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 deemed appropriate.
His call was prompted by the judgment in October 2004 of the Court of Appeal in the case of a drug trafficker, Rajah said.
The court had rejected the appeal of Vietnamese-Australian Nguyen Tuong Van, 24, against his death sentence for heroin trafficking. Rajah said: “The court indicated for the first time that they are prepared to listen to arguments that can show hanging was prohibited as an international legal rule because it was cruel and inhumane.
“One way to make it more humane and not a cruel punishment is to allow judges the discretion rather than make the death penalty mandatory.”
During the appeal by Nguyen, constitutional arguments were made for the first time. It was submitted that the mandatory death sentence should not be applied because it contravened international human rights laws.
In rejecting them, Singapore's highest court said the mandatory death penalty under the Misuse of Drugs Act was constitutional.