Six Widows Case

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The Six Widows Case, officially Re Estate of Choo Eng Choon, [lower-alpha 1] 12 Straits Settlements Law Reports 120, was a 1908 decision of the Supreme Court of the Straits Settlements, affirmed by the appeal division of that court. [lower-alpha 2]

Contents

Choo Eng Choon, who was a bank comprador, died intestate in Singapore, leaving a large estate. Six claimants alleged that that they were widows of the deceased and therefore entitled to a portion of his estate under the Statute of Distribution. [1] The question was initially referred to C. E. Velge, a registrar. [2] Velge found that one "principal wife" had pre-deceased Choo Eng Choon and that after her death another claimant became his "principal wife" and three others were "inferior or secondary wives"; the other two were deemed not to be wives at all. [2] Thus, Registrar Velge held that at least one of Choo Eng Choon's marriages had been bigamous. [3]

Velge's decision was appealed on the ground that polygamy is not recognised in Chinese law. [2] The appeal began in October 1905. [2] The court received expert testimony on Chinese law, including from China's consul-general to Singapore (who testified about the Great Qing Legal Code), attesting that polygamy was impermissible. [1] Litigants in the Six Widows Case unsuccessfully challenged the holding in Re Goods of Lao Leong An (1867), WOC 35, 1 SSLR 1. In that case, Peter Benson Maxwell had recognised the concept of tsip or t'sip and held that a claimant who was a tsip was entitled to a portion of the deceased's estate. [4]

Chief Justice Archibald Fitzgerald Law made his decision on appeal from Velge's determination in 1908. [3] In his decision, Chief Justice Law recognised the legal status of tsip, [5] reportedly a form of concubinage, [6] in Chinese law. [7] However, since he had to render his decision according to English law, which did not recognise any intermediate status between a person's being a wife and not being a wife, Chief Justice Law held that Chinese law did permit polygamy. [7] Chief Justice Law's decision was upheld on further appeal by Chief Justice William Henry Hyndman Jones and Justice Thomas Braddell. Justice Thomas Sercombe Smith dissented. [2]

Notes

  1. ↑ The deceased's name is sometimes rendered "Choo Eng Neo". The case is sometimes rendered Choo Eng Neo v Neo Chan-Neo.
  2. ↑ The Supreme Court of the Straits Settlements was created by an 1868 ordinance and an appeal division was created by ordinance in 1873. See "Judicial History". Supreme Court of Singapore . Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  1. 1 2 Wee 1974, p. 63.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Makepeace, Walter; Brooke, Gilbert E.; Braddell, Roland St. John, eds. (1921). One Hundred Years of Singapore. London: J. Murray. pp.  207–209. OCLC   1049967272.
  3. 1 2 Freedman 1979, p. 101.
  4. ↑ Braddell 1921b, p. 157.
  5. ↑ Freedman 1979, pp. 113–114.
  6. ↑ Greenfield, D. E. (1958). "Marriage by Chinese Law and Custom in Hongkong". International and Comparative Law Quarterly . 7 (3): 443. doi:10.1093/iclqaj/7.3.437. ISSN   0020-5893. JSTOR   755275.
  7. 1 2 Wee 1974, p. 64.

Sources

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