In Charles Lim v Hong Choon Hau [2021] SGCA 43, the Singapore Court of Appeal delivered an important judgment on no-oral-variation clauses, and their legal effect. This note analyses the reasoning of the Court, addressing also some implications the case might have on future developments.

In the case of Statoil A.S.A. v. Louis Dreyfus Energy Services L.P., Aikens J. has reasserted the traditional principles of English lawgoverning unilateral mistake. On one level, it is an unexceptional decision. It applies the well-settled law relating to unilateral mistake, based on long-established authority and as a reflection of the approach taken recently by the Court of Appeal to the significance of mistake in contract. On the other hand, the issues raised by the case prompt a re-examination of the approach of English law to unilateral mistake.

Sometimes, following a conviction, an appeal is brought by the convicted person without any crossappeal by the Prosecution on the sentence. Can the appellate court nevertheless increase the sentence imposed below? This study of the relevant cases and statutory provisions in Singapore suggests that both the High Court and the Court of Appeal are vested with the power to increase the sentence even where the only appeal is brought by the convicted person.

Wham Kwok Han Jolovan v Public Prosecutor is potentially the most important constitutional decision ever rendered by the Singapore Court of Appeal, insofar as it heralds a new and more intrusive approach to the judicial review of rights claims in Singapore. The ruling expressly overturned deference postures associated with the "presumption of constitutionality," at least with respect to Article 14 of the Constitution; it consolidated dicta announcing the reconfiguration of separation of powers doctrines; and it developed and deployed a rudimentary, if yet incomplete, form of proportionality review to assess the legality of legislation adopted under Article 14's limitation clause. The note analyses these changes from a comparative perspective, in light of the difficulties foreign apex courts have had in fully transitioning to a more balancing-friendly approach to rights adjudication.