against the right of other people to be free from offence, and have restricted freedom of religion in favour of "the sovereignty, integrity and unity of Singapore" which were said to be "undoubtedly the paramount mandate of the Constitution". Other Acts of Parliament Some ordinary statutes which are not part of the Constitution may serve constitutional functions and therefore be regarded as "essential to the workings of small-c constitutions". The Constitution itself empowers Parliament to enact laws for certain purposes. For instance, Article 17(2) states that "[t]he President shall be elected by the citizens of Singapore in accordance with any law made by the Legislature". To regulate such elections, Parliament passed the Presidential Elections Act. Similarly, the Parliamentary Elections Act fulfils the requirements of Article 39(1), which provides that Parliament consists, inter alia, of elected Members of Parliament (MPs) and Non-constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) who have been elected according to the procedure prescribed in a law made by the Legislature. In addition, Article 63 states that "[i]t shall be lawful for the Legislature by law to determine and regulate the privileges, immunities or powers of Parliament", and Parliament has done so by enacting the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act. Thio Li-ann has suggested that other Acts which have constitutional significance include the Internal Security Act and the Supreme Court of Judicature Act. Non-binding constitutional influences Soft constitutional law Soft constitutional law refers to a written set of non-binding precepts which exert some degree of legal influence in the realm of constitutional law. Forms of soft law include non-binding instruments containing recommendations, government white papers, declarations, and informal rules like circulars or self-regulating codes of conduct. Unlike constitutional conventions, soft constitutional laws are authored by constitutional actors and reduced to written form, rather than derived from a custom or past practice. Such soft laws act as a method of informal regulation against the backdrop of existing legislation. Soft constitutional law can also serve as principles of engagement between institutions. One example is the 1999 white paper entitled The Principles for Determining and Safeguarding the Accumulated Reserves of the Government and the Fifth Schedule Statutory Boards and Government Companies, which contains non-exhaustive principles for shaping institutional interactions between the President and the Government concerning the exercise of the President's discretionary financial powers. One procedural guideline, which is not expressed in the Constitution, requires the President to inform the Government of