Comparative Analysis: Islamic and State Courts in Singapore

This report provides an overview of the dual court system in Singapore, focusing on the jurisdiction and evolution of both Islamic (Sharia) and State courts. It examines the historical context of Islamic law, the establishment of the Syariah Court, and its role in regulating Muslim marriages, divorces, and related matters. The report highlights the impact of the Syariah Court on divorce rates and the development of conciliation services. It also details the structure and functions of the State courts, including their jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases. The analysis includes a comparison of the two court systems, addressing the resolution of conflicts, the influence of traditional practices, and the application of Islamic law in Singapore's legal framework, with references to relevant literature.

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Islamic court or Islamic courts may denote the following courts, such as:
 Islamic court, which follows Sharia;
 Sharia courts, situated in the judiciary of the Saudi Arabia;
 Syariah Court, situated in Malaysia;
 Islamic Revolutionary Court, a special systematic court in the Islamic Republic of
Iran;
 Islamic Courts Union, situated in Somalia.
Previously, Islamic law or Sharia always present in the Islamic states. These laws were
interpreted by several independent jurists the basis of which was sources of scripts and several
lawful mythologies. In the present era, the outdated laws are replaced by the European codes in
numerous parts of the Muslim world along with the rules of classical sharia reserved in family
laws (Bin Abbas, 2012). This law has been codified by statutory bodies that have tried to
modernize it without ignoring conventional legal jurisprudence. The Islamic renaissance took
place at the end of the 20th century. Islamist movements called for the complete application of
Sharia law, including capital punishments, namely hudud, such as stoning, which in certain case
led to conventional legal restructuring (Lindsey, 2016). Some Muslim minority nations use
Sharia laws in order to control the marriage between Muslim People, legacy and other private
affairs. Many scholars and academics are of the view that nowadays, the Islamic are gaining
influence in some countries in Southeast Asia. Singapore is a sovereign island town-state in
Southeast Asia, formally known as Republic of Singapore. Sharia courts may hear and decide
acts in which all parties are Muslim or parties concerned are married according to the Islamic
law (Jani & Hassan, 2015). Court has jurisdiction over marriage proceedings, divorces, marital

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disputes, marriage cases related with nullity, judicial separation, splits of property on divorce
cases, dowry payments, maintenance and muta cases. In this way influence has been spread by
these courts. Sharia law is considered to be a part of the Islamic tradition. Modern Islamic case
law theory accepts 4 Sharia sources: the Quran, sunnah (authentic hadeeth), qiyas (analogy), and
ijma (legal consensus). The methodologies for originating Shari decisions from theological
sources are established by diverse legal schools, most popular of which are Hanafi, Maliki,
Shafi'i, Hanbali and Jafari. Two main areas of law, such as the Últra-Bibâdāt (rituals) and the
Últra-Muāmalāt (social relations) are characterized by traditional jurisprudence. Many parts of
sharia thus align with the Western notion of law, while others more closely relate to the life of
God.
In the first half of the 20th century, the rate of divorce among the Muslims was very high
throughout Singapore. During the war years it peaked at 667 out of 1000 Muslim weddings prior
to its collapse to 493 in 1958. The high level of divorce was accredited to easy divorce at the
time because the old Muslim Ordinances of 1880 had little limitations or advice services. The
high rate of divorce has led to significant social difficulties and problems, leading to lobby for a
new legislation by many Malaysia's society and self-help organizations. In 1951, a subcommittee
was established by the Muslim Consultative Committee in order to make a draft amendment to
prevailing legislation (Feener, 2012). The attempts to amend the law resulted in the adoption by
the Legislative Council of 1957 of the Muslim Ordinance. Nevertheless, a new Muslim Bill was
scheduled at the Legislative Assembly only on 21 November 1955, and its second reading took
place nine months later, the next year, on 2 August. The efforts to reform law culminated in the
promulgation by the Legislative Council in August 1957 of the Muslim Ordinance of 1957. It
provided for the establishment of a Syariah (matrimonial) Court with the sole authority to record

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divorces not made by mutual consent. In the case of Muslim divorces, Syariah Court strictly
restricted the rights of the Kathis who had been traditionally religious. On 24 November 1958,
the Syariah Court was created. In compliance with Islamic law, the court strained the supervision
of Muslim divorces in Singapore and developed qualified conciliation services. As per a report
published in 1960, the Muslim divorce rate drops to 273 per 1000 Muslim marriages in 1959,
from 493 in 1958, just after one year from the establishment of the Syariah Court. The
decreasing trend sustained until in 1975, the rate of divorce reached a record level of 94 per
1,000 Muslim marriages. This was a result of positive reaction of Muslims to the Syariah Court
which is working to improve the harmony of marriages between the Muslim communities in
Singapore (Lombardi & Feener, 2012).
In the court system of Singapore, two tiers are observed there. The Singaporean State
courts, which are generally known as Subordinate courts are situated in one tier, whereas the
Supreme Court is situated in another tier. The District and the Court of Magistrates, which both
supervise civil and criminal cases, along with specialized Courts, namely, the Court of Corons
and the Court of Little Claims, are also regarded as the State Courts. The State courts are
composed of Districts and Magistrates courts. More than 95% of entire cases are heard in the
Singapore State Courts, including civil and criminal cases which do not fall within the remit of
the Supreme Court (Black, 2012). Almost 350,000 cases are heard yearly in the State courts. The
judges, magistrates and registrars involved in the State courts are regarded as officers of legal
service legal services and served their duties under the regulation and observation of the Legal
Service Commission of Singapore. The appointment of the judges and Magistrates are based
upon the recommendation of the Chief Justice. After recommendation received from the Chief
Justice, judges and Magistrates shall be appointed by the President (Hassan & Alhabshi, 2012).

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In the State Courts there are six main operating units as per the most recent annual report. These
include the Division of Civil Justice, the Division of Social Justice and Courts, the Division of
Criminal Justice, the Dispute Resolution Center, the Corporate Division, and the Division of
Strategic Planning & Technology. The overall accountability for the purpose of administering
the functions of the State courts and Tribunals, the presiding judge of the State courts and a judge
of the Supreme Court or a Judiciary Commissioner play an active role. The Presiding Judge of
the Court leads a team of judicial officials who decide on cases before the State Courts. The
Deputy Chairman Judge or Registrar and the Corporate and Court Services Department supports
the Presiding Judge directorially. The Family Justice Court was formed in October 2014, and
since then the cases relating to the family and to young people no longer fall within the
jurisdiction of the State Courts (Bell, 2006).
While discussing the jurisdiction of Islamic and State courts it can be said that the Islamic
courts or Sharia courts have the jurisdiction over marriage and divorce. On the other hand, as
provided in Articles 112 and 115 of the Law of Muslim Law administration, the Syariah Court
shall be responsible for distributing the property of a deceased to his or her relatives according to
Islamic law. The State courts have the jurisdiction over all civil and criminal cases.
Over time, many traditions have evolved and can be combined to resolve conflicts: tribal
law, Muslim law and traditional Sharia practices. Conflict resolution practices in Singapore aim
to restore individual and community harmony, by means of third party authority, such as
mediator, arbitrator, instead of providing an opportunity for contentious parties to make their
complaints public (Cederroth & Hassan, 2012). The arbitrator, mediator could push them to
come to an agreement. Many authors stated this system as a tool to control society. Power
imbalances are thus a crucial factor in these systems and can be used instead of modifying.

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The Morocco case can be discusses in this regard. Since the presence of Berber tribes in
the Atlas Mountains, traditional methods of clash resolution have been utilized in Morocco.
Conflicts originally were settled by the hereditary "saints," who lived alone from the tribes, but
served a variety of purposes, including the one of the ‘mediators’

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Reference
Bell, G. F. (2006). Multiculturalism in Law is Legal Pluralism-Lessons from Indonesia,
Singapore and Canada. Sing. J. Legal Stud., 315.
Bin Abbas, A. N. (2012). Islamic Legal System in Singapore, THe. Pac. Rim L. & Pol'y J., 21,
163.
Black, A. (2012). Lessons From Singapore An Evaluation Of The Singapore Model Of Legal
Pluralism. Asian Law Institute Working Paper, 026.
Cederroth, S. C., & Hassan, S. Z. S. (2012). Managing marital disputes in Malaysia: Islamic
mediators and conflict resolution in the Syariah Courts. Routledge.
Feener, R. M. (2012). Social engineering through sharī'a: Islamic law and state-directed da'wa in
contemporary Aceh. Islamic Law and Society, 19(3), 275-311.
Hassan, M. H., & Alhabshi, S. T. S. A. A. (2012). The training, appointment, and supervision of
Islamic judges in Singapore. Pac. Rim L. & Pol'y J., 21, 189.
Jani, N., & Hassan, R. (2015). Dispute Resolution in Singapore: Challenges and Opportunities
for Islamic Finance. Journal of Islamic Economics, Banking and Finance, 113(3158), 1-
20.
Lindsey, T. (2016). Islamic courts or courts for Muslims? Shari’a and the state in Indonesia,
Malaysia and Singapore. In Routledge Handbook of Asian Law (pp. 355-375).
Routledge.
Lombardi, C. B., & Feener, R. M. (2012). Why study Islamic legal professionals. Pac. Rim L. &
Pol'y J., 21, 1.

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Answer- 3
Minerals and metals are important to modern societies and working of economies. In
resource-rich countries, mining offers great economic opportunities. Nevertheless, the mining
process poses problems and threats for human and environmental well-being. One of these
countries major problems is the management of mining so that sustainable development
contributes rather than endangers to it. Mining management at all levels, from study to mine
closure, requires serious social and environmental impacts. Mining legal and contractual systems
are often defined with little regard to ecological sustainability and the well-being of communities
exaggerated. Local communities and indigenous people frequently do not have the right to
participate in decisions on mining projects (Dashwood, 2012). Although many countries have
implemented legislation on the assessment and closure of mines on the environment and social
impact, their implementation has been delayed. Moreover than that, the complete financial
benefits of mining often fail to be achieved by countries and communities. The prospects and
business potential arising from mining may not be used by people and local companies.
The famous scene of ‘Mining’, is probably the old western, where people blast on
mountain sides, tunnel through the Earth, or pan at the riverbanks for gold. The mine has a few
images. One well established scene is from the Old West, where prospects blow up the sides of
the mountains, wind tunnels or pots of gold at the banks of a river. Another one is the
environmental consequences of acid mine drainage from older mining mines which have not
benefited from contemporary management and technology (Esteves, Franks & Vanclay, 2012).
Mining has a common view of the environment. Few non-industry individuals know about
current mining activities and related business, climate and public policy concerns. Or how
mining companies adapt to the environmental challenges of today. The extraction of mineral oil

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is just one step in a complicated and time-consuming process of mineral production. The
exploration and construction of the mine is born. The mining and profit will be pursued and the
mine closure and reconstruction will end. To order to be viable and profitable, a mining business
must conduct all mining activities.
A stakeholder in a company is a participant of ‘groups with no funding from whom the
organization will cease to exist, as identified for the first time in an internal 1963 memorandum
at Stanford Research Institute, In mining industries several stakeholders are involved such as
mine operators, investors, suppliers and many more. The below-mentioned picture describes the
key stakeholders of a mining industry (Kemp et al., 2011).
In case of the mining industry, most countries have comprehensive environmental
regulations. There are still no federal regulations aimed at mining, but broad statutes, such as the
Clean Water Act, The Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and many others

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are applicable to mining. Moreover, through its comprehensive environmental response and
compensation, the Federal Government addressed the clean-up of historical waste mining. The
engagement of stakeholders is specifically relevant under the mining industry, by which a
closeness has been provided along with effect on local communities by the use of natural
resources like land, water and energy. Efficient involvement of various stakeholder can enhance
the understanding of a company in regards to it effectual activities, by optimizing investment
advantages while reducing costs (Franks & Vanclay, 2013). Relationships with community
members can improve confidence and promote backing for a local project. Many authors are of
the view that internal stakeholders, such as employees, business partners and contractors are
those stakeholders who are ignored often but it is important to communicate with them on a
regular basis. Such associations are often the main point of contact with members of the
community, many of which live in the community itself. However, when enterprises have a
positive relation to these groups, they not only advance their direct relations, but they can have a
broader effect on the insight of the company within the community. In order to accept a mining
project, the communities need to observe the probable welfares of the project as being greater
than their risks. Companies can help this by engage community members, know their concerns
and proactively address them and build a shared vision for the long-term prospect of the
community (Prno & Slocombe, 2012).
Environmental concern and consideration is one of the key elements of a prosperous
business strategy. Given the increasing attention paid to environmental issues in mining, today
the experience of a different organization demonstrates that it is even more critical. A variety of
environmental policies are based on an environmental policy dependent upon the conditions of

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the nations and locations in which they reside as a result of lawful obedience, regulatory
obedience and permission (Deegan & Blomquist, 2006).
Efforts should be made throughout a mining lifetime and the entire value chain of mining
to alleviate environmental impacts, safeguard human rights, promote social inclusion and
increase mining assistances. In view of the different mine-life phases: mining explorations, mine
creation, mining operations and mining closure, the effects of mining can be understood in a
better way. Therefore, a ‘Mine Life’ approach allows concrete actions to be established that
governments and other stakeholders may take at various mining periods (Dobele et al., 2014).
While entering into mining agreements, particular attention shall be paid to clauses on the
mitigation of the environmental impact, mine closure, relocation, local content and employment.
Several prescriptive approaches has been used by the government conventionally, which is also
called as technological standards in order to regulate environment must specify that concrete
technologies are to be used to mitigate pollution. Once contracts for mining are concluded,
governments will pay particular attention to provisions relating to mitigation, closure of mining
mine, relocation, local content and jobs. Specific community planning agreements in this respect
can also be beneficial (Pellegrino & Lodhia, 2012).
Nowadays, environmental audit is performed for the purpose of providing thorough
information on ecological presentation and obedience with regulations, effect of mitigation plans
and potential liabilities. Environmental assessments do not substitute for oversight of the
environment. Internal audits and external audits are included in this concept. Internal audits shall
also be called first-party audits, which are performed or contracted by the mining company.
External audits include government, creditor, or depositor audits which are performed by the

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second party, and independent audits conducted by third parties (Govindan, Kannan & Shankar,
2014).
The Environment Policy of the company generally dictates that its functions simply
comply with current norms. The operations must illustrate best current practice for minimizing
and eliminating adverse environmental impacts where possible. Appropriate environmental
concern and consideration is one of the key elements of any effective business plan. In view of
the cumulative attention paid in mining to environmental issues, it is even more important today
(Mutti et al., 2012). Finally, it can be concluded that the environment policy of the company
strives to strike a balance between the metals requirement of society with an eco-friendly
approach. Earning profit is important for the advancement of the business as well as the society
but it is also important to preserve the various environmental resources.

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Reference
Dashwood, H. S. (2012). CSR norms and organizational learning in the mining
sector. Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society.
Deegan, C., & Blomquist, C. (2006). Stakeholder influence on corporate reporting: An
exploration of the interaction between WWF-Australia and the Australian minerals
industry. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 31(4-5), 343-372.
Dobele, A. R., Westberg, K., Steel, M., & Flowers, K. (2014). An examination of corporate
social responsibility implementation and stakeholder engagement: A case study in the
Australian mining industry. Business strategy and the environment, 23(3), 145-159.
Esteves, A. M., Franks, D., & Vanclay, F. (2012). Social impact assessment: the state of the
art. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 30(1), 34-42.
Franks, D. M., & Vanclay, F. (2013). Social Impact Management Plans: Innovation in corporate
and public policy. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 43, 40-48.
Govindan, K., Kannan, D., & Shankar, K. M. (2014). Evaluating the drivers of corporate social
responsibility in the mining industry with multi-criteria approach: A multi-stakeholder
perspective. Journal of cleaner production, 84, 214-232.
Kemp, D., Owen, J. R., Gotzmann, N., & Bond, C. J. (2011). Just relations and company–
community conflict in mining. Journal of Business Ethics, 101(1), 93-109.
Mutti, D., Yakovleva, N., Vazquez-Brust, D., & Di Marco, M. H. (2012). Corporate social
responsibility in the mining industry: Perspectives from stakeholder groups in
Argentina. Resources Policy, 37(2), 212-222.

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Pellegrino, C., & Lodhia, S. (2012). Climate change accounting and the Australian mining
industry: exploring the links between corporate disclosure and the generation of
legitimacy. Journal of Cleaner Production, 36, 68-82.
Prno, J., & Slocombe, D. S. (2012). Exploring the origins of ‘social license to operate’in the
mining sector: Perspectives from governance and sustainability theories. Resources
policy, 37(3), 346-357.