1. Singapore Legislation Conducted by Lee Su-Lin
Lecture on 14 August 2019
© 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.
© C J Koh Law Library

3. This tutorial is specifically designed for the Legal Analysis, Research and Communication (LARC) course for first year law students.
The purpose of this tutorial is to teach students the fundamentals of locating and researching Singapore legislation.

4. Contents 1. Primary sources of law p.5 2. Singapore legislation p.6
3. Legislative process p.7
4. Subsidiary legislation p.12
5. Amendments to Acts p.13
6. Versions of Current Acts p.15
7. Earlier Versions of Acts p.24

5. 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.

6. Singapore Legislation
The 2 main sources of legislation in Singapore today:
I. Statutes of the Republic
of Singapore
(primary legislation)
Ref: K7399 ….
II. Subsidiary Legislation of
the Republic of Singapore (secondary legislation)
Ref: K

7. Parliament of Singapore
Legislative Process
The Legislature, the law-making body in Singapore, comprises the President and the Parliament of Singapore.
Legislature
Parliament of Singapore
The President

8. Legislative Process
Watch this video by govsingapore: The Singapore Government Explained - Part 2: How Laws are Made

9. Legislative Process The Legislature enacts laws - Acts of Parliament.
Acts begin life as Bills - drafted by the Legislation Division, Attorney-General's Chambers.
E.g. Fire Safety (Amendment) Bill 2013

10. Attorney-General’s Chambers
Legislative Process
Attorney-General’s Chambers
Bill is drafted
Parliament
Bill will be debated or referred to a Select Committee
Bill is passed by Parliament and assented to by the President
Government Printer
Act is published in the Government Gazette
Act comes into force on date determined by the Minister and notified by Commencement Notification in the Gazette
For more details, see The Legislative Process (by AGC)

11. Legislative Process E.g. Fire Safety (Amendment) Act (No.14 of 2013)
Act published in the Acts Supplement of the Government Gazette, but only came into effect on a later date (see Commencement Notification below)

12. Subsidiary Legislation
Acts usually confer power on the Minister in charge to make subsidiary legislation.
Example. Various regulations, rules and orders have been made under the Active Mobility Act 2017 (Act 3 of 2017), e.g. S 13/2019
Example. S 13/2019

13. Amendments to Acts Principal Act Amendments Current Version of Act
Consolidation of amendments
(available in Singapore Statutes Online (SSO))
Substantial amendments
to Act
Act Supplement E.g. 36 of 2000
Subsidiary Legislation
Supplement E.g. S 262/2004
Revised Edition of Act
Authoritative version
(available in print; several in SSO)
Bill
Parliamentary debate

14. Earlier Revised Editions of the Singapore Statutes
Amendments to Acts
Earlier Revised Editions of the Singapore Statutes
1955 Rev. Ed.
1970 Rev. Ed.
1985 Rev. Ed.

15. Versions of Current Acts
I. Latest Revised Edition
heavily amended Acts are revised by the Law Revision Commission, AGC
these are the authoritative versions of Singapore Acts
available at the Law Library RBR; a selection are available in SSO
II. Current Version (latest revised edition with amendments)
Singapore Acts are updated regularly by the Attorney General’s Chambers
available on Singapore Statutes Online (SSO):

16. Versions of Current Acts
I. Latest Revised Edition (in print at Law Library RBR)
e.g. Bankruptcy Act
Title of Act
Chapter No.
Previous Rev. Eds.
Original Act
Previous Rev. Eds. amended by
Acts supplements and subsidiary legislation supplements
Current Rev. Ed.
Date current Rev. Ed. came into effect
In older revised editions, the legislative history of the Act can be found on the front page

17. Versions of Current Acts
I. Latest Revised Edition (in print at Law Library RBR)
e.g. Central Provident Fund Act
In the new revised editions, the legislative history of the Act is no longer available on the front cover.

18. Versions of Current Acts
I. Latest Revised Edition (in print at Law Library RBR)
e.g. Central Provident Fund Act
The legislative history can only be found at the back of the Act:
Acts supplements
and subsidiary legislation supplements
amending the 2001 Rev. Ed.
E.g Rev. Ed.

19. Versions of Current Acts
II. Current Version (Singapore Statutes Online)
e.g. Central Provident Fund Act
Search for the Act
or browse the alphabetical list

20. Versions of Current Acts
II. Current Version (Singapore Statutes Online)
e.g. Central Provident Fund Act
If you search for the Act,
click on the relevant Act

21. Versions of Current Acts
II. Current Version (Singapore Statutes Online)
e.g. Central Provident Fund Act
Amendments after 2013 Rev Ed
Click on timeline to see legislative history
Check status

22. Versions of Current Acts
Click on Subsidiary Legislation to retrieve subsidiary legislation promulgated under the principal Act.

23. Versions of Current Acts
Listing of subsidiary legislation under the Central Provident Fund Act as at 19 Jul 2019:

24. Earlier Versions of Acts
You can also retrieve earlier versions of Acts from SSO, including Revised Editions:
2. Click on date e.g. 30 Jun 2013 or PDF for the 2013 Rev Ed
1. Drag slider to required version

25. Thank you 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:
Content by Lee Su-Lin Updated 13 Aug 2019
© C J Koh Law Library