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Judicial Review of Executive Power in the Singaporean Context, 1965–2012

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2022

Lynette J. Chua  and
Stacia L. Haynie
Lynette J. Chua*
Affiliation:
National University of Singapore
Stacia L. Haynie
Affiliation:
Louisiana State University
*
Contact the corresponding author, Lynette J. Chua, at lynettechua@nus.edu.sg.
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Abstract

This article provides the first empirical analysis of court decisions that review the exercise of executive power, or judicial review, in Singapore, a single-party-dominated state known for its use of law to achieve economic progress and curtail civil-political liberties. Our findings suggest that judicial review could have the effect of buttressing the ruling party’s legitimacy while deferring to the executive’s curtailment of dissent and civil-political liberties, thus reinforcing the political status quo. We also find judicial review to be a scarcely utilized recourse. The article contributes to the study of law and courts, particularly administrative law in nonliberal regimes.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Law and Courts , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , Spring 2016 , pp. 43 - 64
Copyright
© 2016 by the Law and Courts Organized Section of the American Political Science Association. All rights reserved.

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Footnotes

We are grateful to Melissa Crouch, who participated in the earlier phase of the research; Chan Sek Keong, Andrew Harding, Michael Hor, Swati Jhaveri, Kevin Tan, Carolyn Wee, Yee See Mun, the editor and anonymous reviewers, research assistants Khine Khine Zin and Rueben Tan, and colleagues at the faculty research seminar at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore, where an earlier draft of the article was presented. Research funding was provided by the National University of Singapore (grant R-241-000-105-112).

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