SINGAPORE — Mr Lee Hsien Yang labelled the reversal of a High Court decision involving his son Li Shengwu as a vindication and that Mr Li had raised serious issues that needed proper consideration.

In a public Facebook post on Tuesday (Sept 4), he added: "The Court of Appeal will have the opportunity in open court to consider — for the first time — whether Singapore courts have jurisdiction outside the country in the circumstances of his case."

His remarks came after the apex court allowed Mr Li's lawyers to appeal against the High Court's decision that the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) can personally serve him papers outside of Singapore in relation to his contempt-of-court case.

Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, who heard the case with Judges of Appeal Judith Prakash and Steven Chong on Monday, said that the court needs to look into the basis of exercising jurisdiction over someone who allegedly committed contempt of court while overseas, at the time that proceedings begin.

The AGC is taking legal action against Mr Li, a nephew of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, for contempt of court over a private Facebook post he made on July 15 last year. In the post that Mr Li claimed was shared only with friends, he wrote that the Singapore Government was "litigious" and has a "pliant court system".

His comments accompanied a Wall Street Journal article he posted on the dispute between his father Lee Hsien Yang, his aunt Lee Wei Ling and his uncle, PM Lee, over the Oxley Road family house that belonged to the late founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who was Mr Li's grandfather.

The 33-year-old is a United States-based assistant professor of economics at Harvard University.

On Aug 21 last year, the AGC was granted the right to start contempt-of-court proceedings against Mr Li, and on Oct 17 last year, it personally served committal papers on Mr Li in the US.

In December, Mr Li's lawyers tried to challenge the order obtained by the AGC that allowed it to personally serve him papers outside of Singapore. Justice Kannan Ramesh dismissed their application.

In response, on June 7, Mr Li filed another application for leave to appeal against the judge's decision. This was granted by the apex court on Monday.

Mr Lee Hsien Yang said on Tuesday: "The decision of the Court of Appeal vindicates our belief that Shengwu has raised serious issues that need proper consideration."

Before Monday's hearing, Mr Lee had questioned why the AGC was going ahead to prosecute his son for contempt of court, but it has apparently not gone after international media and others for "much stronger criticism" of Singapore's courts.