An application by the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) to hold the hearing for its appeal against Correction Directions in an open court has been rejected by the High Court.

The directions were issued by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulations Act (POFMA).

SDP announced on its Facebook page on Jan. 16 the rejection by High Court Judge Ang Cheng Hock.

SDP's Secretary-General, Chee Soon Juan, said in the post that the main reason for the appeal was because the case touched on job security, which was a matter of "immense public interest" for Singaporeans.

He subsequently alleged in a second post that MOM had claimed SDP's statement about Singaporean PMET (Professional, Managers, Executives and Technicians) employment having decreased was false.

He also alleged that Deputy Attorney-General Hri Kumar Nair, in representing MOM, might not even deal with the question of providing MOM's data on Singaporean PMET unemployment.

In response, Hri Kumar said that public interest was not sufficient justification for the case to be shifted to an open court, The Straits Times (ST) reported.

Why did SDP apply to have the hearing held in an open court?

Chee's remarks echoed an earlier statement issued by the SDP on Jan. 15, which laid out the reasons why the case should be heard in an open court.

Job security is of 'great concern to the public'

SDP stated that "survey after survey" had shown that the issue of job security was of "great concern to Singaporeans".

SDP also noted that MOM had acknowledged that "some Singaporeans feel anxious about employment prospects and retrenchments", in its statement issued on Dec. 14 regarding the Correction Directions.

To build institutional trust in citizens

SDP added that trust by the people extended to the courts as well.

The party quoted the phrase, "Trust in institutions is important for society's well-being and prosperity", which Minister for Law and Home Affairs, K Shanmugam, said during the enactment of POFMA in May 2019.

The public being allowed to attend the hearing and listen to the arguments for themselves was, therefore, crucial.

The SDP also noted that there was "legal precedence" for the court to hold the hearing in an open court, and that it would cite at least two cases in support of this.

Deputy AG: Facts of the matter are not in dispute

Elaborating on his reply, Hri Kumar said the "underlying facts" of the case was not the matter that was in dispute, ST further reported.

The issue before the courts was a "narrow one" given that both parties were relying on MOM's statistics and neither side was stating that the statistics were wrong.

He also noted that there had been past cases involving constitutional changes which were unsuccessful in applying for their hearing to be transferred over to an open court, such as the challenge against the amendments to the elected presidency.

For a case involving POFMA, there had to be a "special reason" to show why it should be heard in an open court, Hri Kumar said.

Second rejection for SDP

ST highlighted that Chee has since responded to the decision by calling it "very disappointing".

He also reiterated his call for the shift to an open court, on the grounds that MOM has not revealed why it rejected SDP's application to cancel the directions.

This rejection had been carried out by the Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo on Jan. 3.

On Jan. 6, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said in a media release that after “careful consideration”, Teo is of the view that SDP’s application does not provide sufficient grounds of the cancellation of the directions.

Her remarks were criticised by the SDP as "not rational" and a "cop out".

What were the directions issued against?

The SDP had applied for a cancellation against three Correction Directions issued against two Facebook posts and an article from their website, dated June 2019.

The posts alleged that there was a rising trend in retrenchment of local Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs).

MOM stated that the claims were wrong as SDP did not interpret the data correctly.

Left photo from SDP Facebook, right photo by Matthias Ang