The article examines the problems arising from the current approach relating to the stay of proceedings commenced in breach of exclusive jurisdiction arrangements. Both Singapore and English cases are referred to. A new approach is proposed in response to these problems.

The decision of the High Court in PP v Knight Glenn Jeyasingam contains what is probably the most important discussion of the law of privilege in recent years. A plea negotiation privilege was brought into existence, without express statutory sanction, through the medium of "purposive interpretation". This article uses this decision as a springboard to discuss the two core issues in the law of privilege - the determination of whether a privilege should exist at all, and the task of marking the boundaries of an existing privilege. The meaning of "purposive interpretation" in the context of a clash between contending and incompatible social values -the integrity of the judicial fact-finding process and the value sought to be protected by the privilege - is explored.

Much concern has been expressed over the problem of 'short-termism' as evidenced in the numerous discussion papers made public by industry and investor associations and regulatory bodies in the US and the UK. While concerns over short-termism and its effects are not new, the short-termism being experienced now is the result of structural changes brought about by agency theory based managerial compensation and its four legged strategy of short term managerial employment contracts, stock based compensation, high stock price, and the pursuit of high-risk high-return investment strategies to achieve the latter. This article investigates the changes to corporate governance structure that have produced short-termism, short-termism's present form and continuing hold, how it has impacted on corporate governance, and what, if anything, should be done about it.

In June 2003, the government adopted the Declaration on Religious Harmony as part of a multi-pronged strategy to address the problem of aggravated ethnic-religious relations, heightened after the discovered of the bomb plot masterminded by Jemaah Islamiah, a group affiliated with Al Qaeda. This instrument belongs to a corpus of 'constitutional soft law', a set of precepts embodied in a text lacking legal status which exerts some degree of legal impact and influences the shaping of state-society relations. Such informal standards shed light on the politico-legal culture, process values of participatory democracy and the practical workings of institutional restraints on public power and governance. This article examples the role of these informal standards within the context of a written constitution, with a particular focus on the Declaration-whose principles have implications for the scope and practice of religious liberty in Singapore, a secular state with a religious society.

The position of a charterer under a time charterparty in respect of his obligation to give contractually valid orders as to the employment of the vessel have spawned numerous problems. Amongst these are the matters which pertain to orders relating to the employment of the vessel as the termination of the charter period approaches. This article discusses the position of the contracting parties in respect of such orders.

The negative pledge clause has been in use for many years and is to be found in virtually all loan documents. The negative pledge clause usually seeks to protect the unsecured creditor by providing contractually that the debtor shall not, so long as any part of the indebtedness remains outstanding, create any security in favour of another creditor. It is also used to protect floating chargees by restricting the freedom which the chargor has to deal with the assets comprised in the floating charge. The efficacy of the negative pledge clause depends on a number of factors. In some instances, the negative pledge clause will improve the position of the unsecured creditor and the floating chargee. This "security" aspect of the negative pledge clause is discussed in this article.

It is commonly assumed that the Court of Appeal rejected a doctrine of good faith in contract law_x000D_ in Ng Giap Hon v. Westcomb Securities Pte Ltd, and as a result there has been no serious debate in Singapore of the proper role, nature and function of good faith. This article explores the definitional, normative and methodological aspects of the debate, and argues for the introduction of a duty of good faith in Singapore contract law. The content of such a duty must nonetheless be fact-sensitive in order to preserve contractual autonomy and commercial certainty. A series of recent decisions is also examined to demonstrate the courts' support for such an approach.

This article gives a short outline on some aspects of the present status of Indonesian conflict of laws, and the extent to which the Dutch colonial regulations are still valid, or have been revised since independence. Following a general discussion on the basis for the validity of the old regulations and the present views on law revision, we shall examine some topics to illustrate the remaining influence of Dutch legal scholars on Indonesian case law and jurisprudence. We have chosen to focus on three areas in particular, the shift from the nationality to the domicile principle in the field of personal status, the problem of renvoi, and the law of contract.

This article examines the impact of law school and legal education on the moral and professional identities of law students through surveys and interviews of law students from the Class of 2010 at the National University of Singapore. Questions were asked to ascertain how students viewed the relationship between their personal convictions and professionalism, what they thought of lawyers and the work they would do as lawyers in future, student's opinions as to law's relationship with justice, morality and other social phenomena, and students' expectations of legal education. This article seeks to increase consciousness of how law school is remaking students and developing the moral and professional identities of future lawyers, and to facilitate conversation that reshapes legal_x000D_ education to achieve its aims.

In Singapore, no petition for divorce is permitted in the first three years of marriage unless leave of court is given on the basis that the case is one of exceptional hardship suffered by the petitioner or of exceptional depravity on the part of the respondent. This article examines the purpose of the three-year restriction on divorce and whether its retention in Singapore continues to promote the best interests of family members affected. It suggests that a shorter period of restriction, without exceptions, be adopted. A brief survey of the marriage relationship and the recent patterns of divorce in Singapore is also made here.