Re: ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Key facts
| Court | High Court (General Division) |
|---|---|
| Decided | |
| Judge | Hoo Sheau Peng |
| Charges / claim | Contempt of Court |
| Counsel | Attorney-General's Chambers, Carson Law Chambers, Jean Goh, Lim Tean, Sivanathan Jheevanesh, Tan Ruyan Kristy |
Source: [2023] SGHC 87, High Court (General Division), decided — eLitigation. Updated .
Catchwords
Practice Areas
Judges (1)
Counsel (6)
Case Significance
Attorney-General v Xu Yuan Chen (alias Terry Xu) [2023] SGHC 87 was heard by Hoo Sheau Peng J in the General Division of the High Court on Originating Summons No 694 of 2021 (Summons No 3816 of 2021), with hearings on 29 November 2022, 23 February and 1 March 2023 and judgment reserved on 6 April 2023. Having obtained leave, the Attorney-General filed the application seeking an order of committal for contempt of court against Mr Xu Yuan Chen @ Terry Xu under s 3(1)(a) of the Administration of Justice (Protection) Act 2016. The application alleged that, on 27 January 2021, Mr Xu intentionally published on the theonlinecitizen.com website an article described as an open letter to Singapore's Chief Justice concerning omissions in the 'Opening of Legal Year 2021' speech, and shared it in a post on the 'The Online Citizen Asia' Facebook page.
[2023] SGHC 87 explained
Re: ATTORNEY-GENERAL ([2023] SGHC 87) is a Singapore judgment decided by the High Court (General Division) on 6 April 2023. It is categorised under Contempt of Court. It is a recent decision; within this corpus no later judgment has cited it yet. This page summarises what the reported decision covers and links the primary sources — the full judgment, the statutes it cites, and the other cases it engages with — so the decision can be read in context. It is reference information, not legal advice, and it does not state the outcome or any holding beyond what the official judgment records.
What is [2023] SGHC 87 about?
Re: ATTORNEY-GENERAL ([2023] SGHC 87) is a High Court (General Division) decision from 2023. Its published catchwords are “Contempt of Court — Administration of Justice (Protection) Act 2016”, which indicate the subject matter the judgment addresses. The full reasoning and orders are in the judgment itself, linked below.
Summary
The Attorney-General applied for an order of committal against Mr Xu Yuan Chen (also known as Terry Xu) for contempt of court under s 3(1)(a) of the Administration of Justice (Protection) Act 2016, arising from an article on The Online Citizen website and an accompanying Facebook post. The High Court found Mr Xu liable for contempt for intentionally publishing both. It imposed a fine of S$18,000, with ten days' imprisonment in default, ordered deletion of the article, and restrained future publication of the material.
What was Attorney-General v Xu Yuan Chen (Terry Xu) [2023] SGHC 87 about?
The Attorney-General applied in Originating Summons No 694 of 2021 for an order of committal against Mr Xu Yuan Chen, alias Terry Xu, for contempt of court under s 3(1)(a) of the Administration of Justice (Protection) Act 2016, over a January 2021 article and Facebook post.
What publication was alleged to be contempt in [2023] SGHC 87?
The application alleged that on 27 January 2021 Mr Xu intentionally published an open letter to Singapore's Chief Justice, concerning the 'Opening of Legal Year 2021' speech, on the theonlinecitizen.com website and shared it via a post on the 'The Online Citizen Asia' Facebook page.
Cases Cited (6)
Related cases
Other Singapore judgments involving the same parties or counsel.
Judgment
Read the full judgment on the official Singapore Courts portal.
Read on eLitigationSource: eLitigation ([2023] SGHC 87)