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Articles 1 - 30 of 83
Full-Text Articles in Law
Criminal Law In Myanmar, Wing Cheong Chan, Mark Mcbride, Neil: Yeo Morgan
Criminal Law In Myanmar, Wing Cheong Chan, Mark Mcbride, Neil: Yeo Morgan
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
A commentary on the Myanmar Penal Code that describes and critically evaluates the general principles of criminal responsibility contained in the Code.This book was originally published in English in 2016. It was republished in Burmese in 2023.
Face Recognition Under Adverse Viewing Conditions: Implications For Eyewitness Testimony, Charles C. F. Or, Denise Y. Lim, Siyuan Chen, Alan L. F. Lee
Face Recognition Under Adverse Viewing Conditions: Implications For Eyewitness Testimony, Charles C. F. Or, Denise Y. Lim, Siyuan Chen, Alan L. F. Lee
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
Eyewitness testimony forms an important component in deciding whether a case can be prosecuted. Yet, many criminal perpetrators deliberately conceal their faces with disguises or under dim lighting, undermining eyewitness accuracy. This article reviews recent studies to characterize the factors that impair face recognition performance, specifically, various forms of face disguise (e.g., face masks, sunglasses) and different lighting conditions. Research shows that identification accuracy, alongside eyewitness confidence and decision bias, all affect the reliability of eyewitness accounts. A consistent finding across studies is that face-identification accuracy can be improved by matching the viewing conditions during the police lineup with those …
Escape From The Hangman's Noose? Singapore's Discretionary Death Penalty For Drug Traffickers, Wing Cheong Chan
Escape From The Hangman's Noose? Singapore's Discretionary Death Penalty For Drug Traffickers, Wing Cheong Chan
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
After nearly fifty years of the mandatory death penalty for drug offences, Singapore amended its law in 2012 to give judges a choice in certain situations to impose a sentence of death or life imprisonment instead. However, this change should not be misunderstood as an alteration in Singapore’s zero-tolerance approach towards illegal drugs. Escaping the mandatory death penalty regime under the new law requires fulfilment of strict conditions. This article reviews the exceptional circumstances that are required before judges are given the discretion to impose the death penalty or not and the application of the new law by the Singapore …
Forks Over Knives: Predictive Inconsistency In Criminal Justice Algorithmic Risk Assessment Tools, Travis Greene, Galit Shmueli, Jan Fell, Ching-Fu Lin, Han-Wei Liu
Forks Over Knives: Predictive Inconsistency In Criminal Justice Algorithmic Risk Assessment Tools, Travis Greene, Galit Shmueli, Jan Fell, Ching-Fu Lin, Han-Wei Liu
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
Big data and algorithmic risk prediction tools promise to improve criminal justice systems by reducing human biases and inconsistencies in decision-making. Yet different, equally justifiable choices when developing, testing and deploying these socio-technical tools can lead to disparate predicted risk scores for the same individual. Synthesising diverse perspectives from machine learning, statistics, sociology, criminology, law, philosophy and economics, we conceptualise this phenomenon as predictive inconsistency. We describe sources of predictive inconsistency at different stages of algorithmic risk assessment tool development and deployment and consider how future technological developments may amplify predictive inconsistency. We argue, however, that in a diverse and …
Improperly Obtained Evidence In Criminal Proceedings: An Updated Framework, Siyuan Chen, Zhi Jia Koh, Jian Wei Joel Soon
Improperly Obtained Evidence In Criminal Proceedings: An Updated Framework, Siyuan Chen, Zhi Jia Koh, Jian Wei Joel Soon
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
The 2012 amendments to the Evidence Act “significantly broadened the admissibility criteria for expert evidence”; at the same time, the judicial discretion to deny admissibility of relevant expert opinion evidence was also introduced. This article considers the key developments pre- and post-amendments, and in doing so provides an updated framework for prosecutors and defence counsel alike to admit and challenge expert opinion evidence in criminal proceedings. Since it complements earlier articles in this series on similar fact and hearsay evidence, readers are assumed to be broadly familiar with the features of the Evidence Act, such as its admissibility paradigm, the …
Can Delaying An Execution Due To Covid-19 Amount To Unconstitutional Discrimination?, Benjamin Joshua Ong
Can Delaying An Execution Due To Covid-19 Amount To Unconstitutional Discrimination?, Benjamin Joshua Ong
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
This note discusses the case of Syed Suhail bin Syed Zin v Attorney-General [2021] 1 SLR 809 (CA); [2021] 4 SLR 698 (HC) and its implications for equality law in Singapore.
Compensation For Frivolous Or Vexatious Prosecution, Benjamin Joshua Ong
Compensation For Frivolous Or Vexatious Prosecution, Benjamin Joshua Ong
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
According to section 359(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, an acquitted accused person may receive compensation if the prosecution was “frivolous or vexatious”. In Parti Liyani v Public Prosecutor, Singapore’s High Court – for the first time – comprehensively discussed what section 359(3) means and how it is to be applied. This article aims to outline and comment on the High Court’s decision, and to highlight several issues which may be explored in future.
The Use Of Expert Opinion Evidence In Criminal Proceedings: An Updated Framework, Siyuan Chen, Zhi Jia Koh, Jian Wei Joel Soon
The Use Of Expert Opinion Evidence In Criminal Proceedings: An Updated Framework, Siyuan Chen, Zhi Jia Koh, Jian Wei Joel Soon
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
The 2012 amendments to the Evidence Act2 “significantly broadened the admissibility criteria for expert evidence”;3 at the same time, the judicial discretion to deny admissibility of relevant expert opinion evidence was also introduced. This article considers the key developments pre- and post-amendments, and in doing so provides an updated framework for prosecutors and defence counsel alike to admit and challenge expert opinion evidence in criminal proceedings. Since it complements earlier articles in this series on similar fact4 and hearsay evidence,5 readers are assumed to be broadly familiar with the features of the Evidence Act, such as its admissibility paradigm, the …
The Use Of Hearsay In Criminal Proceedings: An Updated Framework, Siyuan Chen, Wen Min Chai, Yi Hang Lau
The Use Of Hearsay In Criminal Proceedings: An Updated Framework, Siyuan Chen, Wen Min Chai, Yi Hang Lau
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
When the Evidence Act was amended in 2012, significant changes were made to the provisions concerning hearsay to broaden the gateways of admissibility.
The Use Of Similar Fact In Criminal Proceedings: An Updated Framework, Siyuan Chen
The Use Of Similar Fact In Criminal Proceedings: An Updated Framework, Siyuan Chen
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
When confronted with the question of whether to admit similiar fact for criminal cases, courts in Singapore are often faced with balancing potentially competing norms in the form of evidential expediency and fairness to the accused. Specifically, although similiar fact may help establish the ingredients of an offence, there existis a real risk that any resulting conviction of the accused and this potential weakness in inferential reasoning through indirect proof will - to use the word in its broadest sense - predjudice the accused.
Opening The Door To Fickle-Minded Guilty Pleas? Public Prosecutor V Dinesh S/O Rajantheran, Teng Jun Gerome Goh
Opening The Door To Fickle-Minded Guilty Pleas? Public Prosecutor V Dinesh S/O Rajantheran, Teng Jun Gerome Goh
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
Unlike applications to retract guilty pleas, accused persons are not required to provide valid and sufficient reasons when qualifying their guilty pleas in mitigation. In Criminal Reference No. 5 of 2018, the Court of Appeal held that section 228(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code allows accused persons to qualify their guilty pleas in mitigation to the extent that it amounts to a retraction of their guilty pleas unless there is an abuse of the court’s process. This comment considers the desirability of the current law and suggests that the law applying to such withdrawals of guilty pleas should be …
On Mandatory Criminal Sentences, Legislative Interpretation, And The Prospective Application Of The Law: A View From Singapore, Kwan Ho Lau
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
Cana court find that a criminal sentence is mandatory under the penal legislation butchoose, exceptionally, to apply that finding only to future cases? This raisesan interesting question on the prospective application of a correctconstruction of legislation, requiring consideration of difficult issuessurrounding not just the temporal application of the law but also theprotection of the interests belonging to all citizenry, including convictedpersons. Recent decisions in Singapore and elsewhere provide an opening for amore detailed inquiry to be undertaken.
Sexual Grooming As An Offence In Singapore, S. Chandra Mohan, Yingqi Lee
Sexual Grooming As An Offence In Singapore, S. Chandra Mohan, Yingqi Lee
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
The offence of sexual grooming of a minor under 16 was introduced in the Singapore Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed) in 2007. It was designed to protect the growing number of young Internet users from adult sex predators prowling the online platforms. However, there have been very few reported cases of sexual grooming under s 376E of the Penal Code and a noticeable dearth of any local legal comment on this provision. Until the review by the Penal Code Review Committee in 2018 and the consequent legislative changes in May 2019, the offence of sexual grooming has not …
Deferred Prosecution Agreements In Singapore: What Is The Appropriate Standard For Judicial Approval, Eunice Chua, Benedict Wei Qi Chan
Deferred Prosecution Agreements In Singapore: What Is The Appropriate Standard For Judicial Approval, Eunice Chua, Benedict Wei Qi Chan
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
Originating from the US, deferred prosecution agreements (“DPAs”) have made their way to the UK through the Crime and Courts Act 2013 and Singapore through the Criminal Justice Reform Act 2018. The Singapore model for approval of DPAs draws heavily from the UK and both require proof to a court that DPAs are in the “interests of justice” and that their terms are “fair, reasonable and proportionate” before DPAs can be approved. This paper considers the theoretical basis for the court’s approval of DPAs, critically examines the application of the tests for approval of DPAs in the UK and considers …
City Harvest Case And The Separation Of Powers, Yihan Goh
City Harvest Case And The Separation Of Powers, Yihan Goh
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
Verdict provides important example of how the courts and Parliament play different roles in Singapore's legal system. The Court of Appeal last week upheld the reduced sentences passed in the City Harvest Church (CHC) case. Six former church leaders were charged with having conspired to commit the aggravated offence of criminal breach of trust (CBT) as an "agent" under Section 409 of the Penal Code. Departing from the earlier interpretation that had stood for the past 40 years, the court decided that Section 409 applied only to professional agents, which the former church leaders were not. The charges were reduced …
Criminal Law Act Is Useful — But Handle With Care, Tan K. B. Eugene
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
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.
Probing The Law On Probation: Suggestions For Reform, Darius Chan
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. …
The Discretionary Penalty For Murder: Guidance At Last, S. Chandra Mohan
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 …
Discretionary Death Penalty For Convicted Drug Couriers In Singapore: Reflections On High Jurisprudence Thus Far, Siyuan Chen
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 …
The Sentencing Of "Couriers" Under Section 33b Of The Misuse Of Drugs Act: Pp V Chum Tat Suan [2014] Sgca 59, Benjamin Joshua Ong
The Sentencing Of "Couriers" Under Section 33b Of The Misuse Of Drugs Act: Pp V Chum Tat Suan [2014] Sgca 59, Benjamin Joshua Ong
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
Sections 33B(1)–(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act (“the Act”)1 allow for a person who commits an offence under ss 5(1) or 7 of the Act to be sentenced to life imprisonment and caning instead of death if two conditions are met.
Counterblast: Escaping The Gallows Singapore Style, Mark Findlay
Counterblast: Escaping The Gallows Singapore Style, Mark Findlay
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
The four‐year long struggle by Yong Vui Kong to challenge his mandatory death sentence reveals how life and death decisions can turn on legal niceties. For instance, on 20 November 2009, the President of the Republic of Singapore turned down Yong's plea for clemency and this news was conveyed to the prisoner's brother by his then lawyer three days later. Along with this sad information, he was told that his brother would be hung on 4 December 2009. Yong's brother then engaged the respected human rights advocate, M. Ravi, who was granted an interview with the prisoner two days prior …
Sign Up Or Sign Off: Asia’S Reluctant Engagement With The International Criminal Court, Mark Findlay
Sign Up Or Sign Off: Asia’S Reluctant Engagement With The International Criminal Court, Mark Findlay
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
The International Criminal Court argues that there is a need to achieve universal ratification so that the majority of mankind will no longer remain outside the protection of the ICC. In the Asia/Pacific region there is a relatively low accession rate of nation states to the Rome Statute. This paper proposes a taxonomy of resistance to ratification in the region, recognising that in speculating on the reasons for resistance to the ratification of international criminal justice, local to the global across Asia and the Pacific, there is a risk in both over emphasising cultural and political difference while at the …
Discovering The Right To Criminal Disclosure: Lessons From Civil Procedure, Denise Huiwen Wong
Discovering The Right To Criminal Disclosure: Lessons From Civil Procedure, Denise Huiwen Wong
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
The amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68, 1985 Rev Ed) and subsequent case law developments have created a patchwork of rules governing the disclosure obligations of parties in criminal cases. This article argues that parties have thereby been endowed with a right that is exercisable in the courts to access the material to which the law says they are entitled. However, there are currently no proper procedural mechanisms in place for parties to make interlocutory applications to obtain such material. This article examines the competing values and ideals of a criminal discovery regime, and suggests that concepts such …
The Limits Of Prosecutorial Discretion In Singapore: Past, Present, And Future, Siyuan Chen
The Limits Of Prosecutorial Discretion In Singapore: Past, Present, And Future, Siyuan Chen
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
The exercise of prosecutorial discretion is a unique executive act that continues to be very well-protected from public scrutiny in many jurisdictions throughout the world. In this article, I attempt to survey virtually the entire body of case law on the limits of prosecutorial discretion in Singapore. Probably because prosecutorial discretion is protected by the Constitution, it took a while for the Singapore courts to retreat from its initial characterisation of the discretion as absolute and outside the scope of any form of review. Against a wider backdrop of increasing rights-consciousness (especially within the courts) and the public demand for …
Enunciating Genocide: Crime, Rights And The Impact Of Judicial Intervention, Mark Findlay
Enunciating Genocide: Crime, Rights And The Impact Of Judicial Intervention, Mark Findlay
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
As a consequence of recent decisions from the ICJ and the ICTR, it is clear that genocide can be pursued through the international courts both in terms of criminal liability and also rights/responsibility legal paradigms. This article suggests that this duality in possible contexts and processes of judicial determination, while being procedurally problematic, is in keeping with the human rights direction of international criminal justice. In addition, by opening the legal consideration of genocide to questions of individual liability as well as state-sponsored rights abuse, judges are now able to consider the more realistic complexity of genocide atrocity and thereby …
Taking Crime Out Of Crime Business, Mark James Findlay, Nafis Hanif
Taking Crime Out Of Crime Business, Mark James Findlay, Nafis Hanif
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
It is one thing to assert that conventional market analysis is critically useful in understanding criminal enterprise. It is more challenging to suggest that corrupt and compromised legal regulation interacts with other critical market variables to maximise market advantage for crime business in a similar manner to legitimate regulatory forces in their protection and enhancement of legitimate business enterprise. The central argument of this paper is that crime business mirrors other business forms when considered in terms of critical market variables, and that in particular regulatory forces when inverted from their original purposes can influence market conditions in the same …
A Preliminary Survey Of The Right To Presumption Of Innocence In Singapore, Siyuan Chen
A Preliminary Survey Of The Right To Presumption Of Innocence In Singapore, Siyuan Chen
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
The right to presumption of innocence is said to exist in almost all criminal justice systems, including Singapore. Curiously, however, no Singapore case has ever attempted to establish the exact source and contours of this longstanding right. This is unsatisfactory, as this diminishes the meaningfulness of what is supposed to be a fundamental right in the criminal justice process. The primary aim of this article is thus to conduct a preliminary survey of the law on the presumption of innocence in Singapore. It begins by proposing the Woolmington conception as a workable starting point, but posits a guiding principle to …
Reliability And Relevance As The Touchstones For Admissibility Of Evidence In Criminal Proceedings: Muhammad Bin Kadar V Pp [2011] 3 Slr 1205 [Case Note], Siyuan Chen
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
The Court of Appeal in Muhammad bin Kadar v PP [2011] 3 SLR 1205 (“Kadar”) formally recognised the judicial discretion to exclude evidence as an integral part of the law on criminal evidence in Singapore. This discretion, the court held, would help ensure that all evidence coming before the court would be as reliable as possible. While this commentary agrees that the foundational basis for the exclusionary discretion doctrine is desirable, it suggests that there are difficulties with the application of the doctrine. An alternative approach that works around the difficulties is canvassed for consideration.
Reforming The Right To Legal Counsel In Singapore, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Reforming The Right To Legal Counsel In Singapore, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
This is an opinion prepared for the Criminal Law Committee of the Law Society of Singapore on an arrested person’s right to legal counsel in Singapore. Specifically, it deals with the following: (1) it summarizes pertinent aspects of the law relating to the right to legal counsel in Singapore; (2) it surveys a number of ASEAN and Commonwealth jurisdictions to determine how long after apprehension the right to counsel is generally accorded to arrested persons, and compares the legal position in these jurisdictions to the situation in Singapore; and (3) it examines two rights ancillary to the right to legal …