This section features discontinued series of law reports and modern law reports as well as case digests relating to Singapore.
The resources are arranged roughly by date of publication and are generally available in the Law Library, unless otherwise stated.
* indicates subscription databases
* key modern law reports for Singapore
| Title | Abbreviation | Publication Date/Coverage | Location |
|
Cases Heard and Determined in Her Majesty's Supreme Court of the Straits Settlements |
Ky |
1885-1890 (covers 1808-1890) |
Online: National Library Online Online: Internet Archive Online: *LawNet (NUS Law) (Other NUS staff & students) |
| Straits Law Reports : being a report of cases decided in the Supreme Court of the Straits Settlements, Penang, Singapore and Malacca (by Stephen Leicester) |
SLR Leic | 1877 (covers 1827-75) |
Ref: K7596 SLR Online: Internet Archive |
|
A Selection of Oriental Cases Decided in the Supreme Court of the Straits Settlements |
WOC |
1869 (covers 1835-69) |
Ref: K7596 WOC Online: National Library Online Online: Internet Archive |
|
Straits Law Journal |
SLJ |
1888-92 |
Ref: K7596 SLJ Online: *HeinOnline Online: *LawNet (NUS Law) (Other NUS staff & students) |
|
Straits Settlements Law Reports |
SSLR |
Old series - ------------------------------- New Series - |
Ref: K7596 SSLR --------------------------------- Online: *LawNet (NUS Law) (Other NUS staff & students) |
| A Short Treatise on Registration of Title in the Federated Malay States : with Reports of Cases Decided in the Supreme Court under the Land and Mining Laws from 1907 to 1913 (by J.R. Innes; also known as Innes Reports) |
Innes | 1913 (covers 1907-13) | Ref: K7625 Lan.I |
|
Federated Malay States Law Reports |
FMSLR |
1922-41 (covers 1906-41) |
Ref: K7600 FMSLR Online: *LawNet (NUS Law) (Other NUS staff & students) |
|
Quarterly Notes of Cases Decided in the Supreme Court of the Straits Settlements |
QN |
1926-27 |
Ref: K7596 QN Online: National Library Online |
|
Malayan Law Journal |
MLJ |
1932-91 |
Ref: K7599 MLJ Online: *LawNet (NUS Law) (Other NUS staff & students) Online: *Lexis Advance Singapore |
|
Malayan Cases |
MC |
|
Ref: K7596 MC Online: National Library Online Online: *LawNet (NUS Law) (Other NUS staff & students) |
|
The Singapore Law Reports Colony of Singapore Law Reports |
SLR |
1950-51 (covers 1946-49) 1954-57 (covers 1953-56) |
Ref: K7599 SLR Ref: K7599 SLR Online: *LawNet (NUS Law) (Other NUS staff & students) |
| Malayan law reports : containing reports of cases decided in the Federation of Malaya and the Colony of Singapore |
MLR | 1950-54 |
Ref: K7599 MLR Online: *LawNet (NUS Law) (Other NUS staff & students) |
| *Singapore Law Reports |
SLR | 1965-91 1992 - |
Online: *LawNet (NUS Law) (Other NUS staff & students) |
| The Privy Council cases : Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, 1875-1990 |
PCC | 1990 (covers 1875 - 1990) | Ref: K7605 Pcc |
| *Singapore Law Reports (Reissue) | SLR(R) | 2010 (covers 1965 - 2009) |
Ref: K7599 SLR Online: *LawNet (NUS Law) (Other NUS staff & students) |
| Singapore Syariah Appeals Reports | SSAR | 1980 - 2019 |
Ref: K7599 SSC (1980 - 2015) Online: *LawNet (NUS Law) (Other NUS staff & students) |
| Title | Abbreviation | Publication Date/Coverage | Location |
| Digest of Cases 1808 to 1911: in the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States (compiled by M. Pallonjee) |
- | 1915 (covers 1808 - 1911) | Ref: K7596.3 PD |
| The Malayan Digest : being a Complete Digest of Every Case in the Colony of the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States Reported from 1808 to the Present day, Including Annotations and Full Index (by C.H. Withers Payne) |
- | Mainwork 1936 (covers 1808 - 1933); Supplement 1940 (covers 1933 - 1940) |
Ref: K7596.3 MDW |
| Mallal's Digest of Malaysian, Singaporean, English and Australian Case Law |
- |
2015-18 (covers 1808 - ) |
Ref: K7599.3 Md |
Unless otherwise stated, the contents in this guide Historical Sources of Singapore Law © by National University of Singapore Libraries is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 
. Attribute and link back to this LibGuide if you are going to re-use the content.
A case citation is a reference to a legal case in the law reports. You will need this in order to locate the report of a case.
It generally includes the
Example:
Salmah Binte Mohamed Ali Al Tway v Chop Chin Guan Hong [1929] SSLR 172
Identify the legal abbreviations of law reports using these online and print resources:
Example. If you have a case citation, like Salmah v Chop Chin Guan Hong [1929] SSLR 172:
Step 1. Identify the legal abbreviation in the citation using an index.
For Singapore cases, use the Singapore Legal Abbreviations index. In this example, SSLR stands for the Straits Settlements Law Reports.
Step 2. Run a Title Search for the law report in LINC:
Step 3. Select the relevant title from the results list.
Step 4. Once in the record, determine the location of the relevant volume.
Step 5. Once you have retrieved the relevant volume from the shelves, turn to the first page of the report, which in this case is page 172.
*LawNet (access: NUS Law staff & students) (access: Other NUS staff & students)
Access to historical law reports including Kyshe's Reports, the Federated Malay States Law Reports, Straits Settlements Law Reports, etc.
*Lexis Advance Singapore
Search the Malayan Law Journal for Singapore cases from 1931 to 1965.
NewspaperSG
Newspapers are a good source of case information, particularly unreported judgements. This digital archive, maintained by the National Library Board, contains historical Singapore and Malaya newspapers from 1831 to 2017.
Singapore War Crimes Trials
Web Portal co-founded by Dr Cheah Wui Ling and Ng Pei Yi. Features comprehensive case summaries of trials for WWII crimes committed in Singapore and other locations in Asia.
*War Crimes Case Files, Second World War: WO 235
This series contains the trials of Japanese war criminals by the Military Court in Singapore for crimes committed in Southeast Asia during the Second World War.
* indicates subscription database
A. Indexes
Mallal's Digest: Consolidated Subject Index 1808 to 2015
K7599.3 Mdcs 2016 (LW Reference 1)
4-volume subject index of cases digested in Mallal's Digest (5th ed).
Mallal's Digest: Consolidated Table of Cases 2015
K7599.3 Md (LW Reference 1)
Alphabetical table of cases digested in the 5th edition of Mallal's Digest. Refer to the Preface for details of coverage.
Singapore Law Reports (Reissue): Comparative Table of Citations & Table of Cases Reported 1965 to 2009
K7599 SLR (LW Sing-Mal Coll)
The Table of Cases Reported contains an alphabetical list of cases reported in the Singapore Law Reports (Reissue) from 1965 to 2009.
B. Citators (Print)
Mallal's Digest: Case Citator 1932 to 2015
K7599.3 Mdc 2016 (LW Reference 1)
Alphabetical table of annotated cases containing references to all subsequent cases in which the annotated cases have been judicially considered.
Singapore Law Reports (Reissue): Comparative Table of Citations & Table of Cases Reported: 1965 to 2009
K7599 SLR (LW Sing-Mal Coll)
The Comparative Table of Citations provides corresponding SLR(R) citations to SLR/MLJ citations.
Singapore Law Reports (Reissue): Table of Cases Referred to: 1965 to 2009 (A to L; M to Z)
K7599 SLR (LW Sing-Mal Coll)
Citators for cases reported in the SLR(R) from 1965 to 2009.
C. Citator (Online)
LawNet (Access: NUS Law staff & students) (Access: Other NUS staff & students)
Search for the case you wish to note-up, e.g. Ang Sunny v Public Prosecutor. Case treatment is indicated just above the case name by the words "Following", "Referring", "Distinguishing", etc. Click on each section to the see the listing of cases.
Alternatively, look under "Case References - Referring" on the left panel of the screen for annotating cases.
D. Digests
Mallal's Digest ... : being a Comprehensive Statement of the Case Law of Singapore and Malaysia for the Year ... [Mallal's Digest Yearbook]
K7599.3 MDY (LW Reference 1, LW Sing-Mal Coll)
Annual compilation, in digest form, of reported cases decided by the Singapore superior courts and all relevant unreported decisions (1989 to 2017)
Mallal's digest of Malaysian, Singaporean, English and Australian case law
K7599.3 Md (LW Reference 1, LW Sing-Mal Coll)
Summaries of reported and selected unreported decisions of the superior courts of Singapore (1808 to 2018)
E. Commentaries
Singapore Academy of Law annual review of Singapore cases ...
KE5003 SALAR (LW Bound Journals, LW Sing-Mal Coll)
The review encapsulates and evaluates decisions of the Singapore courts. Cases from other jurisdictions which impact local law are also discussed. Open access to the Review is provided by Academy Publishing.
Singapore Law Watch: Commentaries
Includes Supreme Court case summaries as well as various other commentaries on Singapore judgments.
F. Encyclopaedia
Halsbury's Laws of Singapore
KE5011 Hal (LW RBR, LW Reference 1, LW Sing-Mal Coll)
Encyclopaedia of Singapore law on various subjects. Contains commentaries on case law. Online version available via Lexis Advance Singapore.