Singapore Law Blog

The Lawyer.com has won 'Business Website of the Year' in the Association of Online Publishers Awards 2005.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the United Kingdom's financial services and markets regulator.

Two of the three bloggers charged under the Sedition Act for remarks made on the Internet received jail sentences.

In a landmark decision said to be the first by any superior court anywhere, the High Court of Australia ruled that mod chips to circumvent regional access codes in Sony Playstations is not a circumvention device as the regional access code is not a Technological Protection Measure.

The Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore, Mohamad S. Hidayat, has said that Singaporean business people still complain about legal uncertainty in Indonesia, particularly on Batam.

The draft guideline on the Treatment of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) sets out how the CCS views the interface between the Competition Act 2004 (Act) and IPRs, and indicates some of the factors and circumstances that the CCS may consider when assessing agreements and conduct which concern IPRs.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) had earlier informed employers that with effect from 3 Oct 2005, administrative fees will be introduced for application, issuance, renewal and re-instatement of Work Permits. To encourage more businesses to transact online, MOM is pleased to inform you that we will waive administrative fees for all Work Permit issuance and renewal transactions using the Work Permit Online (WPOL) facility. The administrative fee of $20 per issuance or renewal will be charged for transactions submitted manually.

Indonesia and Singapore will not sign a long-awaited extradition treaty soon because the two countries still have to settle a number of problems especially the differences in the two countries` legal systems.

Lord Woolf retired as Lord Chief Justice on 30 September 2005. The 72-year-old judge is being replaced by current Master of the Rolls, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, on 1st October 2005.

Responding to calls from the College of Family Physicians Singapore and the Transforming Primary Care Committee appointed by Ministry of Health (MOH) to establish minimum training requirements for family physicians, MOH proposes to establish a Family Physician Register. This Register will list the names of family physicians who have undergone a recognised formal training programme in family medicine.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) today announced that banks in Singapore will be able to offer an important form of Islamic finance known as Murabaha. It is commonly used as short-term financing and in trade finance.

Presently, under the Driver Improvement Points System, driving in bus lanes carries a penalty of $130 and four demerit points. With effect from 1 Oct 2005 , motorists who travel along or leave their vehicles in bus lanes islandwide during restricted hours will no longer be given four demerit points. The $130 penalty will however still apply.

The Securities and Futures (Financial and Margin Requirements for Holders of Capital Markets Services Licences) Regulations 2002 ("the Regulations") prescribe the types of collateral that a holder of a capital markets services ("CMS") licence may take to meet margin requirements for its securities financing business. MAS proposes in this consultation paper to expand the list of acceptable collateral.

Singapore has joined more than 100 countries in being a signatory to the Additional Protocol (see Note 1) to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement. The Additional Protocol between Singapore and the IAEA was signed on 22 September 2005 at the IAEA Headquarters in Vienna.

Charities under the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports in discussions with the Minister agree to strengthen public trust.

With effect from 1 October 2005, Singapore will implement the APEC[1] Business Travel Card (ABTC) Scheme. The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA), the issuing authority of the card, will begin to accept applications for the card through its website www.ica.gov.sg .

MAS announced today that Part XIII of the Securities and Futures (Amendment) Act 2005 ("SF(A)A") on offers of investments and the supporting Regulations will take effect on 15 October 2005.

The Deposit Insurance Act was passed in Parliament on 19 September 2005. The Second Reading Speech by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education and Deputy Chairman, Monetary Authority of Singapore states

The Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) would like to announce the launch of the Commonwealth Legal Information Institute (CommonLII), located at < http://www.commonlii.org >. Like other LIIs, CommonLII is free access and non-profit.

The Ministry of Health is proposing to implement a statutory regulatory framework to regulate the practice of optometry and opticianry in Singapore and seeks the public's views, comments and feedback on this issue.

It was reported that the police have raided an interior design consultancy company for using copyright infringing software. This is the first raid by the police since Singapore's Copyright Act was amended at the beginning of 2005 to make copyright infringement a criminal offence.

MAS has reviewed the appeals Regulations under the Securities and Futures Act (?SFA?), the Financial Advisers Act (?FAA?) and Insurance Act (?IA?), and proposes amending these Appeals Regulations. MAS invites interested parties to forward their views and comments on the draft Regulations.

The Singapore Court of Appeal clarified the law on adverse possession in an important decision. The written judgment delivered on 13 September 2005 allowed an appeal by TSM Development Pte Ltd and held that a strip of land fenced within a neighbour's property was not subject to an adverse possession claim by the neighbour.

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), in collaboration with the Attorney-General's Chambers of Singapore (AGC), has today issued a second public consultation paper on the proposed Spam Control Bill in Singapore.

In a rare prosecution, the Ministry of Manpower brought to court a company and its director for failing to pay workers salary.