Through a focus on Singapore, this book presents an analysis of authoritarian legalism, showing how prosperity, public discourse, and a rigorous observance of legal procedure enable a reconfigured rule of law - liberal form but illiberal content. It shows how institutions and process become tools to constrain dissenting citizens while protecting those in political power.

This is the second edition of the highly successful book first published in 1989. However, it has been extensively revised in content and updated: Eight out of 14 chapters are new including chapters such as The Constitutional Framework of Powers, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and The Singapore Legal System and International Law; and the law on all subjects has been updated.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take its toll, contractual parties have frequently faced significant obstacles in performing their contractual obligations due to unexpected impediments arising from the pandemic and government measures taken in response. This indispensable book – the most comprehensive comparative examination of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on contractual performance – discusses the legal provisions and doctrines available to address these issues. The book examines under what circumstances COVID-19-related impediments may excuse contractual performance or lead to modification or termination of the affected contractual obligations in twelve representative civil and common law jurisdictions – the United States, England and Wales, Singapore, Brazil, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Hong Kong, Costa Rica, China, and Russia. For each country, the book examines the following aspects in depth: the relevant fundamental legal principles; the various legal emergency valves available to an obligor to respond to COVID-19-related events; any remedies available to the obligee; selected examples for specific government measures related to particular types of contracts (e.g., construction, employment, lease agreements); and how the legal framework applies in typical factual scenarios. As further legal and factual developments occur, and with further jurisdictions being added, this publication will continue to be updated both online and in print. The book provides a detailed explanation under what conditions the emergency valves specific to each jurisdiction may apply. It cuts through the seeming complexity of the various legal rules and doctrines in these jurisdictions and shows that they often produce similar results in practice. The book thus opens up a wealth of insights for businesses, practitioners, and academics around the globe by providing an easily accessible analytical framework across key jurisdictions and typical factual scenarios. ‘Definitely mandatory reading for practitioners and academics alike!’ –Klaus Peter Berger, University of Cologne ‘Everyone who has had or is likely to have a brush with a COVID-19-induced legal issue would be well advised to keep this book within arm’s reach.’ – Davinder Singh, Davinder Singh Chambers LLC, Singapore ‘The “holy book” for all those lawyers whose clients become ensnared in the rising attempts to fix legal liability midst the rampant COVID-19.’ – Charles Brower, Twenty Essex, London

"The Principles of Singapore Business Law, first published in 2009, was followed by a second edition in 2013. This third edition provides a timely update of the legal changes that have taken place since then, stating the law as on 4th May 2019. In keeping with the aims of this publication since the first edition, the volume sets out the law of relevance to business, with the lay reader in mind, while providing glimpses into some complex and unsettled areas of law that are of practical interest. In this vein, layman's language is adopted and pedagogical features are used to summarise, illustrate and provide mind-maps of basic concepts. Unsettled areas are separately highlighted in reflection boxes to provoke further thinking. This volume features some chapters that have been completely or extensively rewritten and others streamlined in both language and content to ensure greaeter accessibility to the lay reader." -- Back cover.

In this groundbreaking book, Scalia and Garner systematically explain all the most important principles of constitutional, statutory, and contractual interpretation in an engaging and informative style with hundreds of illustrations from actual cases. Is a burrito a sandwich? Is a corporation entitled to personal privacy? If you trade a gun for drugs, are you using a gun in a drug transaction? The authors grapple with these and dozens of equally curious questions while explaining the most principled, lucid, and reliable techniques for deriving meaning from authoritative texts. Meanwhile, the book takes up some of the most controversial issues in modern jurisprudence. What, exactly, is textualism? Why is strict construction a bad thing? What is the true doctrine of originalism? And which is more important: the spirit of the law, or the letter? The authors write with a well-argued point of view that is definitive yet nuanced, straightforward yet sophisticated.

“Today I am 22 years of age. I used to be a person who was working in the complex streets of Geylang and the black market. I was a gangster in three different criminal organizations. Robbery, assault, peddling drugs, extortion…At the end of everything I have done in the underworld, I have never brought goodness to anyone around me. People who know me and those who don’t, I have never given them something pleasant to smile about.” As a child, Joshua Foo seemed to have a particular affinity for trouble. Despite his best intentions, his actions and decisions always seemed to land him on the wrong side of the law. Without the support of a loving family, Joshua was drifting and furthermore, angry—and he didn’t know why. With his father in jail and his mother working tirelessly to provide for her only child, Joshua was left to his own to make sense of his world and fend for himself. The death of his beloved grandmother and constant teasing by peers over the absence of his father drove him to fill the void in his world with friends who gave him the support he never had, the security he never knew and worth he never felt. But this came with a price, and with eyes wide open, Joshua fell headlong into a secret, illegal world, where bravery and loyalty were valued above all. But eventually Joshua had to come face to face with the reality of his world and into confrontation with all that he had been running from. With piercing honesty and brazen boldness of youth, Joshua recounts his experiences of being in a gang, his brushes with law and examines the events that brought him there. What made him who he is today? Was it his own choices, or the choices of others? And does he have the agency to decide what he will become? More than just a shocking story of a boy losing his way, The Right Mistakes is about a boy trying to make sense of his life and change it for the better.