 1 SLR(R) 522
How Do I Find a Case … if I have a citation?
Example. PP v Tan Kiam Peng [2007] 1 SLR(R) 522
Step 1 (contd.)
A search in Singapore Legal Abbreviations indicates that SLR(R) stands for the Singapore Law Reports (Reissue). 24

25. Example. PP v Tan Kiam Peng [2007] 1 SLR(R) 522
How Do I Find a Case … if I have a citation?
Example. PP v Tan Kiam Peng [2007] 1 SLR(R) 522
Step 2. To find out if a print copy is available, search the library catalogue, LINC (
1. Select the BOOKS & MEDIA tab
2. Select Title from the drop down menu
3. Enter law report title and click on search button 25

26. Example. PP v Tan Kiam Peng [2007] 1 SLR(R) 522
How Do I Find a Case … if I have a citation?
Example. PP v Tan Kiam Peng [2007] 1 SLR(R) 522
Step 3. Determine availability and location of Vol 1 of 2007 of the Singapore Law Reports (Reissue)
Step 4.
Retrieve Vol 1 of 2007 from the Singapore/Malaysia or Legislation/Reports collection. The case starts on page 522. 26

27. How Do I Find a Case … if I only have a partial citation?
If you only have the names of the parties, refer to an index or table of cases or a case citator. These contain alphabetical listings of cases. Search for the case by the name of the plaintiff or appellant (in a civil suit) or Public Prosecutor/PP (in a criminal action) followed by defendant.
2 such indexes are:
I. Mallal’s Digest: Consolidated Table of Cases 2015 Reissue (Ref: K Md)
Alphabetical table of cases digested in Mallal’s Digest (5th ed.) from as early as Includes a selection of unreported judgments. For more recent cases, refer to the “Table of Cases” in the latest volumes of the Mallal’s Digest Yearbooks (Ref: K MDY)
II. Singapore Law Reports (Reissue): Comparative Table of Citations & Table of Cases Reported 1965 to 2009 (Ref: K7599 SLR) Alphabetical listing of cases reported in the Singapore Law Reports during the period 1965 to For cases reported after 2009, refer to the “Table of Cases Reported” in the individual volumes of the Singapore Law Reports. 27

28. How Do I Find a Case … if I only have a partial citation?
Example. Using the SLR(R) Table of Cases Reported to find case citation for De Cruz Andrea v Guangzhou Health
A search in the Table of Cases Reported gives the citation: De Cruz Andrea Heidi v Guangzhou Yuzhitang Health Products Co Ltd and others [2003] 4 SLR(R) 682. 28

29. Example. Quantum of damages for head injury
How Do I Find a Case … on a particular subject?
Example. Quantum of damages for head injury
Refer to Mallal’s Digest of Malaysian and Singapore Case Law (5th Ed.)
(Ref: K Md)
The volumes in this set are arranged in alphabetical order according to broad subject areas. Step 1. Determine the broad subject heading for your area of research. In the above example, it is “damages”.
Step 2. Check the range of subjects covered in each volume of the Digest by referring to the front cover. Cases on “Damages (Personal Injury or Death)” are covered in Volumes 6(1) and 6(2) (2015). 29

30. Example. Quantum of damages for head injury
How Do I Find a Case … on a particular subject?
Example. Quantum of damages for head injury
Step 3: Check the “Subject Index” in Volume 6(1) for references to the specific subject area. You will find relevant cases listed under “DAMAGES (PERSONAL INJURY OR DEATH) – Quantum – Head/Head injuries/Head injury”.
The paragraphs listed in the “Subject Index” will lead you to the relevant case abstracts. Refer to the abstracts for information on the cases, including case citations. The citations will enable you to locate the full texts of the cases.
Note: Remember to determine the currency of the cases in the volume of the Digest. For instance, the current Volumes 6(1) and 6(2) contain cases reported up to the 2014 volume of the Mallal’s Digest Yearbook (Publisher’s Note, vii) 30

31. How Do I Find a Case … on a particular subject?
Example. Quantum of damages for head injury
Refer to these paragraphs for cases on damages for head injuries/injury
Cases on quantum of damages
Subject Index in Volume 6(1) of Mallal’s Digest 31

32. Example. Quantum of damages for head injury
How Do I Find a Case … on a particular subject?
Example. Quantum of damages for head injury
Paragraph no.
Case citation
Damages awarded for head injury 32

33. How Do I Find a Case … on a particular subject?
For more recent decisions, refer to:
Mallal’s Digest Yearbooks
Search the “Subject Index” in the latest volumes.
Ref: K MDY
As an alternative to Mallal’s Digest, refer to:
Singapore Law Reports (Reissue): Subject Index 1965 to 2009
Ref: K7599 SLR (in 2 volumes)
Note that your search will be limited to decisions reported in the Singapore Law Reports up to 2009 only.
For more recent cases, refer to the “Subject Index” in the latest individual volumes of the Singapore Law Reports. 33

34. How Do I Find a Case … that cites a particular statute?
To determine if a particular piece of legislation has been referred to in a case, use a legislation citator. This contains a table of legislation considered by the courts.
The 2 legislation citators are:
I. Mallal’s Digest: Legislation Citator 1932 to 2014
Ref: K Mdl 2014
Note: the latest Legislation Citator (1932 to 2015) does not contain Singapore legislation.
II. Singapore Law Reports (Reissue): Table of Legislation Referred to: 1965 to 2009
Ref: K7599 SLR 34

35. How Do I Find a Case … that cites a particular statute?
E.g. Using Mallal’s Digest: Legislation Citator 1932 to 2014
Under LEGISLATION CITATOR-SINGAPORE,
search for the specific section of the Act, e.g. s 99 Land Titles Act (Cap. 157)
Cases citing s 99 35

36. How Do I Find a Case … online?
You may also use databases to search for cases by citation, case name, subject or keyword. The main databases for Singapore cases are:
LawNet – database that contains the most extensive collection of Singapore cases. Access: NUS Law; Other NUS staff & students
Lexis Singapore - contains Singapore cases reported in the Malayan Law Journal from 1954 to Access: NUS Libraries E-Resources 36

37. How Do I Find a Case … online?
Example. LawNet Basic demonstration on the use of LawNet for searching cases by topic, e.g. mental capacity
Select options 37

38. How Do I Find a Case … online?
Example. LawNet 38

39. How Do I Find a Case … online?
Example. LawNet
PDF available
PDF available 39

40. Noting Up
Having located a case, you will need to confirm if the case is still “good law”. You can do this by checking the subsequent judicial history of the case using case citators. This is referred to as “noting up”.
The case citators provide citations to subsequent cases (annotating cases) in which the original case (annotated case) has been followed, distinguished, overruled, referred, etc. 40

41. Noting Up To note up a Singapore case, refer to:
I. Singapore Law Reports (Reissue): Table of Cases Referred to: 1965 to 2009
Contains listings of annotated cases referred to in cases reported in the Singapore Law Reports (Reissue). Includes significant English, Australian and Indian cases.
Ref: K7599 SLR or
II. Mallal’s Digest: Case Citator 1932 to 2015
Contains listings of annotated cases referred to in cases reported in the Singapore Law Reports and Malayan Law Journal. Includes references to annotated cases that go as far back as the 1800s.
Ref: K Mdc 2016 41

42. Noting Up Using a Case Citator
E.g. Noting up Kwang Boon Keong Peter v PP using Singapore Law Reports (Reissue): Table of Cases Referred To
Annotated case
Treatment of annotated case
Annotating cases 42

43. Noting Up Using LawNet E.g. Noting up Kwang Boon Keong Peter v PP
Step 1. Search for the case you want to note-up.
Enter name of case
Select sources 43

44. Noting Up Using LawNet
Step 2. Select case 44

45. Noting Up Using LawNet
Step 3. Upon retrieving the case, you will see the words “Following", “Distinguishing", “Referring", etc. just above the case name. Click on the words in bold to the see the list of annotating cases under each section.
Alternatively, click on “View All” on the left column to see all cases referring to the annotated case.
Click here to see full judicial history 6

46. Understanding Case Law
2 publications containing comments and analyses of Singapore cases are:
Singapore Academy of Law
Annual Review of Singapore Cases
Ref: KE5003 SALAR Online: via HeinOnline Online (free): SAL
Halsburys’ Laws of Singapore
Ref: KE5011 Hal Online: via Lexis Singapore 46

47. The End You have reached the end of this tutorial.
If you have any queries, please or speak to a librarian at the C J Koh Law Library Information Desk:
If you have feedback about this tutorial, please send your to:
Updated 4 May 2018
© C J Koh Law Library