More consideration in sentencing for less serious crimes: Attorney-General

SINGAPORE — While prosecutors will continue coming down hard on drug trafficking and other serious crimes that threaten law and order in Singapore, more consideration will be given to all possible sentencing options for less serious crimes, said Attorney-General (AG) V K Rajah today (Jan 11).

Where punishment is not the main or only consideration, community sentences have been an “under-utilised” option and suspended sentences — where a sentence is put on hold if an offender meets certain requirements — could perhaps be introduced to give the incentive to turn over a new leaf, said Mr Rajah, who was speaking at the Opening of Legal Year 2016.

Community sentences include day-reporting and community work orders as well as mandatory treatment orders. Mr Rajah said prosecutors will be inviting the courts to consider this option “in the right cases”.

Treading carefully, lawmakers could even consider having community sentences as an option for more crimes that are less serious, he suggested.

Breaking from the tradition of talking about plans for the Attorney-General’s Chambers in the year ahead, Mr Rajah — who has been AG since June 2014 — focused on his role as Public Prosecutor and gave his trademark philosophical take on the work of prosecutors. How prosecutors do their jobs has a “big impact” on offenders, victims of crime, their families as well as public confidence. Criminal law must not be enforced for its own sake, but for the greater good of society, he said, stressing that the Government respects the independence of prosecutors. “So if anyone has any criticism or praise on how prosecutions are done in this country, please direct them to my Chambers,” he said.

A society that is tough on crime must also be tough on the causes of crime, and it must strive to create a moral and socio-economic climate where people have no inclination or need to turn to crime, said Mr Rajah. Prosecutors, therefore, consider treatment and recovery where crime has “substantially” been due to mental illness. Various government agencies are taking action to help families of offenders who face lengthy jail terms, Mr Rajah said.

The AGC, Ministry of Social and Family Development and other agencies have formed protocols to share relevant information earlier to facilitate support of offenders’ dependants, and the ministry will provide financial help in appropriate cases, he said. “For the offender, the law must take its course. But his family and dependants should not be condemned to a vicious cycle of deprivation, desperation and crime.”

The Government is also doing an inter-ministry study of youth justice and will make recommendations, he added. The AGC told TODAY that the inter-ministry committee was formed last September and will make recommendations sometime this year, to provide for a wider range of sentencing options for youths aged 16 to 21 years, so that sentences can be better calibrated to the offender.

Turning to the role of prosecutors, Mr Rajah said they must be formidable advocates in pleading their cases, but must help ensure fair prosecution and outcomes. Last year, the prosecution appealed against a manifestly excessive sentence meted out to a cyclist who had injured a pedestrian on a pavement. The cyclist, Lim Choon Teck, did not have a lawyer and Mr Rajah told his prosecutors to intervene. The appeal judge reduced Lim’s jail term from eight weeks to three.

“Our aim is to get the law right and to ensure that fair outcomes are achieved, even if the result in a particular case is not in our favour. This is what the public interest demands,” said Mr Rajah, who was a Judge of Appeal before becoming AG. Lawyers lauded Mr Rajah’s remarks, with Law Society president Thio Shen Yi saying it is “a speech that many lawyers have wanted an AG to give for a very long time”. Added Mr Thio: “He’s really planted the flag of justice on moral high ground and we couldn’t be happier.”

Criminal lawyer Tito Isaac welcomed the help given to dependants of offenders facing long jail-terms. “We feel it from the defence counsel’s side,” he said. “We are concerned especially when the offender is a breadwinner — what if he goes (to jail)? What happens to the kids and family? So we need more time, give them a chance to earn and save before they suffer their sentence.”