The General Aspect of Criminal Law in Singapore - Case Study Example

The Criminal Justice System of Singapore The legal framework, of Singapore originates from English common law. It is a common law system though it is majorly statutory in nature. The main areas of law specifically administrative law, law of contract, equity and trust law, law of property and tort law are judge-made, though certain aspects have receive amendment by statutes. Some areas of law like the criminal law, the company law and the family law are, however, wholly statutory according to the nature. The general aspect of criminal law and both elements and penalties of regular offenders crimes like theft, murder and cheating set out of the penal code. Other relevant offences get created by statutes like the Abduction Act, Arms Crime Act, Vandalism Act as well as Abuse of Drugs Act. In Singapore, many activities considered relatively mild in other countries such as jaywalking, sale of chewing gum, littering, failing to flush toilets after use, possession of obscene material and sexual activities like oral and anal sex between men considered illegal thus perceived as a highly regulated society (Haas, 201). This burdensome act has led to Singapore having rare cases of the low occurrences of awful crimes in the universe. Singapore carries out both corporal punishments that are by caning offenders and capital punishment by hanging serious offenders. These punishments are necessary for certain offences. According to statistics, the country has one of the highest homicide rates in the sphere in relation to its population outstanding Saudi Arabia, for example, between the years 1991 and 2004, more than 400 people ended up executed most of them being drug peddlers. William Gibson a Science Fiction writer termed Singapore as Disneyland with the death penalty. In the 19th century, the criminal law received a discharge in the three Straits, Settlement of Singapore. At the period, there was slight suspicion that English general law offenses were accepted in these territories. Straits Settlement Penal Code was approved and came into operation in 16th September 1872 after problems like use of certain Indian Acts arose in 1871. The code is virtually a re- enactment of the Indian Penal Code. The main act in Singapore is the Penal Code. It relates to criminal law and has more than 500 units divided into 24 chapters. The Penal Code terms the fundamentals of every offence and recommends the maximum and sometimes the minimum penalties for the offence. The basic form of an offence has the lowest penalties, while other literary forms of the crime are defined as distinct crimes and have stiffer penalties (Tan, 112). For example, the definition of theft appear in section 378 of the Code, whereas section 379 brands ordinary theft a crime punishable with either detention of a period of three years or a fine and in some cases both whereas Section 379A penalizes the theft of a motor vehicle or some basic part of a motor vehicle with detention of one to seven years imprisonment and a fee. The most severe theft crime is violent robbery, which is planning to harm or eliminate any individual in order to carry out the theft, or in order to torment and run away after committing the robbery, or in order to keep goods taken by the theft. The highest penalty is detention for as long as one decade and caning with at least three strokes. A criminal ordinarily get charged with the greatest serious crimes that can be recognized on the evidences of the case. During representations made by the criminals attorney to the impeaching expert, the Prosecution might arrive at charging the culprit with minor wrongdoings as long as he or she decides to plead guilty to the condensed charges. The present law of Singapore is stated after amendment of the original Code on numerous occasions. The most current amendment was prepared by the Penal Code Act in 1984 and came into force on 31st August 1984; this amendment was to set minimum penalties for certain offences. The key amendment prior to 1984 was to raise punishments for certain offences ant it took place in 1973. The Indian Act XVI of 1852 was where the law concerning the Criminal Procedure in force in Singapore was primarily established prior to 1870. It was replaced by the Criminal Procedure Ordinance V of 1870 after the transitory of the Straits Settlements Penal Code, which took place in 1871, but sustained the English form of Criminal Procedure and ensures its implementation to the Penal Code (Koh, 213). However, this became difficult to practice as the Penal Code abolished the department of offences into felonies and misdemeanors thus the adoption of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance VI of 1873. Ordinance VI of 1873, therefore, represented the evolution of the Criminal Law of English in favor of the Indian. This Rule abolished prosecutions and introduced charges for all criminal felonies; it did away with the Grand Jury as well as both Special and Common Juries. A fresh Code of Criminal Procedure was passed in 1902, and the current Code was enacted by the Parliamentary Council on 28 January 1955. The code cancels, and re-enacts with the amendments of the preceding Code. Entire crimes under the Penal Code are investigated, and trial is carried out in relation to the Criminal Procedure Code. The investigation of offences is dealt with primarily by the security officers who work under the surveillance of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The custom officials, immigration officials and narcotic officials are also authorized to examine limited crimes in violation of custom, immigration and drug rules. Criminal trial in Singapore is founded by the state that is signified by the Attorney Generals Department. However, there are exclusions like private summons that are brought by people for certain minor crimes or nuisances. Attorney General heads the Attorney General’s Department, aided by both Solicitor General and staff of assistant public prosecutors. They are all legally qualified and get recruited by the Legal Service Commission. However, it is the head of state that employs the Attorney General under the guidance of the Prime Minister amongst personalities fit as Supreme Court judges. The prosecuting unit of every investigative group is also authorized to prosecute merely minor cases, which do not involve concepts of justice or complex legal matters under its powers. Attorney General, who acts as the Public Prosecutor, regulates and directs prosecutions in Singapore with the contributions of various Deputy Public Prosecutors (Malik, 97). He initiates proceedings and can dismiss proceedings at prosecution stage and even in the course of trial, if with persuasive reasons he finds it unnecessary to carry on with the case. Attorney General can also terminate proceedings that were not initiated by him. The court order in criminal issues comprises of the Supreme Court together with the Subordinate Court. However, Supreme Court comprises of the Chief Justice together with judges of the Supreme Court; it is divided into three. First the High Court, second the Court of Appeal and final Court of Criminal Appeal. The High Court powers to exercises free original jurisdiction in felonious cases and sits with one judge. However, after the eradication of the jury composition in 1969, felonies with a penalty of death are now tried by a court with two judges, one of them presiding. People convicted by this court appeal to Court of Criminal Appeal. Subordinate Courts are also known as the Lower courts. They comprise of nine District Courts, eleven Magistrates Courts, a separate Juvenile Court, a single Coroners Court and also Small Claims Tribunal. All offences whose full length of confinement is given by law are at most seven years or punishment is by payment of a fine, and is tried by District Courts, which usually has one judge sitting. Magistrates Courts have a mandate of hearing, trying, determining and disposing off offenders’ cases. They prosecute offences where the extreme term of imprisonment as per the law is not more than three years. This are those that are punishable through a fine alone. The functions of criminal courts are typically defined by various bodies, which include Criminal Procedure Code, Teenagers and the Young Individuals Act and Subordinate Courts. Seven years are the minimum age of criminal responsibility. However, if the young one is between the age of seven and twelve and he or she has not achieved sufficient sense of understanding to assess the nature and extent of his or her behaviours on an occasion termed as criminal, he or she is not criminally responsible. Punishments are imposed on all criminal offences. For habitual offenders, their punishment is remedial and reformative training, that is, preventive detention (Narayanan, 181). The main punishments are prescribed under the Penal Code; they include death; detention; forfeiture of assets; fine; and caning. There is a rise in the number of prisoners in Singapore despite the reduction of total convictions. Thus, suggesting that judges have resolved on imprisoning more, and passing longer term sentences of imprisonment. However, due to sufficient prison capacity and the proportion of remand there is no overcrowding in prisons. Though relevant Singaporean cases can be used, the English case laws are still being referred to by judges in matters relating to an old common-law area of law or concerning the clarification of Singaporean acts centred on English presentations or English acts applicable in Singapore. Nowadays, the decisions of fundamental Commonwealth jurisdictions like Australia and Canada are considered in cases, especially if they maintain a diverse methodology from English law. Legislation in Singapore is divided into statutes and subsidiary legislation. They are both written laws which are published in loose leaf. The Statutes are written laws enacted by not only the Singapore Parliament but also other bodies like the British Assembly, Governor-General that belongs to India Council as well as Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements that in the past, had authority to enact laws for Singapore. In fact, those statutes enacted by these other bodies that have not yet been repealed may still be in force. The most significant act is the Structure of the Republic of Singapore. It is the supreme law of Singapore in that; each law passed by the Parliament after the beginning of the Constitution that does not agree with it is ineffective (Purpura, 214). Statutes of the Singapore Parliament, and English statutes in force in Singapore by article of the Solicitation of English Law Act 1993 get printed in loose leaf form, which are referred to as the Statutes of the Republic of Singapore that is assembled in red binders. They can also be accessed on-line from Singapore Statutes Online which is an accessible site delivered by the Attorney-Generals Compartments of Singapore. The Subsidiary legislation is also stated as "delegated legislation" or else "subordinate legislation". It is written ruling made by cabinet ministers or any other regulatory agency like government departments and statutory boards under the authority of the “parent Act" statute or other lawful authority though not directly by Parliament. The current Subsidiary law in Singapore is published in loose leaf form in a sequence termed, the Minor Legislation of Singapore that is gathered in black binders. Singapore is a common law jurisdiction. In the judicial precedence, judgments passed down by the courts are observed as a basis of law; they might interpret statutes or subsidiary acts, or establish principles of common law and equity that have been put down by previous generations of judges and not by the legislature. The Singapore Academy of Law has published verdicts of the High Court, and others like the Court of Appeal as well as Constitutional Tribunal of Singapore in the Singapore Law Reports under an elite certificate from the Supreme Court of Singapore since the year 1992. Cases concluded since Singapores full freedom in the year 1965 have also been republished by the academy in unprecedented volumes of the Singapore Law Reports. The academy is currently dealing with the reissue of this body of case law (Tan, 167). Cases printed in the Singapore Law Reports and other not submitted rulings of the Supreme Court, as well as those of Subordinate Courts, can be viewed on-line from Law Net, a fee-based service, which is also managed by the Academy. They can be accessed on-line from another payable service called Justis in Malaysia and Brunei. Customs are an established course of behavior that is considered by individuals involved with the practice as law. In Singapore, custom is not a comprehensive birthplace of law since numerous customs have received judicial consideration. In the criminal justice mode of Singapore at presently, though English enactments are commonly used, certain Singapore statutes are based on legislation from previous jurisdictions. In such situations, court verdicts are, therefore, examined from those jurisdictions on the original legislation. For example, in the interpretation of the Evidence Act and the Penal Code, the Indian act is sometimes consulted, since they were based on Indian statutes. The clarification of the Structure of Singapore is, however, done internally since fiscal, administrative, communal and other conditions in other countries are thought to be different. Therefore, courts are reluctant to believe overseas legal materials on the ground that a constitution should primarily be inferred within the country itself rather than in the context of resemblances from other dominions (Bell, 117). Presently certain laws that were endorsed at the period of British colony in Singapore stayed in the statute book that is the Internal Security Act; which can command detention without trial in some situations and the Societies Act; which looks into the formation of associations. Both the physical and capital punishments are also still in use. Works Cited Bell, Gary and Black, Ann. Law and Legal Institutions of Asia: Traditions, Adaptations and Innovations. USA, NJ: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Haas, Michael. The Singapore puzzle. New York, NY: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2009. Koh, Daniel. Issues of law and justice in Singapore: some Christian reflections. USA, NJ: Armour Publishing Pte Ltd, 2009. Malik, Waleed. Judiciary-led reforms in Singapore: framework, strategies, and lessons. New York, NY: World Bank Publications, 2007. Narayanan, Ganapathy. Policing marital violence in Singapore. USA, NJ: BRILL, 2008. Purpura, Philip. Criminal justice: an introduction. USA, NJ: Elsevier, 2007. Tan, Kevin. Essays in Singapore legal history. New York, NY: Marshall Cavendish Academic and the Singapore Academy of Law, 2005. Tan, Kevin. The Singapore legal system. New York, NY: NUS Press, 2009. Read More