When divorce terminates a marriage, the children of the marriage lose a fundamental cornerstone to their world of happiness and security. The law recognizes the welfare of such children to be of paramount importance. The court makes custody orders which it considers to be the best for the children under the circumstances. It is proposed that the law should move towards instilling in parents a greater sense of responsibility for their children by embracing the concept that parenthood is for life and that parenthood entails heavy responsibilities. Today, England has replaced the concept of custody orders with parental responsibility. As a consequence of the English Children Act, both parents with parental responsibility continue to be involved in the child's life regardless of the breakdown of the marital relationship. This article discusses recent cases on custody orders as well as the direction Singapore should take with respect to custody orders and parenting responsibilities.

The quintessence of the supremacy of the constitution according to Dicey lies in the constitution (1) being written, (2) being rigid, and (3) providing for judicial review. This article examines the existence of these criteria in the constitution of Singapore. As relevant local case law is very limited, an effort is made to interpret the provisions of the constitution, mostly in the context of the experience inn the working of the pertinent provisions of the constitution of India and Malaysia, which are germane to the constitution of Singapore.

The mandatory bid rule (MBR), one of the basic tenets of takeover regulation, obligates an acquirer who obtains 'control' over a target company to make an offer to acquire the shares of the remaining shareholders. What amounts to 'control' is far from clear; some jurisdictions follow a quantitative approach based on a specific shareholding threshold such as 30% voting rights, while others follow a qualitative approach through a subjective determination based on several factors, such as the specific rights available to an acquirer under a shareholders' agreement or the constitutional documents of a target. The goal of this article is to consider the merits and demerits of these approaches. It seeks to do so by examining various models adopted in jurisdictions for pegging 'control' so as to invoke the_x000D_ MBR. It delves into the regulatory experience in India as that jurisdiction not only adopts a combined approach (taking into account both the quantitative and qualitative tests for control), but has also been subject to a great deal of controversy and litigation in recent years that have helped tease out the jurisprudential contours of the concept. It concludes with a normative assessment that points towards partial harmonisation.

Marriage is an equal partnership of efforts so the spouses contribute equally in acquiring property whether by making payment or by homemaking and child caring. A just and equitable division of matrimonial assets, the gains of partnership, at its dissolution should therefore generally be an equal division. This article supports the proposition. First from discussion of a recent decision where the Family Court approved and the High Court on appeal disapproved of it. Then from a more general discussion of the current law in Singapore of the division of matrimonial assets on divorce.

I would like to start by congratulating all the speakers who have spoken yesterday and up to before the break. After listening to Professor Furmston's welcome address, the Minister's keynote speech defending robustly Singapore's practical conception of the 'rule of law', Professor Tamanaha's magisterial lecture, Professor Weiler's passionate defence of a 'rule of law' that must incorporate the values of democracy and human rights and the Attorney-General and Justice Rajah's moderation of the views of the experts on their respective panels, I have to say that the better part of the symposium is probably over, with apologies to the panellists and speakers coming later. So I will liven upmy lecture by referring to the 'rule of law'news in The Straits Times this morning.