Presidential Council for Minority Rights' Assent to Bills

Mr Leon Perera asked the Prime Minister (a) over the past two terms of Parliament, how many times has the Presidential Council for Minority Rights suggested changes to, or withheld assent to, a Bill passed in Parliament; (b) when have these actions taken place; and (c) over what issues have the Council proposed changes or withheld its assent.

Mdm Speaker, on behalf of the Prime Minister, first, two points of clarification.

First, under Article 77 of the Constitution, the function of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights (PCMR) is to draw attention to any legislation that it considers to be disadvantageous to persons of any racial or religious community. The Council's function is not to suggest changes to, or withhold assent to, legislation.

Second, the Member should be aware that the Council's opinion is publicly available. May I draw the Member's attention to Parliament's website, or National Archives Online at www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/government_records/highlights.

Since Independence, the PAP Government has made equality of races and religions fundamental to its vision of a multi-racial, multi-religious Singapore. Therefore, it is most unlikely that any legislation from the Government will disadvantage any racial or religious group and cause the Council to raise any objection. Nevertheless, the PAP Government created the PCMR as a unique institution that will help to protect the rights of minorities and reassure minority communities of their place in Singapore. The PCMR, as an institution and process, is valuable, in case any legislation passed inadvertently disadvantages any party, or there comes a day when a different government in Singapore operates on a different basis.

In addition, before a Bill is introduced in Parliament, it goes through legal and legal policy oversight. Ministries seek the Attorney-General's Chambers' (AGC) legal advice on the legality of their actions before implementing policies by way of new legislation or legislative amendment. MinLaw examines draft legislation to ensure that it is consistent with the Constitution and other legal policies. These include, for instance, whether the Bill might directly or indirectly be disadvantageous to persons from particular racial or religious communities. By the time a Bill reaches the PCMR, it would have been subject to three layers of checks: first, reviews by the AGC; second, MinLaw; and third, by Parliament. Former Chief Justice, Mr Chan Sek Keong, now Senior Judge, had previously observed that it is for similar reasons that the volume of judicial review in Singapore is relatively low.

Over the past two terms of Parliament, no legislation passed by Parliament has received an adverse report by the PCMR. The fact that there has not been any adverse reports bears testament to the robustness of the system of checks that we have and the commitment of the PAP Government to racial and religious equality.

The Member would be familiar with the Bills passed in the past few years. If the Member believes that the PCMR should have drawn attention to a certain Bill, we would be happy to invite him to indicate the Bills which he is referring to.

I thank the Minister for his response. Just one supplementary question. Would the Minister be able to share if the PCMR in the past, at anytime in the course of its deliberations, has requested to interview any public servants or experts, or requested any data from the Government in order to assess the economic, social or other impact of any legislation?

Madam, as I have said, before any Bill is presented to the PCMR, it would have gone through three layers of checks. At any point in time, if the PCMR feels that it needs other resources or references, it would be at its own prerogative and it has the privilege to call on anybody to give his necessary input. But at any one point in time, before the Bill is presented to the PCMR, it would have gone through three layers of checks: the AGC, the MinLaw and Parliament.