SINGAPORE - Five judges, instead of the usual three, will hear Dr Tan Cheng Bock's appeal on the upcoming presidential election in the Court of Appeal next Monday (July 31).
The judges are Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Judge of Appeal Judith Prakash, Judge of Appeal Steven Chong, Justice Chua Lee Ming and Justice Kannan Ramesh, according to the Supreme Court hearing list.
Dr Tan said in a Facebook post on Thursday (July 27) night that the Court wrote to the Attorney-General and Dr Tan's lawyers, led by Senior Counsel Chelva Rajah of Tan Rajah & Cheah, last week to ask if either party had any objections to CJ Menon sitting at the hearing. Both sides said there were none, Dr Tan added.
CJ Menon chaired the Constitutional Commission that last year recommended changes to the elected presidency, which were subsequently adapted and passed by Parliament.
He had said in 2014 that the apex court could be expanded to five judges to hear selected cases of "jurisprudential significance". This will allow "difficult or unsettled issues" to be resolved "with the benefit of the collective wisdom and insights of a larger pool of judges", he explained.
On Thursday, Dr Tan said having five judges is significant as it points to the importance of the constitutional issues for clarification.
He added: "I welcome CJ's involvement. In my view, no other judge knows more about the subject than the CJ. It is therefore proper and beneficial to Singaporeans that he is available to address questions on the reserved election scheme and its spirit and purpose," he said.
Dr Tan, who contested the 2011 presidential election, is appealing the High Court's July 7 decision to dismiss his legal challenge to this year's election, which will be reserved for Malay candidates following changes to the Constitution to limit an election to a particular racial group when it has not been represented in the presidency for five continuous terms.
The changes to the law were made to ensure the highest office in the land reflects Singapore's multiracial society.
The Government had started its count of the five terms from the term of former president Wee Kim Wee, who was in office when the elected presidency took effect in 1991. There have been four other terms since, including that of current President Tony Tan Keng Yam.
However, Dr Tan had argued that this was unconstitutional as Mr Wee was not popularly elected, and said the count should start from the term of former president Ong Teng Cheong. He contended that the reserved election should start in 2023 at the earliest.
But Justice Quentin Loh ruled that Parliament, ultimately, has the right to decide which presidential terms it would take into account.
He said the Constitution does not restrict Parliament to consider only presidents elected by citizens when deciding the timing of an election, and added that it also allows the term of a president elected by Parliament, in this case Mr Wee, to be included.
