Legislation and Law Reform Division

Mission

To contribute to constitutional government, sustainable development and an accessible statute book for all through the provision of high quality, impartial and efficient services in legislative drafting, revision of legislation and the reform of the law.

Our Work

The Legislation and Law Reform Division ("LLRD") was officially formed on 15 June 2008. The newly formed Division is the result of the merger of the Legislation Division and Law Reform and Revision Division. The merger aims to achieve greater synergy and to provide specialisation in the fields of legal knowledge which are relevant to the needs of the Government. The main functions of LLRD are legislative drafting, law reform and law revision. The Division is organised into 2 main directorates – the Legislative Drafting Directorate and Law Reform and Revision Directorate.

Legislative Drafting

 LLRD is the central  legislative drafting office of Singapore. Our core function is to draft and vet Government Bills and subsidiary legislation to give effect to the policies of Government departments and statutory boards.
Our work involves:

(1) Drafting and vetting all Bills and subsidiary legislation (for a better understanding of the legislative process, click here);

(2) Assisting Select Committees in their review of Government Bills;

(3) Analysing legislative proposals and provide advice on policy, legal and constitutional implications and on alternative ways of achieving policy objectives;

(4) Advising other Organs of State, Ministries and Statutory Boards on legislation for implementing Government policies;

(5) Providing legal advice to other Organs of State, Ministries and Statutory Boards generally in relation to legislative drafting, law reform and the legislative process;

(6) Maintaining the Versioned Legislation Database ("VLDB") to facilitate public access to up-to-date legislation.

Law Reform

An annual work plan is prepared to identify projects in law reform. Systematic research, study and consultation with government ministries and agencies, as well as professional bodies and members of the public, are carried out in order to make practical and relevant recommendations for law reform. The Law Reform and Revision Directorate works closely with the Law Reform Committee of the Singapore Academy of Law chaired by Judges of the High Court.

A list of some of our completed and current law reform projects is available here.
If you are interested in making a suggestion for law reform, you may contact us with your submission:

(1) by post, addressed to:

The Principal Senior State Counsel
Legislation and Law Reform Division
Attorney-General's Chambers
1 Coleman Street, #10-00
The Adelphi,
Singapore 179803

(2) by fax, to +65- 63324700

(3) by e-mail, at agc_LRRD@agc.gov.sg

Law Revision

The Law Revision Commission, formed under the Revised Edition of the Laws Act (Chapter 275), is chaired by the Attorney-General. LLRD assists the Law Revision Commission in revising legislation. This involves updating archaic expressions, redrafting convoluted provisions with plain English, consolidating statutes and subsidiary legislation, updating amended legislation, and publishing revised editions of the laws.

Progressive improvements have been adopted, over recent years, to make revised editions of the laws more informative and user friendly. In 1996 a new legislative format was introduced. In April 1996 the legislative history of Acts and amendment Acts was included. Since August 1999, revised editions of Acts have included a comparative table of changes in numbering of sections and subsections. The new format also includes, on the cover page, a list of the past editions of the Act and the amending legislation that have modified the Act. From 2005, revised editions of Acts, where appropriate, will also include, details about their legislative sources, so that the origins of specific provisions may be more easily ascertained.

New and heavily amended Acts and Subsidiary Legislation are revised on a schedule determined by the Law Revision Commissioners. Revised editions are published at least twice each year.

To see a list of the latest revised editions of laws, click here.

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