Five judges will hear Tan Cheng Bock's appeal on the upcoming presidential election in the Court of Appeal next Monday, July 31.

The usual practice is to have only three judges.

Tan said in a Facebook post at night on Thursday, July 27, that the Court wrote to the Attorney-General and Tan's lawyers last week to ask if either party had any objections to Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon sitting at the hearing.

Both sides said there were none.

Previously, CJ Menon chaired the Constitutional Commission.

In 2016, the commission recommended changes to the elected presidency, which were subsequently adapted and passed by Parliament.

To have five judges hear selected cases of significance will allow difficult or unsettled issues to be resolved.

An extra two judges will provide the benefit of the collective wisdom and insights of a larger pool of judges.

Tan is appealing the High Court's July 7 decision to dismiss his legal challenge to this year's election.

Following changes to the Constitution to limit an election to a particular racial group when it has not been represented in the presidency for five continuous terms, this upcoming Presidential Election has been reserved for Malay candidates.

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The basis of appeal

In short, Tan has been contending that the reserved election should start only in 2023 at the earliest, and not in 2017.

Justice Quentin Loh ruled on July 7 that Parliament was entitled to decide the timing of a reserved election.

This was so as the constitution of Singapore does not restrict Parliament to consider only presidents elected by citizens when deciding the timing of an election.

Any president appointed by Parliament can also be counted.

Justice Loh also ruled that Parliament had intended for the count to start from President Wee Kim Wee’s term in passing the law on the reserved election.

This ruling has maintained the status quo that only Malay candidates are eligible to stand in the next presidential election due in September this year.

And if Tan’s appeal gets turned down, he would have exhausted all avenues to change the course of the upcoming presidential election.

The judges are Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Judge of Appeal Judith Prakash, Judge of Appeal Steven Chong, Justice Chua Lee Ming and Justice Kannan Ramesh.

Related article:

Tan Cheng Bock’s Court of Appeal hearing on presidential election set for July 31, will be open to public