Ministerial discretion under laws like POFMA must stay within legal bounds: Chan Chun Sing

“How does Singapore guide and monitor the use of executive discretion and what are the safeguards in place to ensure that these are done judiciously?” she asked.

Mr Chan, who also serves as Defence Minister, said the Prime Minister assigns ministerial responsibilities, including statutory functions – powers or duties conferred by legislation.

“All statutory functions must be exercised in accordance with the law,” he said. 

“The law confers discretion on ministers and other officials so that they can exercise their judgment on how best to deal with each case based on the facts, instead of mechanically applying a rigid rule.”

He added that the rationale for granting discretionary powers, as well as their scope, limits and safeguards, would have been debated in parliament when the legislation was passed.

Each minister is responsible for exercising the statutory functions assigned to him or her, he said.

“The most important issues are referred to and discussed by the Cabinet before a final decision is taken,” he added. 

“Cabinet, in turn, is collectively responsible to parliament.”