The decision of the United Kingdom Supreme Court in The Res Cogitans has had a profoundly upsetting impact on the law of sale of goods, upsetting many decades of a common understanding about the nature of a sale of goods contract. In a contract for the supply of bunker fuels, the supplier reserved the property in the goods but permitted the shipowner to consume the bunkers before payment and therefore before the property was intended to pass. This supply contract, moreover, was the fourth in a series of contracts on broadly similar terms. The contract was held not to be one of sale of goods because it did not require the property in the bunkers to pass to the shipowner. In reaching this outcome, the court remitted this type of supply contract to the common law, giving rise to a series of potential problems highlighted in this article. The litigation was sparked by the question whether the supplier could maintain a debt action for the price of the goods. In holding that_x000D_ the contract was not one of sale, the court was able to give the supplier its price action without being confined by the apparent limitations on such an action as laid down in the Sale of Goods Act and as expressed at earlier stages in the litigation. Dicta in the Supreme Court, however, have broadened significantly the circumstances in which a sale of goods action for the price may be maintained. Had the broader availability of the price action been decided earlier in the litigation, we should probably not have arrived at the conclusion that this contract was not one of sale of goods.

Did the recent UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) conclude with only pious aspirations or solid achievements? Among the documents adopted at UNCED was Agenda 21, an ambitious plan of action to tackle both global and national environmental problems, a Statement of Principles on Forests, and the Rio de Janeiro Declaration on Environment and Development. This article considers what influence, if any, the Rio Declaration might exert in relation to the further development of international environmental law.

This article examines the problems in quantifying the future periodic income loss of a young plaintiff who is entitled to damages for lost future income. Most young plaintiffs would not have a relevant pre-injury salary that could be used in the computation. It is argued that a national "average" wage should be used unless there is evidence to support a different figure.

The construction of the rule of law in China has become an international concern. This article discusses the impact of WTO accession on China's legal reform in the context of the rule of law jurisprudence. It discusses the "thin"/"thick" theories of the rule of law, arguing that the Lon Fuller's "thin" theory of the rule of law is a suitable model in the Chinese context. It sees that the "thin" version creates possibilities for the realization of any "thick" theories of the rule of law, including a liberal democratic version, albeit a sudden jump to this "thick" version is neither pragmatic nor even possible. China's urgent task at this stage is to build the requisite institutions to facilitate the establishment of a "thin" rule of law. Compliance with WTO obligations can directly help achieve this goal in terms of transparency, impartial application of laws, and judicial review.

A rare parliamentary petition which sought the repeal of section 377A of the Penal Code that_x000D_ criminalises acts of gross indecency between male adults, was presented and debated in Parliament in October 2007. This article critically examines the constitutional law dimension and issues in relation to the 377A debate in Singapore. It highlights the primary jurisprudential thrust of the competing arguments and assumptions. It advances and defends the communitarian case for preserving 377A which the author argues is both normatively desirable and empirically reflective of existing Singapore law and policy. With particular regard to the Singapore context, it reflects on how democratic societies should address questions of law and profound moral disagreement, the importance of civil debate,_x000D_ and whether the legislative or judicial forum is most appropriate for making decisions on morally controversial questions.

The issue of whether a person who has been lawfully detained can, nevertheless, bring an action for false imprisonment has recently been considered by both the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords in England. In two cases involving prisoners allegedly subjected to adverse conditions, the courts questioned whether such circumstances could give rise to an action for false imprisonment, or whether the remedy should lie, if at all, in other torts. This article examines the impact of these decisions and considers their implications in the Singapore context.

This article reviews the main patterns of Asian migration in Europe and the ways in which Europe today has become 'multicultured' with Afro-Asian legal diversities. It discusses the limited role which Asian states have played in the processes of emigration and settlement. It further examines the status of the laws transplanted by Asian migrants and their descendants in Europe and the ways in which Asian diasporas in Europe are engaging in new hybrid patterns of socio-legal navigation and reconstruction. The article is critical of European legal orders as not having reacted adequately to these patterns of Asian legal reconstruction but also urges Asian legal scholars to investigate this underexplored field in more detail.

I wish in this article to deal with some difficult questions of constitutional theory in relation to the evolution of Singapore’s constitution. I hope also in the process to present an exegesis of Singapore’s constitutional history which will provide a basis for further consideration of constitutional matters of a more practical kind. I do not advance so far as to consider institutions as such, or to consider the future development of the Constitution. I believe, however, that after eighteen years of stability under a democratic system of government, it is now necessary for Singaporeans to examine their institutions carefully, especially as the Republic, after progressing from precarious survival to economic success, will soon be entering a new phase in her history under new leaders.