Reading Rights Rightly: The UDHR and its Creeping Influence on the Development of Singapore Public Law

Abstract

The utility of invoking international law to inform the crafting of public law arguments depends on the receptivity of a domestic legal system towards international law. There is in Singapore case law a discernible shift in the judicial approach towards handling international legal arguments, from a clumsy dismissal to a more sophisticated handling of how, in particular, human rights law may influence domestic rights adjudication. This article uses the 2008 case of Re Gavin Millar Q.C. as a springboard to consider how and if the approach of Singapore courts towards receiving and applying human rights norms in public law cases has changed. It discusses the creeping influence of international human rights norms, such as those embodied in the UDHR, in national courts and what this signifies in terms of developing a human rights culture in the thinking and operation of legal actors, such as the bench and bar.