Behind the Singapore Constitution, the doctrine of separation of powers is one of the underlying values and basic principle that is deemed to be a fundamental aspect of the Constitution. The constitution is made up of a set of rules that regulates how a government operates as well as its formation. After Singapore’s separation from Malaysia, Singapore’s constitution was formed and the Constitution is considered as the supreme law. With the concept of constitutional supremacy where other laws must not violate the supreme law as mentioned under Article 4, it is important that the Constitution carries important values as it also determines the fundamental liberties individuals are entitled to.

Separation of powers refers to the theory where the government is divided into three separate branches of government in order to preserve liberty through limiting government’s power. These three branches consist of the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. For the Executive, it carries out the laws that are being regulated and as such, if an individual breaks the laws, the Executive will also carry out the punishment that arise from the violation of the law. As for the Legislature, it aids the law-making process and it involves three readings in Parliament and President’s assent before the bill can be part of the law in Singapore.

Figure 1: Law-making process

As seen in Figure 1, under the “Scrutiny by the Presidential Council for Minority Rights”, the bills will be revised in order