Reading Time: 7 minutesI. Introduction When good employees leave, there is often a risk that they will join a competitor or set up a competing business. If you are the employer, the employment contract might protect your interests through a confidentiality clause preventing the employee from using or disclosing confidential information. It might also have a non-compete clause […]
SMU Lexicon: What You Should Know Before You Sign That Letter of Guarantee
Reading Time: 6 minutesIntroduction You may have been asked to sign a letter of guarantee before. Simply put, a letter of guarantee is a promise to pay another person’s debt if he or she is unable to do so. However, being a guarantor can certainly be risky, especially when the debt is significant. So the question is: should […]
SMU Lexicon: What if you didn’t write it down? Verbal promises in business contracts.
Reading Time: 6 minutesI. Introduction Business negotiations can be lengthy. In the course of negotiations, parties might make a verbal promise to do or not do something. There might also be emails recording the promise or showing that there were verbal negotiations. But if the promise does not end up in a written contract, can you hold the other […]
SMU Lexicon: Yes, Prime Minister? A commentary on R (on the application of Miller) v The Prime Minister [2019] UKSC 41
Reading Time: 14 minutes Introduction In a referendum held on 23 June 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. Since then, the government’s attempts to initiate the withdrawal process have not only been fraught with political disagreement and delays, but have also prompted several constitutional law challenges. On 24 September 2019, the UK Supreme […]
SMU Lexicon: Assistance in Public Lotteries: The Approach in Bijabahadur
Reading Time: 11 minutesIntroduction In the 19th century, illegal gaming activities managed by syndicates were part of the general crime that was rampant in Singapore (then known as the Straits Settlement). This was a serious problem as the early inhabitants of Singapore became addicted to gambling, leading to undesirable outcomes.[1] Gambling activities came to be regarded as vices […]
SMU Lexicon: Negotiating Damages for Breach of Contract: Morris-Garner v One-Step (Support) Ltd [2018] UKSC 20
Reading Time: 16 minutesIntroduction At the quantification stage in breach-of-contract claims, claimants must sometimes think out of the box. Where no loss has been suffered or loss is hard to prove, one solution is to argue for “negotiating damages”, or damages for breach of contract assessed by reference to the sum a claimant could hypothetically have received in […]
SMU Lexicon: Busting Myths: Understanding Prosecutorial Discretion
Reading Time: 12 minutesIntroduction The December 2017 decision to charge a couple who tortured their flatmate, Annie Ee, with the offence of “voluntarily causing grievous hurt”, as opposed to murder, sparked controversy in Singapore.[1] In response, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (“AGC”) released a media statement explaining its decision,[2] and Attorney-General (“AG”) Lucien Wong referred to the matter in his […]
SMU Lexicon: Presumption of Resulting Trust following Chia Kok Weng
Reading Time: 8 minutesIntroduction In the recent case of Chia Kok Weng v Chia Kwok Yeo,[1] the Court of Appeal clarified the law on the presumption of resulting trusts. Specifically, the Court of Appeal made a distinction between (a) an intention to make a gift and (b) an intention to not retain a beneficial interest in the property. […]
SMU Lexicon: Trading on the Edge – Insider Trading Regulations in Singapore & in U.S.
Reading Time: 12 minutesIntroduction In the fast-paced world of trading, everything revolves around gaining an edge. The challenge lies in striving to use information faster than others.[1] If information fresh off the press is great, then a fortiori, information that has yet to hit the press is even better. This gives rise to the issue of insider trading, […]
SMU Lexicon: A Swiss and a Miss: The Future of Swiss-style Patents in Singapore
Reading Time: 10 minutesExecutive summary In the recently-decided case of Warner-Lambert Company LLC v Novartis (Singapore) Pte Ltd, the Court of Appeal (“CA”) addressed a number of novel issues in Singapore patent law.[1] The dispute between the two pharmaceutical companies was based on Novartis’ potential infringement of Warner-Lambert’s patent. This patent (filed in 1997) claimed a monopoly over […]
SMU Lexicon: Getting to the Root of the Problem: Written Representations to the Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods
Reading Time: 24 minutesIntroduction It is acknowledged that deliberate online falsehoods present a real and pressing danger in today’s world. As set out in the Ministry of Communications and Information and Ministry of Law’s Green Paper on “Deliberate Online Falsehoods: Challenges and Implications” (“Green Paper”), the impact of online falsehoods can be significant.[1] However, the motivations that drive […]
SMU Lexicon: No Free Riding: The Scope of Auditors’ Negligence in Barclays
Reading Time: 10 minutesIntroduction to auditors’ liability in negligence The extent of auditors’ liability in negligence has, on the whole, been a settled area of law, stemming from the important English case of Caparo Industries Inc v Dickman[1] (“Caparo”). There, the plaintiff purchased a controlling stake in another company, having relied on the information contained in the audited […]