DIGEST (BOD ¶713.1)
In a written decision handed down on 23 July 2025, the Judicial Council unanimously affirmed the ruling of Bishop Dr Gordon Wong in September 2024 at the 13th Session of the General Conference of The Methodist Church in Singapore:
“The CAC nomination of the current President Rev Dr Gregory Goh Nai Lat for election to the Judicial Council could be accepted since he would no longer be the sitting President by November 2024.”
The Judicial Council framed the issue as the eligibility of a sitting President to be nominated for election to the Judicial Council when it is certain that this person will not be re-elected as the President in the coming relevant Annual Conference elections. This required the Judicial Council to consider two sub-issues:
- Whether the eligibility is ascertained at the time of election or at the time of the assumption of office?
- When is the election deemed concluded?
It was noted that ¶706.2 of The Book of Discipline of The Methodist Church in Singapore (“the BOD”) does not fully address the nomination to the Judicial Council of a serving president who will not be the incoming president for the next term. The Judicial Council noted that the purpose of any election is to put in place persons for the term being considered and the correct approach is therefore to ascertain whether any serving president will continue as president when the new term of the Judicial Council begins. The Judicial Council held that the eligibility is ascertained at the time of the assumption of office.
The proceedings for the General Conference Session concluded in December 2024. This means that the results of the election in September 2024 were not final until the conclusion of the General Conference Session. In December 2024, Rev Dr Goh Nai Lat was not the President of CAC for the next term. The Judicial Council held that the election is deemed concluded at the end of the General Conference Session.
Accordingly, the Judicial Council ruled that the nomination of a sitting president to the Judicial Council is permitted if it is certain that the president will not be the incoming president.
The Judicial Council made the observation that the Discipline Revision Commission could re-look BOD ¶706.2 to amplify the circumstances for the election of serving bishops and presidents to the Judicial Council.
