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Criminal Law Act Is Useful — But Handle With Care, Tan K. B. Eugene Dec 2015

Criminal Law Act Is Useful — But Handle With Care, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a significant decision last week, Singapore’s highest court ruled that alleged global football match-fixer Dan Tan Seet Eng’s preventive detention was unlawful. His detention went beyond the scope of discretionary power vested in the Minister for Home Affairs under the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act (CLTPA). The court’s ruling drew criticisms from a former Interpol chief and, ironically, FIFA, football’s graft-ridden governing body.


Drug Traffickers' Deaths: Criticisms Of Laws Not All Fair, S. Chandra Mohan May 2015

Drug Traffickers' Deaths: Criticisms Of Laws Not All Fair, S. Chandra Mohan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This is a comment on the western media frenzy over the executions of eight drug traffickers in Indonesia. The commentary looks at whether the anguish over the executions following a conviction and appeals to higher courts in accordance with Indonesian law, apart fromn the loss of life,was well placed.


The Discretionary Penalty For Murder: Guidance At Last, S. Chandra Mohan Feb 2015

The Discretionary Penalty For Murder: Guidance At Last, S. Chandra Mohan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a much awaited decision, the Court of Appeal (“CA”) has finally provided some guidelines to judges on whether or not to impose the discretionary death penalty in murder cases. The decision of a specially constituted court of five judges, in Kho Jabing v Public Prosecutor [2015] SGCA 1, has made history of sorts. It is a case where five judges, of whom two delivered dissenting judgments, sat to hear an appeal from the decision of a single High Court judge; and is the first CA decision under the 2012 Penal Code amendments which provides for a discretionary death penalty …


Probing The Law On Probation: Suggestions For Reform, Darius Chan Feb 2015

Probing The Law On Probation: Suggestions For Reform, Darius Chan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

To any criminal law practitioner, the Court’s power to grant probation as a sentencing option is of significant importance. Probation represents, to their clients, the key out of incarceration.Section 5 of the Probation of Offenders Act (Cap 252, 1985 Rev Ed) (“POA”) sets out the power of the Singapore Courts to grant probation. Section 5 uses three peculiar terms to create three categories of offences, namely:1. Sentences which are “fixed by law”; 2. Sentences carrying “specified minimum sentences”; and 3. Sentences carrying “mandatory minimum sentences”.For the latter two categories of offences, the Court can only grant probation if the offender:1. …


Discretionary Death Penalty For Convicted Drug Couriers In Singapore: Reflections On High Jurisprudence Thus Far, Siyuan Chen Jan 2015

Discretionary Death Penalty For Convicted Drug Couriers In Singapore: Reflections On High Jurisprudence Thus Far, Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

For decades, drug trafficking was a serious offence in Singapore potentially punishable by mandatory death. In 2012, Singapore’s Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA) was amended to give the courts sentencing discretion if the accused can first prove that he was merely a courier, and to better reflect the moral culpability accorded as between mules and kingpins in the hierarchy of drug syndicates. However, there are some complications in proving this. Not only must the accused show that he was merely a courier, he must also show that he had substantively assisted the authorities in disrupting drugtrafficking activities in Singapore. This …