Southeast Asian Legal Research Guide: Introduction to Singapore and its Legal System

Singapore has a common law legal system as a result of its colonial past as part of the British empire. The influence of the English common law on the development of Singapore law is generally more evident in certain traditional common law areas, such as contract, tort and equity, than in other statute-based areas such as criminal law and company law. Although judicial decisions from England and other Commonwealth jurisdictions are not binding on Singapore courts, Singapore has paid great deference to English decisions until recently, as Singapore departs from the decisions of English courts and develops its own local jurisprudence. Jurisdictions such as India and Australia have strongly influenced the approach and content of some of Singapore's statutes.