the State of Singapore Act 1958. The Legislative Council was transformed into a Legislative Assembly consisting mainly of elected members. During this period, the basic structure of the courts remained much as it had been in the pre-war colonial era, with only minor changes being made such as the redesignation of the Police Courts as Magistrates' Courts in 1955. 1963–1965: Independence from the British Empire and merger with Malaysia Singapore joined the Federation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963, and thus ceased to be a colony of the British empire. The legal arrangements were effected by the enactment of the Malaysia Act 1963 (UK), the Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore (State Constitutions) Order in Council 1963 and the Malaysia Act 1963 (Malaysia). The 1963 Order in Council provided that all laws in force in Singapore continued to apply subject to modifications, adaptations, qualifications and exceptions that might be necessary to bring them into conformity with its new Constitution and the Malaysia Act. With Singapore now a state in a larger federation, the Singapore Legislative Assembly was transformed into the Legislature of Singapore with power to make laws only regarding certain matters set out in the Malaysian Federal Constitution. Article 75 of the Federal Constitution also stated: "If any state law is inconsistent with a federal law, the federal law shall prevail and the state law shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void." During this period, a substantial number of Malaysian laws, including Federated Malay States Enactments and Malayan Union and Federation of Malaya Ordinances, were extended to Singapore. Some of these statutes continue to apply, often in modified form, in Singapore today. Under the Malaysia Act 1963, the judicial power of Malaysia was vested in a Federal Court, a High Court in Malaya, a High Court in Borneo and a High Court in Singapore. This new structure was officialised with effect from 16 March 1964 through the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 (M'sia), which replaced the Supreme Court of the Colony of Singapore with the High Court of Malaysia in Singapore. The jurisdiction of the High Court in Singapore was limited to all territory in the State of Singapore. 1965 to the present: Singapore as a fully independent nation Merger with Malaysia did not last: within two years, on 9 August 1965, Singapore was expelled from the Federation and became a fully independent republic. This was effected by the