Justice must be seen to be done, says Law Minister Shanmugam
It is probably better to have trials in open court in the majority of cases, as justice must not only be done but seen to be done, said Minister for Law K Shanmugam.
File photo: Minister for Law K Shanmugam
SINGAPORE: It is probably better to have trials in open court in the majority of cases, as justice must not only be done but seen to be done, said Minister for Law K Shanmugam.
There need to be good grounds to make exceptions to this rule, he added in a written parliamentary reply to Mountbatten MP Lim Biow Chuan.
Mr Lim had asked if the minister would consider introducing a law to ban the publication of photographs and details of any accused person until he is convicted.
Mr Shanmugam said he assumed Mr Lim's question was prompted by the recent publicity over the 40-odd men accused of having commercial sex with a minor.
He said Singapore's legal system operates on the principle of public justice and that accused persons would be publicly tried.
He said reporting of ongoing proceedings was allowed as long as it did not prejudice the proper administration of justice.
The exceptions to the principle are limited and they mainly apply to protect sensitive information relating to national security, as well as the identities of young persons and the victims of sexual offences.
Mr Shanmugam said it is undeniable that accused persons often suffer from adverse publicity, even if they are ultimately acquitted.
He said there are two possible ways to prevent the accused from being publicly identified.
This could be done by imposing a gag order, or by holding the proceedings in camera
and preventing the public and the press from attending the proceedings altogether.
Mr Shanmugam said the identity of the accused would still be known to those who attend court in the case of a gag order.
The second method, he said, would amount to not having open trials.
Mr Shanmugam said the question was whether to hold all criminal trials in private or open court.
"There are trade-offs either way, but I think on balance, it is probably better to have trials in open court in the majority of cases," Mr Shanmugam said.
He said the solution to adverse publicity during ongoing proceedings must be to increase public awareness that a charge is not the same as a conviction, and that an accused person is presumed to be innocent until he is found guilty.
