SINGAPORE: The
Singapore government has completed a review of the mandatory death penalty for
all its laws.
On Monday, Parliament was given an update of the review
in relation to laws related to drug offences and certain types of homicides.
In a ministerial statement in the House, Deputy Prime
Minister and Home Affairs Minister Teo Chee Hean said that all executions that
have come due since the review started in July 2011, have been deferred.
And he explained that the review reaffirmed the relevance
of the death penalty for all the offences to which it currently applied.
Mr Teo said: "The death penalty has been an
important part of our criminal justice system for a very long time, similar to
the position in a number of other countries.
"Singaporeans understand that the death penalty has
been an effective deterrent and an appropriate punishment for very serious
offences, and largely support it. As part of our penal framework, it has
contributed to keeping crime and the drug situation under control."
For drug traffickers, Mr Teo said that the review
concluded that the mandatory death penalty should continue to apply in most
circumstances.
However, where two specific, tightly-defined conditions
are met, Mr Teo said the death penalty will still apply but it will now be at
the discretion of the courts.
These conditions are: firstly, the trafficker must have
only played the role of courier, and must not have been involved in any other
activity related to the supply or distribution of drugs; secondly, discretion
will only apply if having satisfied the first requirement, either the
trafficker has cooperated with the Central Narcotics Bureau in a substantive
way, or he has a mental disability which substantially impairs his appreciation
of the gravity of the act.
Mr Teo said that the government proposes to change the
law such that when these conditions are met, the courts will have the
discretion either to sentence the trafficker to death, or alternatively to pass
a sentence of life imprisonment with caning.
Under Singapore's laws, anyone who trafficks drugs is
liable for the death penalty - from syndicate leaders, to distributors, to
couriers who transport drugs, and pushers who sell drugs - as long as the
quantity of drugs involved is above the stipulated thresholds.
Mr Teo noted that the weight element is often misunderstood.
He said the mandatory death penalty threshold for heroin is 15 grammes of pure
diamorphine, which is often portrayed as the weight of a few 50-cent coins.
But in street form in Singapore, at a typical purity
level of 2.3%, 15 grammes of pure diamorphine is equivalent to some 2,200
straws of heroin worth S$66,000, based on each straw having a gross weight of
about 0.3gm and street price of about S$30.
DPM Teo warned that this quantity was enough to feed the
addiction of more than 300 abusers for a week. In such cases, the death penalty
is imposed, given the harm caused by these drug traffickers and the numbers of
lives they destroy.
He said: "The government's duty is first and
foremost to provide a safe and secure living environment for Singaporeans to
bring up their families. We must be constantly vigilant, adapt our law
enforcement strategies and deterrence and punishment regime to remain ahead of
criminals.
"We must do what works for us, to achieve our
objective of a safe and secure Singapore. The changes announced today will
sharpen our tools and introduce more calibration into the legal framework
against drug trafficking, and put our system on a stronger footing for the
future."
Concluding, Mr Teo said the government will monitor how
the changes impact and influence the behaviour of the criminal organisations.
If the situation worsens, it will consider tightening the provisions or making
other changes.
On homicide offences, Parliament was also informed that
the review of the mandatory death penalty showed that Singapore should retain
the death penalty in its penal laws, except for certain types of homicides
where it should no longer be mandatory but be at the discretion of the courts.
Law Minister K Shanmugam explained that the mandatory
death penalty will continue to apply to the most serious form of murder,
intentional killing.
Mr Shanmugam warned that offenders who intended to cause
the death of their victims ought to be punished with the most severe penalty,
and the law ought to provide the most powerful deterrent against such offences.
However, he explained that other categories of murder
could be committed with different degrees of intent and under a variety of
situations that may not deserve the death penalty.
In such cases, the courts should be given the discretion
to order either life imprisonment or the death penalty.
"This change will ensure that our sentencing
framework properly balances the various objectives: justice to the victim,
justice to society, justice to the accused, and mercy in appropriate
cases," Mr Shanmugam said. "This is a matter of judgement and the
approach being taken is not without risks, but we believe this is a step we can
take."
The minister explained that the changes were a right step
to take as Singapore society becomes safer, less violent and more mature,
citing the nation's relatively low incidence of homicides, with 16 recorded
homicides, or about 0.3 per 100,000 population, in 2011.
Mr Shanmugam told Parliament that once legislation has
been put in place, all accused persons who meet the requirements can elect to
be considered for re-sentencing under the new law.
This will include accused persons in ongoing cases, as
well as convicted persons who have already exhausted their appeals and are
currently awaiting execution.
"While we have outlined the principle of the changes
today, those giving legal advice to the accused persons should carefully study
the legislation when it is enacted and properly understand the precise scope of
the changes. In the meantime, they should not make any assumptions or give
misleading advice," Mr Shanmugam said.
The minister also told Parliament that for firearms
offences, the government's conclusion is that such offences are a serious
threat against law and order, against which the country must continue to
maintain a highly deterrent posture.
The mandatory death penalty will therefore also continue
to apply to firearms offences.
Mr Shanmugam stressed that in making the changes, the
government seeks to achieve and balance two broad objectives.
The first is to continue taking a strong stance on crime.
"Where many other countries have failed, Singapore
has succeeded in keeping the drug menace under control. Singapore's homicide
rate is one of the lowest in the world, and we believe that the deterrent
effect of the death penalty has played an important part in this. Our tough
approach to crime has resulted in crime rates which are significantly lower
than many other major cities," he said.
"Young children can take public transport by
themselves. Women can move around the city freely. We have no gun violence, no
protection rackets, no drug pushers on the streets, no inner-city ghettoes.
Citizens and visitors alike feel safe, in and out of home, at all hours of the
day. This is something enjoyed by few cities in the world. This is something we
should seek to preserve."
The second is the refinement of Singapore's approach
towards sentencing offenders.
Mr Shanmugam warned that Singapore's cardinal objectives
remain the same and crime must be deterred and society must be protected
against criminals.
"Justice can be tempered with mercy and, where
appropriate, offenders should be given a second chance," he said.
"How these objectives are achieved and balanced
depend on the values and expectations of society, as it evolves and matures. We
believe the proposed changes strike the right balance for Singapore today. They
will seek to ensure that our criminal justice system continues to provide the
framework for a safe and secure Singapore, while meeting the need for fairness
and justice in each case."
There are 35 persons awaiting capital punishment; 28 are
for drug offences and seven for murder. Draft legislation implementing the
changes outlined will be introduced later this year.
- CNA/wm/ir
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programmes. Many thanks for visiting www.yourvietnamexpert.com and/or contacting us at contact@yourvietnamexpert.com
No comments:
Post a Comment