Lawyers of Li Shengwu are challenging an order the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) had obtained to personally serve court papers on him despite him residing in the United States.

"Novel grounds"

Lawyer Abraham Vergis from Providence Law Asia informed the High Court at a pre-trial conference on Monday, Dec. 4 that his client intends to challenge the order that allowed the AGC to “personally serve the committal papers on Shengwu in the US".

The lawyers also explained that they needed time to address the “novel grounds” that the AGC relied on to justify serving the papers out of jurisdiction, noting that the court documents were in excess of 1,300 pages.

The AGC had obtained the court order in August.

About the case

Li is a junior fellow at Harvard University and is based in the United States.

He is also the eldest son of Lee Hsien Yang and nephew of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

After Li failed to take down a Facebook post saying that “the Singapore government is very litigious and has a pliant court system”, the AGC filed an application in the High Court in August to start committal proceedings against him.

His online comments appeared during a public dispute between his uncle the Prime Minister and his father Lee Hsien Yang and his aunt Lee Wei Ling.

Li has said he will not return to Singapore to face the contempt proceedings.

The Court directed Li’s lawyers to file their client’s challenge by Dec. 22.

A further pre-trial conference has been fixed for Jan. 4, 2018 to take further directions in the matter.

Here are some totally unrelated but equally interesting stories:

Mums share their experience in helping their kids go cashless

This guide to interacting with persons with disabilities will make you a better person