This article discusses s. 106 of Singapore's Women's Charter which gives the courts power to order the division of matrimonial assets when granting a decree of divorce, judicial separation or nullity of marriage. The legislative history of this provision is traced and the language analysed with a view to discovering some guidelines for the exercise of the judicial discretion under the section. The existing case law is reviewed and the article concludes with a discussion of the possibility of replacing the discretionary scheme of s. 106 with more detailed provisions setting out with precision the principles to be applied to the distribution of property on divorce.

The privilege against self-incrimination is perhaps the most controversial concept in criminal justice. This article analyzes the privilege in the context of pre-trial interrogation in the light of the recent and important decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal in PP v Mazlan bin Maidun and seeks to argue that, although the decline of the privilege is not to be lamented in itself, it cannot be simply discarded without the introduction of alternative safeguards.

Fintech is now defined by a long-term, global process of digitisation of finance, increasingly combined with datafication and new technologies including cloud computing, blockchain, Big Data and artificial intelligence. Cybersecurity and technological risks are thus evolving into major threats to financial stability and national security. This trend has been magnified by the COVID-19 crisis which has heightened dependence on digital technologies and seen substantial parts of the population working from home through systems of questionable security. Additionally, the entry of BigTech firms brings two new issues. The first arises with new forms of potentially systemically important infrastructure. The second arises because data—like finance—benefits from economies of scope and scale and from network effects and—even more than finance—tends towards monopolistic or oligopolistic outcomes. This leads to potential systematic risk from new forms of “Too Big to Fail" and “Too Connected to Fail" phenomena. We suggest some basic principles about how to address this entire range of risks.

This article explores the relationship between the lease for life and the requirement of certainty of duration which applies to leases. It has been suggested that as a result of this requirement, a least for life cannot validly be granted. This article seeks to demonstrate that this proposition is incorrect, and that the lease for life is a variant form of the recognised freehold life estate. As such it is not subject to the requirement of certainty.

The paper reviews the different frameworks for international criminal justice in which China's influence can be measured, or should be present, looking specifically at procedural traditions on which international criminal lawand its jurisprudence are said to be based. Understanding China as a transitional hybrid criminal justice model undergoing radical transformation in its justice delivery and discourse, it is argued, assists significantly in forecasting where the synthesis of international criminal procedure may be heading. Attached to a re-interpretation and critique of individualised liability is the unpacking of China's in principle commitment to communitarian rights and social protection as a foundation for its criminal justice model. How might a similar normative direction influence the diversification and 'rights' perceptions of international criminal justice? In particular, in today's China, which is experiencing a rapid and relentless reconfiguration of communitarian identity and obligation, will collective rights commitments survive to influence the evelopment of domestic criminal justice? From a more formalist consideration of international criminal justice, the paper explores what 'alternative' global justice paradigms offer China, and vice versa. Speculation on the opportunities available to China in regional and international governance, through more constructive involvement with international criminal justice is proposed against a call for a wider consideration of rights paradigms in so far as they recognise community interests as well as individual integrity. The strain between these priorities reveals how Asian states could find it more difficult to administer domestic criminal justice in accordance with the rightful demands of international conventions.

This article explores the interface between family law and criminal law in the criminal process, in the contexts of the spouse as a witness and the spouse as a victim. It probes the question of whether the criminal law should retain or develop special rules or policies when the marital relationship is potentially affected by the operation of the criminal process, contrasting the decline of spousal 'exceptionalism' in the context of spousal witnesses with the apparent vigour exhibited in the official reluctance to enforce the criminal law in situations of minor spousal violence.

Charity law is an area of law in Singapore of which, sadly, little is known. This lack of knowledge has also led to the proliferation of a number of misconceptions. This article looks at four misconceptions, namely the legal structure of charities, the relationship between charities and Institutions of a Public Character, the definition of 'charitable purposes' in Singapore and the interplay between the registration requirements and the provisions on fund-raising appeals under the Charities Act. The article seeks to debunk these misconceptions by providing a clearer understanding of the legal position of charities in Singapore. This has valuable implications for reform of charity law, which is of growing importance and interest in Singapore.

This article examines the patentability of genetically engineered higher life forms in Canada and Singapore by reference to the recent decision of the Canadian Supreme Court on the patentability of a genetically engineered laboratory mouse. The Canadian Supreme Court, rather than examining the policy behind patent protection, addressed this question primarily through the lens of statutory interpretation. This article discusses the reasoning of the Canadian Supreme Court and considers its application in Singapore.