Singapore
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- parliamentary republic
- CONSTITUTION
- June 3, 1959, amended in 1965
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on English common law
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- unicameral, Parliament
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Supreme Court, the head appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister, other judges appointed by the president on the recommendation of the chief justice
RELIGIONS
42.5% Buddhists, 14.9% Muslims, 8.5% Taoists, 4.8% Catholics, other
From the country
- OCTOBER 26, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION URGES SINGAPORE TO HALT NGUYEN'S EXECUTION
the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urged the Singapore government not to execute Nguyen Tuong Van, a 25-year-old convicted Australian drug runner sentenced to hang for heroin smuggling.
- OCTOBER 24, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. CANBERRA STEPS UP LAST-MINUTE APPEALS TO SINGAPORE OVER NATIONAL ON DEATH ROW
Canberra issued a forceful last-minute appeal to Singapore to spare the life of Nguyen Tyong Van, a condemned Australian drug smuggler, after the island state ignored repeated pleas for clemency from Australia's top leaders.
- OCTOBER 23, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. NO HOPE FOR AUSTRALIAN FACING EXECUTION IN SINGAPORE: PM
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said there was no realistic hope that Nguyen Tuong Van, a 25-year-old Australian drug-runner, could be saved from execution in Singapore.
- OCTOBER 21, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP CALLS FOR MORATORIUM ON DEATH PENALTY
Think Centre, a Singapore civil rights group, called for a moratorium on executions after Australian national Nguyen Tuong Van lost his final clemency appeal.
- OCTOBER 21, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. AUSTRALIAN TO BE EXECUTED FOR HEROIN SMUGGLING
Nguyen Tuong Van, an Australian man convicted of drugs charges in Singapore lost his final appeal for clemency and was due for execution, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.
- SEPTEMBER 13, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. BRITON TO BE SENT BACK TO SINGAPORE FOR MURDER TRIAL
Australia was to extradite British businessman Michael McCrea to Singapore to face trial for a double murder after Australia's highest court rejected his bid to avoid being handed over. McCrea, 46, was accused of murdering his driver and his driver's girl
- SEPTEMBER 12, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
THE PHILIPPINES. 24 FILIPINOS FACE DEATH PENALTY IN SAUDI, SINGAPORE, MALAYSIA
twenty-four Filipino workers were facing the death penalty for murder and drug-related cases, the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.
- AUGUST 30, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. BRITON WANTED FOR MURDER IN SINGAPORE CLOSER TO EXTRADITION
Michael McCrea, a British businessman accused of a double murder in Singapore, lost another round in a three-year fight to avoid extradition from Australia on the grounds that he could be executed.
- AUGUST 26, 2005MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. MALAYSIAN MAN SENTENCED TO HANG FOR CHINESE GIRL'S MURDER
Took Leng How, a 23-year-old Malaysian man, was sentenced to death by hanging after being found guilty of murdering an eight-year-old mainland Chinese girl in Singapore. Judge Lai Kew Chai in his verdict said the prosecution had proven its case that Took,
- JULY 22, 2005NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. TWO TO HANG ON HEROIN CHARGE
Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi, a 19 year old Nigerian national and Okeke Nelson Malachy, 33, were sentenced to death after a 13-day trial for importing approximately $1.5 million worth of high-grade heroin into Singapore.
- MAY 13, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. MAN EXECUTED FOR TRAFFICKING MARIJUANA DESPITE HIGH-PROFILE CAMPAIGN
Shanmugam Murugesu, a man convicted of drug trafficking at the centre of a high-profile campaign to end the death penalty in Singapore, was executed despite the appeals of his teenage twin sons and his lawyer's pleas that it was a denial of "natural justi
- MAY 9, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. ‘LET JUDGES DECIDE DEATH SENTENCE’, FORMER JUDICIAL COMMISSIONER
K.S. Rajah, a former judicial commissioner, called for a review of sentencing in cases in Singapore where the death penalty was compulsory. Rajah, now a senior counsel, wanted judges to be given the discretion to impose a life jail term where it was deeme