Law in Singapore: Cases & Decisions

Identify the 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, we recommend using 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.

A. Full text databases

LawNet (access: NUS Law) (access: Other NUS staff & students)
Main database for Singapore court judgments. Access to:

• Singapore Law Reports and Singapore Law Reports (Reissue)
• Malayan Law Journal
• Unreported judgments
• Historical law reports including Kyshe's Reports, Straits Settlements Law Reports, etc.
• Singapore Syariah Appeals Reports 
• Decisions of various boards, tribunals, etc.

Lexis Advance Singapore
The Malayan Law Journal, which contains Singapore judgments prior to 1965, is available via this database.

CCH iKnowConnect
Database containing Singapore and Malaysian tax cases.

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.

B. Open access websites

LawNet: Free Resources
LawNet provides free access to judgments of the following Singapore courts for the last 3 months:

• Family Justice Court and Juvenile Court
• State Courts
• Supreme Court.

LawNet OpenLaw
Access to Singapore court judgments from 1965.

Singapore Courts & Crime
Straits Times news articles on the latest criminal cases before the Singapore courts.

Singapore International Commercial Court: Judgments
Judgments of the SICC and case summaries from 2016.

Singapore Law Watch: Judgments 
Supreme Court judgments from 2000, and IPOS and PDPC decisions from 2018. Access the latest court decisions here. Published by the Singapore Academy of Law.

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.

Decisions of international courts:

Case Concerning Land Reclamation by Singapore in and around the Straits of Johor (Malaysia v. Singapore)
Oral and written proceedings, and orders of the case heard before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Pedra Branca
Ministry of Foreign Affairs website providing a history of the dispute and links to ICJ proceedings. More official documents, including judgments and orders, are available through the ICJ website.

WTO Dispute Settlement 
Click on the links to the various tables of disputes, and scroll down the list of countries to Singapore to see WTO decisions which involve the country.

A. Online
i. Full text database
LawNet (Access: NUS Law staff & students) (Access: Other NUS staff & students)
Contains decisions heard by various boards and tribunals, including the Appeals Board (Land Acquisition), Copyright Tribunal, Income Tax Board of Review and Strata Titles Boards.

ii. Websites of tribunals, boards, etc.
Appeals Board (Land Acquisition) : Case Law
Full text of decisions (2001- ) heard by the tribunal in relation to appeals on any award of compensation made by the Collector of Land Revenue for the compulsory acquisition of land.

Competition & Consumer Commission of Singapore: Cases and Commitments
The Public Register provides information on decisions, directions and certain notices given by the Competition and Consumer Commission under the Competition Act. See also Summary of Appeals received by the Competition Appeal Board published by MTI.

Coroner's Inquest and Inquiries
Coroner's Court archives available from as early as 1882. Made available by the National Archives but registration is required to view the files.

Industrial Arbitration Court: Court Awards Made in Recent Years
IAC awards on various matters from 2000.

IPOS: Legal Decisions
Search for decisions issued by IPOS since 1999. Grounds of decision for Trademark decisions are available from 2012.

Personal Data Protection Commission's Decisions
Recent decisions relating to organisations that have contravened provisions under the Personal Data Protection Act. See also: PDP Digest

Singapore Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy Service
Full text of proceedings under the SDRP listed by commencement date (2002 - ) or domain name. Scroll down to the bottom of the homepage for listings. Published by the Singapore Mediation Centre.

Singapore Law Watch: Judgments
IPOS and PDPC decisions from 2018.

Singapore Dental Council: Published Grounds of Decision
Grounds of decision from the Disciplinary Committee Inquiry from 2012.

Singapore Medical Council: Published Grounds of Decision
Grounds of decision of the Disciplinary Committee and Disciplinary Tribunal from 2008.

Strata Titles Boards: Judgments
Judgments of the STB from 2005.

iii. Reports of Committees of Inquiry

• Committee of Privileges - Complaint against Ms Raeesah Khan
• Final Report from the Committee of Inquiry into the Nicholl Highway Collapse - Executive Summary (Annex A of Press Release: Committee of Inquiry concludes string of criritical design errors caused collapse at Nicoll Highway) and Government Response to the Final Report Of the Committee Of Inquiry into the Nicoll Highway Collapse (2005)
• MINDEF - Committee of Inquiry (various findings and reports)
• Ministerial Statement on Findings of Committee of Inquiry (COI) on Little India Riot
• Public Report of the COI into the Cyber Attack on Singapore Health Patient Database (2019)
• Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Collision of the Drillship Eniwetok with the Sentosa Cableway on 29 January 1983
• Report of the Inquiry Committee for the accident at Stars Engrg Pte Ltd on 24 February 2021.

B. Print
Specialised court and tribunal decisions are available in print in the Law Library. A few of the resources are also available online:

Newspaper articles are important as they provide information on cases currently before the court. These cases may take a while to be reported or may never be published in the law reporters.

The following databases provide access to local newspapers, including the Straits Times and Business Times:

Newspaper headlines for the last 30 days are available via Singapore Law Watch. Here are a few of the latest headlines:

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 commentaries on Singapore judgments and civil litigation updates.

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.

Online guides, PPT tutorials and videos: