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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Final Twist In Common Intention? Daniel Vijay S/O Katherasan V. Public Prosecutor, Siyuan Chen
The Final Twist In Common Intention? Daniel Vijay S/O Katherasan V. Public Prosecutor, Siyuan Chen
Siyuan CHEN
It was only in 2008 that the Court of Appeal made a seminal restatement of the law on common intention, particularly with respect to liability in so-called ‘twin crime’ situations. The question posed then was posed again recently in Daniel Vijay: what exactly is the required mens rea for the secondary offender in such situations? In 2008, the Court of Appeal said that the secondary offender had to subjectively know that one in his party might likely commit the collateral offence in furtherance of the common intention of carrying out the primary offence. Now, in Daniel Vijay, the Court …
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
Siyuan CHEN
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 …
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
Siyuan CHEN
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 …