Reading Time: 9 minutesIntroduction This paper will compare the contract laws of Singapore and Taiwan in the following areas: the extent to which contractual performance interest is protected; and how remedies of breach of contract are justified and awarded. Sources of contract law in Singapore and Taiwan Singapore as a former British colony The law of contract in […]
SMU Lexicon: Further amendments to the Companies Act: Annual General Meeting and Annual Returns Filing Requirements
Reading Time: 6 minutesIntroduction In 2017, the Companies Act[1] (“CA”) underwent another round of reform. Among the new legislative changes are the modifications of the statutory requirements for the annual general meeting (“AGM”) and annual returns (“AR”) filing.[2] These modifications should minimise the regulatory burden on companies in two ways.[3] Firstly, there will be new and more straightforward […]
SMU Lexicon: Punitive Damages & Contract Law: Implications of Airtrust
Reading Time: 7 minutesIntroduction In PH Hydraulics & Engineering v Airtrust,[1] the Singapore Court of Appeal (“CA”) addressed a significant point of law in respect of the availability of punitive damages for a breach of contract. In its judgment, the CA held that concept of punishment has no place in the common law of contract. This case note […]
SMU Lexicon: Looking for Creativity in Telephone Directories: Global Yellow Pages
Reading Time: 5 minutesIntroduction In Global Yellow Pages Ltd v Promedia Directories Pte Ltd (“Global Yellow Pages”),1 the Court of Appeal (“CA”) clarified the extent of copyright protection afforded to databases. In doing so, the CA considered issues of copyright subsistence and infringement for compilation of factual material, providing guidance on the nature of copyright protection in Singapore. […]
SMU Lexicon: Frustrating the No-Frustrating Rule – the Singapore Code on Takeovers and Mergers
Reading Time: 13 minutesIntroduction An increasing number of iconic home-grown listed companies are acquired by foreign firms such as Raffles Hotel, Robinsons department store, Asia Pacific Breweries, and Fraser & Neave.2 The trend has raised public concerns of whether the government, should do more to protect local brands in Singapore. This leads to the question of whether no-frustration […]
SMU Lexicon: Recognising the duty to cooperate in international commercial contracts
Reading Time: 15 minutesIntroduction The duty of contracting parties to cooperate in the performance of commercial contracts is at once both intuitive and utterly foreign. On the one hand, all commercial relationships require a degree of trust, and a party may reasonably expect that the other is committed to working together to carry out their bargain.[1] This applies […]
SMU Lexicon: Possibility of Establishing a Fact-Finding Commission for the Rohingya Crisis
Reading Time: 17 minutes“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” John 8:32 “I discovered at a very early age that if I talk long enough, I can make anything right or wrong. So either I’m God or truth is relative” Jeff Winger, “Community: Pilot Episode” (NBC, 2009) Introduction While the recent attacks […]
SMU Lexicon: Jurisdiction for Patent Revocation in Counterclaims: The Sun Electric Approach
Reading Time: 7 minutesIntroduction The key question posed in the recent Singapore High Court decision of Sun Electric Pte Ltd v Sunseap Group Pte Ltd (“Sun Electric (No 2)”)[1] was whether the High Court had jurisdiction at first instance to revoke a patent by way of a counterclaim in infringement proceedings. George Wei J’s response to this query […]
SMU Lexicon: The demise of Bolam-Bolitho: Towards Patient Centricity
Reading Time: 9 minutes Introduction The recent Court of Appeal decision in Hii Chii Kok v Ooi Peng Jin London Lucien (“Hii Chii Kok”)[1] has been a long time coming. Affirming the demise of the antiquated Bolam-Bolitho[2] test in relation to pre-treatment advice,[3] this decision also adds Singapore to a growing list of countries which have embraced the concept […]