A convicted drug trafficker facing the death penalty will have to wait to hear whether his legal bid to force a judicial review of the clemency process has been successful.
Yong Vui Kong, 22, had launched a petition calling for a review of the rules that can potentially allow offenders like him to be spared the gallows, but it was turned down last year.
He appealed against this decision, but the Court of Appeal reserved its judgment on Monday.
During the hearing, Yong's lawyer M. Ravi argued that the President should be able to grant clemency without acting on the advice of the Cabinet. Although this would contradict what is stated in the Constitution, Mr Ravi said the 'principles of natural justice' were more important.
It defied 'legitimate expectations' that the President has to act on Cabinet advice, especially as the clemency application is addressed to his office, he added. The lawyer for the Malaysian - convicted in 2008 of trafficking in 47.27g of heroin - started proceedings on Monday by applying for Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong to withdraw as a judge in this case.
Mr Ravi said the CJ had served as Attorney-General prior to 2006 and advised the President in many clemency applications. Since Yong's case was that the clemency process was flawed, there could be a conflict of interest, he said.
Source: The Straits Times, January 17, 2011
Court reserves judgement
SINGAPORE - The President should have the discretion to disregard the Cabinet's advice when it comes to granting pardons, the lawyer for condemned drug-trafficker Yong Vui Kong argued yesterday.
Flanked by a research team that included three lawyers from the United Kingdom, Yong's lawyer, Mr M Ravi, spent more than three hours making his case to the Court of Appeal to grant Yong an indefinite stay of execution.
Yong, a 22-year-old Malaysian, was sentenced to death in November 2008 for trafficking in 47.27g of heroin.
Former Attorney-General Walter Woon had argued previously that the Constitution did not give the President such discretion. High Court Judge Steven Chong agreed in a ruling last August.
State Counsel Aedit Abdullah argued yesterday that Mr Ravi was essentially asking the court to "pre-empt a decision of the Cabinet" and, in effect, make the decision to grant clemency.
He said: "This completely subverts the separation of powers in our Constitution, as it'll amount to the judicial usurpation of the clemency power that is constitutionally reposed in the President (acting on the advice of Cabinet)."
On Mr Ravi's point that the clemency process had been "irreversibly tainted" because of comments made by Law Minister K Shanmugam at a community dialogue last May, Mr Abdullah said the minister was replying to a question of the Government's policy on the death penalty and not on Yong's case.
The judges presiding over the appeal - who included Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong - reserved judgement.
Source: TodayOnline, January 18, 2011
Court reserves judgement
SINGAPORE - The President should have the discretion to disregard the Cabinet's advice when it comes to granting pardons, the lawyer for condemned drug-trafficker Yong Vui Kong argued yesterday.
Flanked by a research team that included three lawyers from the United Kingdom, Yong's lawyer, Mr M Ravi, spent more than three hours making his case to the Court of Appeal to grant Yong an indefinite stay of execution.
Yong, a 22-year-old Malaysian, was sentenced to death in November 2008 for trafficking in 47.27g of heroin.
Former Attorney-General Walter Woon had argued previously that the Constitution did not give the President such discretion. High Court Judge Steven Chong agreed in a ruling last August.
State Counsel Aedit Abdullah argued yesterday that Mr Ravi was essentially asking the court to "pre-empt a decision of the Cabinet" and, in effect, make the decision to grant clemency.
He said: "This completely subverts the separation of powers in our Constitution, as it'll amount to the judicial usurpation of the clemency power that is constitutionally reposed in the President (acting on the advice of Cabinet)."
On Mr Ravi's point that the clemency process had been "irreversibly tainted" because of comments made by Law Minister K Shanmugam at a community dialogue last May, Mr Abdullah said the minister was replying to a question of the Government's policy on the death penalty and not on Yong's case.
The judges presiding over the appeal - who included Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong - reserved judgement.
Source: TodayOnline, January 18, 2011
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