ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book uses constitutional interpretation as the focal point from which to analyse and theorise about these developments in Singapore. It focuses on judicial interpretation, thereby taking a court-centric, rather than an institutional, approach to constitutional law. This distinguishes the book from Li-ann Thio and Kevin YL Tan's 2009 Evolution of a Revolution: Forty Years of the Singapore Constitution. The book examines that interrogate modalities and canons of interpretation, particularly examining how they have been employed over time and the philosophy undergirding their use. Jack Tsen-Ta Lee's in the book examines the presumption of constitutionality in constitutional cases. It discusses the boundaries of constitutional interpretation. Goh Yihan's in the book questions whether the conventional wisdom that the Constitution should be treated sui generis and interpreted differently from statutes and even contracts is justifiable.