Free admission. Attendance is by registration only. Please register by 08 August 2015.

Transcription

1 Date: Time: Venue: 15 August 2015 (Saturday) 10.00am 4.00pm (Registration commences at 9.15am) Singapore Management University Level 2, School of Law/ Accountancy Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium 60 Stamford Road, Singapore Dress Code: Business Attire Free admission. Attendance is by registration only. Please register by 08 August Public CPD points: 4.5 points (based on 100% attendance) Practice Area: Crime Training Category/ level: General Page 1 of 13

2 Programme 09:15am 10:00am 10:00am 10:10am Registration Welcome Address PROFESSOR YEO TIONG MIN DEAN, SCHOOL OF LAW, SINGAPORE MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY 10:10am 10:30am Introduction and Opening Remarks CONSTITUTIONAL LAW AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE CLUB SCHOOL OF LAW SINGAPORE MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY 10:30am 11:20am Keynote Address MR V K RAJAH SC ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE 11:20am 1:10pm Panel Discussion 1: Due Process and the Singapore Constitution Moderator: MR CHOO ZHENG XI DIRECTOR, PETER LOW LLC Panellists: MS MAVIS CHIONH SC CHIEF PROSECUTOR, ATTORNEY-GENERAL S CHAMBERS MR ALFRED DODWELL MANAGING DIRECTOR, DODWELL + CO LLC PROFESSOR HO HOCK LAI FACULTY OF LAW NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE ASSISTANT PROFESSOR JACLYN NEO FACULTY OF LAW NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 1:10pm 2:00pm Lunch 2:00pm 3:50pm Panel Discussion 2: Punishment/ Sentencing and the Singapore Constitution Page 2 of 13

3 Moderator: Panellists: MR THAM LIJING ASSOCIATE, TAN RAJAH & CHEAH PROFESSOR MICHAEL HOR DEAN, FACULTY OF LAW, THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG MR EUGENE THURAISINGAM PARTNER, EUGENE THURAISINGAM LLP ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR YAP PO JEN FACULTY OF LAW THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG 3:50pm 4:00pm Closing Remarks Brief Synopsis 1 The Panel Discussions will explore the interaction between our criminal justice system and the Singapore Constitution. The panellists are likely to cover the following points in the course of the discussion. There will also be a question and answer session during each panel discussion, and members of the audience are encouraged to raise any relevant points or ask questions. Panel Discussion I: Due Process and the Singapore Constitution The purposes of criminal due process protections Singapore s criminal justice model Criminal due process in the context of Art 9 of the Singapore Constitution Prosecutorial discretion and its limits in Singapore Judicial power and judicial independence The presumption of innocence Pre-trial detention and bail Panel Discussion II: Punishment/ Sentencing and the Singapore Constitution Limits on the types of punishment that the state can impose Punishment/ sentencing, Art 12 and the rule of law in Singapore Mandatory minimum sentences Constitutional prohibition against cruel and inhuman/unusual punishments Judicial independence and judicial power in sentencing The rights of prisoners in Singapore and Art 10 1 See also Detailed Synopsis, below, at page Page 3 of 13

4 Speakers Profiles Welcome Address Professor Yeo Tiong Min SC Professor Yeo Tiong Min graduated with an LLB from the National University of Singapore (NUS), and post-graduate degrees (BCL and DPhil) from the University of Oxford, where he was a Senior Research Fellow for a time. He taught at NUS before taking up the appointment as the first Yong Pung How Professor of Law at the Singapore Management University in His research interests are mainly in private law, with a large concentration on the conflict of laws, and include contract law, the law of restitution, equity and remedies. His works have been widely cited in many jurisdictions by academics and courts. He is also actively engaged with the legal community in Singapore. Professor Yeo was the first person in Singapore to be appointed Senior Counsel (honoris causa) for outstanding contributions to the development of the law and the legal profession in Singapore, and has been appointed as amicus curiae to assist the Singapore Court of Appeal. Keynote Address Mr V K Rajah SC Mr V K Rajah SC graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Singapore in 1982 and obtained his Master of Laws (First Class Honours) from the University of Cambridge in Page 4 of 13

5 He joined Rajah & Tann in 1983 and helmed the firm as Managing Partner from 1986 to In 1997, Mr Rajah was appointed Senior Counsel. Mr Rajah s ascent through the judicial branch started with his appointment as a Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court in January In November 2004, he was appointed a Judge of the High Court and subsequently in April 2007, a Judge of Appeal. Mr Rajah s time in the High Court and Court of Appeal was marked by a series of judgments that serve as important landmarks in the local criminal justice landscape. Mr Rajah currently serves as the Attorney-General of Singapore. He is also a member of the Legal Service Commission and a member of the Board of Directors of the Singapore Institute of Legal Education. He has also served as: Vice President, Singapore Academy of Law; Chairman, Board of Legal Education; Chairman, Institute of Legal Education; Chairman, Committee to develop the Singapore Legal Services Sector; Chairman, Judicial Education Board; Member, Supreme Court Sentencing and Bail Review Panel and Member, Advisory Board of the School of Law, Singapore Management University. Panel Discussion I: Due Process and the Singapore Constitution (Alphabetical order by last name) Ms Mavis Chionh SC Ms Mavis Chionh graduated from the University of Oxford with a First Class Honours degree in Jurisprudence and with the award of the University s Norton Rose Prize in Company Law. She also holds a Master s degree in Chinese Law from the National University of Singapore. She joined the Singapore Legal Service in In the course of her Legal Service career, Ms Chionh has served as a Justices Law Clerk; an Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court; a Deputy Public Prosecutor; a District Judge; Deputy Principal Senior State Counsel in the Civil Division of the Attorney-General s Chambers; Official Assignee and Public Trustee in the Insolvency and Public Trustee s Office; and Chief Prosecutor of the Financial & Technology Crime Division in the Attorney-General s Chambers. On 1 April 2015, Ms Chionh was appointed as Chief Prosecutor of the Criminal Justice Division in the Attorney-General s Chambers, which handles the majority of prosecutions conducted in both the High Court and the State Courts. Page 5 of 13

6 Mr Alfred Dodwell Mr Alfred Dodwell graduated with an LL.B (Hons), University of Warwick, UK. He also graduated with a Postgraduate Diploma in Singapore Law, National University of Singapore. He also pursued a Postgraduate Diploma in Christian Studies at Regent Theological College, Vancouver, B.C. Canada. Mr Dodwell is a senior member of the bar in Singapore, having practised as a litigation lawyer since He trained at Allen & Gledhill under 2 esteemed Senior Counsels and practised also at Tan Rajah & Cheah and Drew & Napier before carving out a niche litigation practice at Dodwell & Co LLC. Mr Dodwell has acted as counsel in several reported cases on a variety of issues, including the determination of constitutional law issues pertaining to fundamental liberties enshrined in the Singapore Constitution. Aside from his legal practice, he has also experience in social work and counselling in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Alfred is the Managing Director of Dodwell & Co LLC. Professor Ho Hock Lai An alumnus of National University of Singapore s Faculty of Law, Professor Ho Hock Lai obtained his Bachelor of Civil Law (a graduate degree) from the University of Oxford and his PhD from the University of Cambridge. He joined the NUS in Professor Ho has written, often from a theoretical angle, in the areas of criminal evidence and proof, and on issues in the administration of criminal justice. Some of his published works include A Philosophy of Evidence Law: Justice in the Search for Truth (OUP, 2008, with a Chinese edition forthcoming); a co-edited volume on Law, Virtue and Justice (Hart, 2013); and articles in Singapore and international refereed journals. Page 6 of 13

7 Assistant Professor Jaclyn Neo Dr. Jaclyn L. Neo is Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore s Faculty of Law where she teaches constitutional and administrative law. She received her Doctor of the Science of Law (JSD) as well as Masters of Law (LLM) from Yale Law School. Dr. Neo's primary research areas are constitutional law and human rights law. She has published extensively, including in the International Journal of Constitutional Law (I- CON), Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, Human Rights Quarterly, and the Singapore Journal of Legal Studies. In her view, access to justice is a foundational principle of the criminal justice system and she is currently partnering with the Singapore Judicial College on a research project on unrepresented litigants. Panel Discussion II: Punishment/ Sentencing and the Singapore Constitution (Alphabetical order by last name) Professor Michael Hor Professor Michael Hor is the Dean of University of Hong Kong s Faculty of Law. Prior to being dean, he was a professor of law at the National University of Singapore s law faculty. He has taught, researched and published extensively in the area of criminal law, criminal procedure, constitutional law and evidence law. He has served as Chief Editor of the Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, as a member of the editorial boards of the Singapore Academy of Law Journal and the Asian Journal of Comparative Law. He was also a consultant to the Ministry of Law and the Criminal Practice Committee of the Law Society of Singapore. Internationally, Professor Hor has also been appointed Distinguished Visitor at the Law Faculty of the University of Toronto, Visitor at Oxford Centre for Criminology, and Page 7 of 13

8 Visiting Professor at the University of Hong Kong Law Faculty, where he was also an advisor to its Centre for Comparative and Public Law. Mr Eugene Thuraisingam Mr Eugene Thuraisingam read law at the National University of Singapore when he was placed on the final year Deans List with a good Second Upper Bachelors Degree in Law. He commenced practice at Allen & Gledhill, a prestigious Singapore firm in June 2001 and quickly rose through the ranks to be made a partner of the firm in January He then joined Stamford Law Corporation, a leading Corporate Firm, in 2009 as a Director and was one of the pioneers of its Dispute Resolution Department. He left in 2012 to set up his own practice. He now leads a firm of 5 lawyers specialising in Criminal and Commercial Litigation. He is known to be a fiery advocate with a penchant for fighting for justice. He has spoken at dialogues on perspectives on the death penalty. He has successfully represented clients facing the death penalty in both the High Court and the Court of Appeal and has succeeded in applying to Court on behalf of clients previously sentenced to death for resentencing under the new amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act. Associate Professor Yap Po Jen Dr Yap Po Jen is an Associate Professor at The University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Law, where he specialises in Constitutional and Administrative law. He graduated from the National University of Singapore with an LLB degree and he obtained LLM qualifications from both Harvard Law School and University College London. He also has a PhD degree from the University of Cambridge. He is an Advocate Page 8 of 13

9 and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore and an Attorney at Law in the State of New York (USA). Dr Yap is the author of over 50 publications, which include his sole-authored monograph Constitutional Dialogue in Common Law Asia that was published by Oxford University Press in Moderators Profiles (Alphabetical order by last name) Mr Choo Zheng Xi Mr Choo Zheng Xi is a litigation lawyer and a Director at Peter Low LLC. He handles both civil and criminal work and has litigated several cases of public interest where law and society meet, notably in the fields of representative actions, contempt of Court, sedition, Article 12 of the Constitution and the new Protection from Harassment Act. Prior to commencing practice, Zheng Xi was a co-founder of The Online Citizen a large alternative news website in Singapore. Mr Tham Lijing Tham Lijing graduated from Oxford University taking a double first in Law and a distinction in the BCL. He represented Oxford in the 2008 Phillip C Jessup International Law Moot Competition, winning the UK National rounds. He was a Justices Law Clerk and Assistant Registrar with the Supreme Court of Singapore. Mr Tham is now practicing as a litigator at Tan Rajah & Cheah across a broad range of areas. Apart from his commercial practice, he has a particular interest in public law and criminal matters in the appellate courts. Recently, he was part of the inaugural Law Society Criminal Practice Committee s amicus team in a 3-judge Magistrate s Appeal, submitting Page 9 of 13

10 on sentencing principles under the Securities and Futures Act. As adjunct faculty, Mr Tham has taught Evidence and Civil Procedure, and Constitutional and Administrative Law to SMU law students. He also sits on committees in the Law Society and helps out with the SILE Part A and Part B courses. In what free time is left, Mr Tham likes to write, in particular on public law for the Singapore Law Gazette. He is also a contributing editor to the White Book 2015, and is writing the chapter on Judicial Review for the forthcoming edition of Halsbury s Laws on Civil Procedure. Registration Admission is free. Attendance is by registration only. Please register by 08 August Please note that your photograph, audio-video or other recordings may be taken during the event for use by Singapore Management University in social media, promotional collaterals, event publicity, and other related purposes. Privacy statement: Contact Us For general enquiries regarding the Conference, please contact: Attn: Organising Committee, Criminal Justice Conference [email protected] Alternate [email protected] For enquiries regarding CPD points, please contact: Attn: Ms Sascha Ng [email protected] Page 10 of 13

11 Location Map Singapore Management University Level 2, School of Law/ Accountancy Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium 60 Stamford Road, Singapore SMU Carpark Information: (As parking spaces are very limited, visitors are advised to find alternative parking venues.) Page 11 of 13

12 Annex A: Detailed Synopsis Panel Discussion I: Due Process and the Singapore Constitution The purposes of criminal due process protections What the purposes of the criminal due process protections are, and whether these purposes should feature in the interpretation of constitutional provisions that involve these protections. Whether the current view Singapore s criminal justice system continues to be based upon the crime control model, and whether such a view has affected judicial interpretations of constitutional due process protections. Criminal due process in the context of Art 9 Whether a literal reading of Art 9(1) adequately protects an accused person s life or liberty. Whether Art 9(1) is capable of encompassing a presumption of innocence, or a general right of the accused person to be fairly tried. The scope of the fundamental rules of natural justice under Art 9(1). Whether Art 9(3) should be interpreted to confer a right to counsel upon arrest, and whether it should also be interpreted to confer a right to be informed of the right to counsel. Further, if the right to counsel does not arise immediately upon arrest, whether a more exacting burden should be imposed on the police to show that access to counsel should be denied. Art 9(4) requires an accused to be produced before a magistrate if the accused is detained for more than 48 hours (after arrest); what is the interaction between Art 9(4) and the right to counsel in Art 9(3), if any? Prosecutorial discretion in Singapore What are the constitutional limits (if any) for prosecutorial discretion in Singapore, especially in light of Ramalingam Ravinthran? Whether the Prosecution be required to give reasons for its prosecutorial decisions in some circumstances. Should prosecutorial discretion be subject to a greater level of judicial scrutiny? Judicial power and judicial independence The scope of judicial power in relation to the criminal process. Whether statutory presumptions or strict/absolute liability are incursions onto judicial power. Page 12 of 13

13 The presumption of innocence Is there any basis for arguing that the presumption of innocence is a implied constitutional right? If not, should it be constitutionally enshrined? Pre-trial detention and bail Whether pre-trial detention or bail are subject to any constitutional safeguards, and if so, to what extent does the constitution place limits on the power to detain pre-trial and to deny bail. Panel Discussion II: Punishment/ Sentencing and the Singapore Constitution Criminal punishment/ sentencing and the rule of law in Singapore Does the Constitution prescribe any requirement of proportionality or reasonableness when it comes to punishment and sentencing? Should all forms of life or liberty-depriving punishment be permissible under our Constitution? Should we have a constitutional prohibition against cruel and inhuman/ unusual punishment in our criminal justice system? And what kind of punishments should this right prohibit? Does Art 12 demand proper frameworks and guidelines for the purposes of sentencing? If a form of punishment cannot be applied in a fair and equal manner, do they nevertheless pass muster under Art 12? Do mandatory (minimum) sentences in Singapore s criminal justice system treat like alike? Should mandatory minimum be treated as incursions onto judicial power? The rights of prisoners in Singapore What is the meaning of term incidental in the context of Art 10? Does this include mandatory training programmes that prisoners may have to undergo? How much can a prisoner be made to do before the work is considered slavery or forced labour? Are the rights of prisoners suspended during the period of incarceration? What rights do prisoners enjoy? E.g., the right to life and liberty, the right to vote, the right to counsel, etc. Page 13 of 13