Su Tiang Joo

On the judicial record

A guide to how a High Court resolves contract, medical-negligence, housing-development and constitutional questions across a varied civil list, with the governing principle stated at the outset and methodically applied.

Su Tiang Joo sits in the High Court, and this collection is a commercial and civil list authored in English, several judgments opening with the judge's own headnotes summarising the principle decided. Contract is a strong strand, including a claim for an amount owing under a contract of employment where the defendant had made part payments and admitted the sum in separate proceedings, and a landlord-and-tenant dispute over an option to renew a tenancy at the prevailing market rental. Tort features through medical-negligence claims, including against private hospitals, and the assessment of damages after a trial on liability, treated as a continuation of the trial. Equity appears through constructive trust and the duties it imposes. Housing-development law is addressed where a developer switched a residential development to a commercial one and remained liable to pay liquidated ascertained damages. Injunctions recur, including orders set aside with damages to be assessed on the plaintiff's undertaking, and a mandatory injunction in favour of an elected association president entitled to manage a temple. Constitutional law is engaged in a matter on the words be defended in Article 5(3) of the Federal Constitution and whether the right to be defended should be read restrictively. Civil procedure features through discovery under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1957 and the consequence that, after a rule change, there is no right of appeal against the dismissal of a striking-out application. Private individuals are referred to by role; corporate and governmental parties are named. A recurring theme is the clear statement of the legal principle at the outset and its methodical application to the facts, a style that makes the reasoning easy to follow and the ratio easy to identify. The collection is a clear guide to how a High Court resolves contract, tort, housing and constitutional questions across a varied civil list, and to the value of a judgment that names its principle before it applies it.