Speech by Ministry of Law Deputy Secretary, Mr Poon Hong Yuen, at the SMU Award Ceremony 2015

31 Aug 2015 Posted in Speeches

1. Good afternoon, Dean SMU School of Law Professor Yeo Tiong Min and distinguished guests.

2. I am honoured to be at this Award Ceremony, which recognises the top academic achievers in the SMU Law Faculty, as well as the prize winners for the Law Reform Essay Competition from both SMU and NUS.

3. This is the fourth year of the Competition which the Dean has alluded to. Its purpose is to provide students with an opportunity to analyse the law and policies which undergird the law, and contribute ideas to the law reform process.

4. While the Competition was formerly organised by AGC with the SMU School of Law and NUS Faculty of Law, this year’s Competition is a collaboration between the Ministry of Law and the law schools.

   Law Reform – MinLaw’s role

5. We invited students to propose reforms in the area of privacy, an issue which involves a delicate balance between different competing interests.

6. The issue of privacy is an increasingly relevant one in the modern age; an age where every mobile phone has a camera, where people’s daily lives are publicly exhibited on social media platforms, and where law and order concerns have led to increased surveillance in public spaces.

7. This process of analysing the current state of law and proposing reforms to ensure a sound and progressive legal framework is a key part of the work in the Ministry of Law.

8. No legal system can remain stagnant. This is particularly true for a fast-changing society like Singapore. Through law reform, MinLaw plays an important role in upholding the rule of law, promoting access to justice, and advancing Singapore’s social and economic objectives.

9. Let me highlight some recent examples of these efforts.

10. We have been particularly active in the sphere of social and community legislation. In 2014, we enacted the landmark Protection from Harassment Act, which was referred to in many of the essays we received. This year, we worked with the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth to pass the Community Disputes Resolution Act, which provides a new cause of action and specialised tribunals to deal with disputes between neighbours that will be coming on board soon.

11. Family law is a special area of interest for MinLaw. Last year, we enacted the Family Justice Act to establish the new Family Justice Courts so that family disputes can be dealt with holistically in a specialised court system which is tailored to the distinct needs of families in conflict. We have passed legislation which clarifies the legal status of children conceived through artificial reproduction technology. We are currently undertaking a review of the laws relating to child guardianship and other family legislation under our purview.

12. As a key Ministry involved in criminal justice policy, MinLaw oversees certain aspects of criminal law and procedure, such as the Criminal Procedure Code, which we last revamped in 2010. We have been working with agencies on various possible reforms to the criminal process, such as the pilot project for the video-recording of accused persons’ statements.

13. Another of MinLaw’s major portfolios is the development of the legal industry. We regularly review the Legal Profession Act to ensure that it is up to date and relevant, with our latest efforts focussing on improving the regulatory framework for lawyers.

14. The setting up of the Singapore International Commercial Court (“SICC”), the Singapore International Mediation Centre (“SIMC”) and the Singapore International Mediation Institute (“SIMI”) are major milestones in the continuing development of Singapore as a premier hub for dispute resolution.

15. On the international law front, we strengthened the international criminal cooperation framework and worked on legislative amendments to prevent money laundering and financing of terrorism. We are also looking at private international law issues under the Hague Conference such as the Choice of Court Convention and the Judgements Convention.

16. The law reform initiatives which I have just mentioned are just a small selection of the wide-ranging work which MinLaw does. Our work also extends to intellectual property, land law and community legal services.

    Competition topic – Privacy

17. We hope the Competition has increased the awareness of law reform work in Singapore and your views will be given serious consideration in any review into this area of law.

18. We received many essays displaying sharp analyses of the issue of privacy and proposing reforms in this area of law. I am told that the judging panel had a challenging time deciding on the winning entry.

19. There were a number of interesting proposals from the essays we received. Let me cite some examples.

20. One of the essays argued that a statutory right of privacy should not be introduced. Instead, a statutory approach should be undertaken to establish an appropriate legal framework to address distinct issues relating to intrusion of privacy more robustly and expeditiously.

21. Another essay suggested relying on a sectoral approach to privacy, and named a few sectors for consideration, such as aerial drone photography, cyber safety, confidential communications and internet behaviour.

22. Yet another essay argued for the need for a statutory right of privacy to prevent a misuse of private information and an intrusion of private space. One author recommended adapting the US’ model of privacy to the Singapore context while another proposed ways to integrate the statutory right of privacy into our current framework.

23. I hope the Competition has allowed participants to appreciate the challenges in law reform.

24. Difficult legal issues often require nuanced thinking, the weighing of trade-offs and unintended consequences, and also a clear-eyed appreciation of the realities of the society in which we live. There are no easy answers. The best examples of law reform are those which exhibit an awareness of these complexities.

    Congratulations and thanks

25. I would like to congratulate the authors of the three prize-winning essays and essays commended by the competition judging panel. I welcome you to an internship with the legal divisions at the Ministry of Law. I hope the internship remains a coveted prize in years to come and gives you the opportunity for you to play an active part in our law reform work.

26. I would also like to thank Professor Yeo Tiong Min, Professor Simon Chesterman, Mr Charles Lim, Associate Professor Warren Chik, and Associate Professor Eleanor Wong for closely working with our colleagues Thian Yee Sze and Joan Janssen to ensure the success of the competition.

27. Finally, I would also like to extend my heartiest congratulations to the recipients of the SMU academic awards and my congratulations to parents present today.

28. Thank you very much.

Attachment: List of winners (0.2MB)