Precedent fact errors in Singapore law

Errors as to precedent facts, sometimes called jurisdictional facts, in Singapore administrative law are errors committed by public authorities concerning facts that must objectively exist or not exist before the authorities have the power to take actions or make decisions under legislation. If an error concerning a precedent fact is made, the statutory power has not been exercised lawfully and may be quashed by the High Court if judicial review is applied for by an aggrieved person. The willingness of the Court to review such errors of fact is an exception to the general rule that the Court only reviews errors of law.

In the United Kingdom, the House of Lords has held that the nature of the decision-making process that the public authority is required to engage in determines whether a matter falls into the precedent fact category. If the process is complex and much discretion is accorded to the authority by the empowering statute, the court is unlikely to find that a precedent fact is involved. On the other hand, where an administrative decision interferes with an individual's liberty, the matter will be considered within the precedent fact category unless Parliament has explicitly excluded judicial review. If Parliament intends to do so, it must make its meaning crystal clear.

As Singapore inherited English administrative law upon independence, the Singapore courts have adopted the UK position, holding that it is necessary to construe the relevant statutory provisions to ascertain whether Parliament has expressed an intention in plain and unequivocal words to take a discretion conferred on the executive out of the precedent fact category.

Errors of law committed by public authorities when they act or make decisions are within the jurisdiction of the High Court of Singapore to correct by way of judicial review. On the other hand, the Court is generally unwilling to intervene where the alleged error is one that concerns the facts of the matter. The rationale for this rule is that it is the Court's role in judicial review of administrative action to scrutinize the legality and not the merits of the decisions of public authorities.

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