Need to maintain trust in Singapore's system of criminal justice
Crime control cannot be a manifestly utilitarian one of the ends justifying the means. Trust and confidence that the system works well, is fair and just to all stakeholders are non-negotiable and have to be worked on.
SINGAPORE'S criminal laws and its administration of criminal justice have been brought into sharp focus these past weeks. Recent matters such as the Keppel Offshore and Marine (KOM) corruption scandal, the City Harvest Church (CHC) ex-leaders' conviction for criminal breach of trust (CBT), and the renewal of the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act (CLTPA) highlight the need for our criminal laws and the administration of criminal justice, not only to be reviewed regularly, but also more frequently.
They also point to the imperative to develop and evolve our criminal laws and the administration of criminal justice that is relevant to our social context and the rapidly changing crime situation.
In the long-drawn CHC case, after a careful study of Section 409 of the Penal Code (CBT by an agent), the Court of Appeal ruled that "agent" referred to a professional agent who offered commercial services, which the six CHC ex-leaders were not.
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