Constitution of the Republic of Singapore Tribunal

The Constitution of the Republic of Singapore Tribunal is a tribunal established in 1994 pursuant to Article 100 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore. Article 100 provides a mechanism for the President of Singapore, acting on the advice of the Singapore Cabinet, to refer to the Tribunal for its opinion any question as to the effect of any provision of the Constitution which has arisen or appears to likely to arise. Questions referred to the Tribunal may concern the validity of enacted laws or of bills that have not yet been passed by Parliament.

Constitutional questions may also be referred to the Tribunal when Parliament attempts to circumvent or curtail the discretionary powers conferred on the President by the Constitution. If the attempt is by way of an ordinary bill, the President can exercise personal discretion to withhold assent to it. It is then open to Cabinet to advise the President to refer to the Tribunal the question whether the bill in fact circumvents or curtails his discretionary powers. If the bill is determined by the Tribunal not to have that effect, the President is deemed to have assented to the bill on the day following the day when the Tribunal's opinion is pronounced in open court. When Article 5A of the Constitution is brought into force, a similar procedure will apply to attempts to circumvent or curtail the President's discretionary powers through a constitutional amendment. If the Tribunal rules that the proposed amendment does have the effect of restricting the discretionary powers of the President, the Prime Minister is entitled to submit the bill to a national referendum for approval.

The Tribunal consists of not less than three judges of the Supreme Court. Its opinions are binding on all other courts. Since the Tribunal was established in 1994, to date only one constitutional question has been referred to it. The Tribunal determined in 1995 that although Article 5(2A) was not in force, Article 22H(1) did not prevent Parliament from restricting the President's discretionary powers through a constitutional amendment. Since then, there have been several unsuccessful attempts to persuade Cabinet to invoke the Article 100 procedure.