From the Chief Editor
Law reform has become popular in jurisdictions around the world and in Singapore as well. Such reform should arguably be placed under an analytical microscope since the repercussions are wide and varied. Unlike common law decisions in the courts that may be more readily overturned on a daily basis, statutory provisions once set are often not substantially amended till some time later. Bearing this in mind, in this final issue of the semester, Juris explores the mechanisms by which Singapore revises its laws and also comments on recent amendments to laws that have caught public attention. The laws punishing inadvertent AIDS transmission, the amendments to the Land Titles (Strata) Act and new proposed anti-sexual grooming laws are examples that are further discussed within the folds. On a slightly separate note, we include a legal update on the case of Spandeck v. DSTA, touted to be the local Donoghue v. Stevenson, and a write-up on the recently-concluded Mallal Moots.

We also take cognisance of the Myanmar crisis and hope to prevent the issue from regressing to a faint memory. As such, we have included two articles that provide direction for a possible stance that ASEAN should take. This acts as a fitting prelude to the 21st Singapore Law Review Lecture on “From Constructive Engagement to Collective Revulsion: The 2007 Myanmar Precedent” to be delivered by Professor Lim Chin Leng of the University of Hong Kong. The lecture will be followed by a panel discussion by Professor Lim, Ms. Braema Mathi,a former nominated MP and president of AWARE, Mr. Marc Myo, a Myanmese undergraduate in Singapore and moderated by Associate Professor Simon Tay of the NUS Law Faculty. We invite all who feel passionately about the crisis to join us on 9 November 2007, 6.30pm at the Multipurpose Auditorium, Bukit Timah Campus.

I hope that reading Juris would afford you a brief respite from your daily grind. To our student readers, best of luck for the upcoming examinations!

(Read the Print version of the issue here: Juris Illuminae Vol. 4 Issue 3)

  • Law Reform - People or the Law? by Lynette Lim

    As we plough through cases with long, dry judgments, we watch how the law has developed over the years through the various situations placed before the court. We tend to get be so focused on examining the past that we overlook the present - what the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) Law Reform and Revision Division (LRRD) is doing on a day-to-day basis. [Read More]

  • Amendments to the Infectious Diseases Act by Smith Benjamin Yiwen

    Many amendments have been made to existing legislation recently, but two of the proposed amendments to the Infectious Diseases Act (Cap. 137, 2003 Rev. Ed. Sing) (IDA) - designed to govern the management of infectious diseases- have garnered most attention. [Read More]

  • Amendments to Land Titles (Strata) Act by Choo Wan Ning Emily

    The past months have seen Singapore caught up in an en bloc fever. Even as great profits have been made, some found themselves in the predicament of losing their homes. In response to such cries of foul play, the Minister for Law, Deputy Prime Minister Professor S. Jayakumar, moved to introduce amendments to the procedure for en bloc sales. [Read More]

  • Anti-Grooming Law: The First Step by Mohan Gopalan

    Among the recent amendments to the Penal Code is a new offence of “Sexual grooming of minor under 16″. This offence is targeted at sexual predators who prowl Internet chat rooms hoping to procure minors for sexual activity. [Read More]

  • ASEAN: Coordinated Engagement in Myanmar by Harpreet Kaur Dhillon

    The bloodshed in last month’s monk-led protests, however, was a potent enough message for the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) — whose response to such strife in the past was to refrain from publicly castigating Myanmar’s government — to realise that its credibility was at stake. Singapore, due to its chairmanship of the 10-nation grouping, issued a statement on behalf of the group that, in the words of Foreign Minister George Yeo, “expressed their horror and anger”, admitting that they had been hesitant before but that “the honour of the family was at stake and the people of Myanmar would not forgive us if we kept silent.” [Read More]

  • The Tragedy of Burma by Akshay Kothari

    The junta named it Myanmar, but I still say Burma. Burma, it was, until 1989, barely a year after a protest much like the recent ones ended in a hail of gunfire. Hundreds of thousands of protesters had taken to the streets on the 8th of august 1988, students and monks with upturned begging bowls, demanding democratic rule in Burma. [Read More]

  • Mallal Moots 2007 by Nik Sim Shi Qiang

    The B.A. Mallal Moots are an annual tradition in the Faculty of Law, organised by the Mooting and Debating Club. Each year, law students engage in fast and furious verbal battles in the hope of holding the coveted winner’s trophy. The competition is sponsored by Allen & Gledhill LLP. The Best Memorial Competition, which is held concurrently, is sponsored by LexisNexis. [Read More]

  • Spandeck: The Donoghue v. Stevenson of Singapore? by Ng Sook Zhen

    When the Singapore Court of Appeal passed judgment on Spandeck Engineering v. Defence Science Technology Agency (DSTA), [2007] 1 Sing. L.R. 720 [Spandeck] in August this year, there was little attention given to the low profile case. After all, it was one of the many pure economic loss cases which passed through local courts… But when judgment was passed on 8th August, it was hailed as one of the most significant developments in the tort of negligence in Singapore, drawing the attention of academics and practising lawyers. [Read More]

  • Response to Odex Article by Serbene Liew

    I have been reading the SLR and though most of the laws mentioned are rather difficult for me, a layman, to understand, I do appreciate the articles and comments made on the Odex case. Will you continue to comment on recent developments and help the struggling public with some legal feedback please? [Read More]