How many clemencies from hanging has Singapore granted?

 

When all legal avenues have been exhausted, the last resort for a criminal sentenced to death, is to apply for Presidential clemency. 

When Singapore gained independence in 1965, the avenue of clemency was embedded into the Singapore Constitution[1].  Although clemency is usually discussed in the context of capital cases, it is in fact available to any offender for any offence.  The Singapore Constitution provides that any offender convicted of any offence in Singapore can apply to the President for a pardon, reprieve or respite, of the execution of any sentence pronounced on such offender. The President may “on the advice of the Cabinet” grant clemency in deserving cases. “On the advice of the Cabinet” means that the President has no personal discretion.  The power of clemency is exercised only if the Cabinet advises it. 

The grant of Presidential clemency from the death sentence is the focus of this article. 

For criminals sentenced to death, the Singapore Constitution additionally provides that the President must, once the Court of Appeal has confirmed the death sentence, call for reports on the conviction to be submitted to the Cabinet to consider the possibility of commuting the death sentence.[2]   So, whether the condemned prisoner asks for clemency or not, the Cabinet will consider clemency for such prisoner.

Since Singapore's independence, all of six clemencies against death sentences have been granted.[3]  In each of those six cases, the condemned prisoners had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment.

I have tabulated the details relating to the six Presidential clemencies from death sentences which have been granted in Singapore, and the table is shown below. 

What do we see when the number of clemencies granted is compared with the number of state executions? 

Of the six clemencies granted, three were granted prior to 1991 and three after 1991.  

On the number of criminals hanged since 1965 to 1991, there are no official data.  According to Amnesty International, a total of 21 judicial executions took place in Singapore from 1981 to 1990 [4], which data a scholar has said “may well under-estimate the true number of executions during this period since the statistics are usually compiled from media reports." [5]

As for the number of criminals hanged since 1991 to 2019, I have tallied 491 judicial executions took place based on official sources.[6]  As against that toll, two clemencies against death sentences were granted in 1992 by President Wee Kim Wee and one in 1998 by President Ong Teng Cheong.

No clemency from a death sentence was granted by President S R Nathan during his 12-year term nor by President Tony Tan, and nor by President Halimah Yacob at the time of writing this article.  In any case, the President has no personal discretion when it comes to granting clemencies.  His role is ceremonial.

Incidentally, in 2018, President Halimah Yacob granted clemency to a convicted murderer who was sentenced to "detention at the President’s pleasure".[7]  Detained at the President’s pleasure means to be imprisoned indefinitely until the offender is deemed to be suitable for release.  The man was 15 years old when he committed and was convicted of murder in 2001.  Because of his age when he committed the murder, his identity was sealed.  Being below 18 at the time of conviction, he was spared the death penalty and was instead sentenced to be detained at the President’s pleasure in accordance with Singapore’s criminal laws then. 

As for clemencies from the death sentence, since 1998 to now, there have been none.

One scholar has opined: “Based on data from 1991 to 2016, excepting jurisdictions where ‘clemency procedures are either absent or exist only on paper’ (such as China and Japan), Singapore may well possess one of the world’s lowest clemency rates among retentionist nations, at less than 1 per cent of finalized cases.” [8]

Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss is a practising lawyer in Singapore of more than 30 years’ standing.

24 February 2021

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[1] Article 22P of the Singapore Constitution

[2] Article 22P(2) of the Singapore Constitution

[3] ‘Last Chance for Life: Clemency in Southeast Asian Death Penalty Cases’, Daniel Pascoe 2019, at p. 95.  Johnson, D. T. (2013), ‘The jolly hangman, the jailed journalist, and the decline of Singapore’s death penalty’, Asian Journal of Criminology, 8:54 stated that there have been “seven pardons since 1965” but provided no further details.

[4] Johnson, D. T. (2013), ‘The jolly hangman, the jailed journalist, and the decline of Singapore’s death penalty’, Asian Journal of Criminology, 8:54.

[5] Chan Wing Cheong (2016), 'The Death Penalty in Singapore: In Decline but Still Too Soon for Optimism', Asian Journal of Criminology, 11: 181, Footnote 10

[6] How many has Singapore hanged from the gallows?’, Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss (22 Feb 2021) at https://jeannettechongaruldoss.medium.com/

[7] ‘Teen who killed Anthony Ler's wife gets clemency after 17 years in jail,’ The Straits Times, 13 December 2018

[8] ‘Last Chance for Life: Clemency in Southeast Asian Death Penalty Cases’, Daniel Pascoe 2019, at p. 96.

How many has Singapore hanged from the gallows?

The death penalty has been a part of crime and punishment in Singapore from day one.  Although there is a host of crimes under Singapore law which attracts the death penalty, Singapore has by and large executed persons convicted of murder and, since the enactment of the Misuse of Drug Act in 1975, drug-trafficking.       

Back in 2004, Singapore was put in the spotlight by a scathing paper, "Singapore - The death penalty: a hidden toll of executions" published by Amnesty International criticising Singapore's use of the death penalty. In particular, the paper chastised Singapore for its high rate of execution relative to its population size. The paper said that more than 400 had been executed since 1991 up the date of their paper, 15 January 2004.  How true is that?  Since Singapore became an independent nation in 1965, how many persons have Singapore executed?

I tried to find official judicial execution statistics, but it turned out to be a cat-and-mouse game.

On 12 October 2011, then newly elected Member of Parliament Pritam Singh from the Workers' Party filed a written question for the Minister for Home Affairs (MHA), asking from 2004 to 2010, how many criminals had been hanged in Singapore and what was the breakdown in terms of foreigners, permanent residents and Singaporeans for each of those years.[1]  In reply, DPM Teo Chee Hean provided statistics indicating that from 2004 to 2010, a total of 38 people were executed, comprising 26 Singaporeans and 12 foreigners.

DPM Teo Chee Hean also stated that the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) publishes the number of judicial executions in its Prisons Annual Report and that those Annual Reports were publicly available on the SPS website.

DPM Teo Chee Hean's statement gives the impression that the Singapore Government is transparent about execution statistics.  It may seem to the casual observer that Pritam Singh's question was unnecessary if execution statistics were publicly available by checking the SPS website.

In fact, Pritam Singh's question was not redundant at all.  If you go to the SPS website[2], you will only find SPS Annual Reports from 2008 onwards.  SPS Annual Reports prior to 2008 is not obtainable from the SPS website (and I do not know where to find them).   Moreover, looking through the 2008 Annual Report, it does not contain any statistics on judicial executions at all.  It is only starting with the 2009 Annual Report, that executions statistics are published in every Annual Report to date.  The 2009 Annual Report contains execution statistics for 2007, 2008 and 2009. So, it would be more accurate to say that execution statistics from 2007 onwards are publicly available on the SPS website.[3] Execution statistics prior to 2007 cannot be found on the SPS website.

Perhaps Pritam Singh was motivated to ask for the execution statistics from 2004 to 2010 because prior to filing his question, which DPM Teo Chee Hean answered on 12 October 2011, Pritam Singh could not find those figures anywhere. 

Thanks to Pritam Singh's question, official information on the number of persons executed in each year from 2004 to 2010 is on public record.  Further, based on the SPS website, we also know the number of persons executed in each year from 2007 to 2019. 

How about executions statistics prior to 2004? 

Amnesty International's paper published on 15 January 2004 prompted the Singapore Government to issue a rebuttal on 30 January 2004. Residing as footnote no. 4 at the end of the rebuttal were a set of statistics indicating that a total of 138 persons were executed "in the last 5 years".  Given the date of that rebuttal, "the last 5 years" would mean 1999 to 2003. Thanks to Amnesty International's paper, another piece of official information was coughed up. 

The Government’s rebuttal 30 January 2004 indicated that a total of 138 persons were executed in the 5 years from 1999 to 2003, but did not provide the breakdown for each year between 1999 to 2003.  From the yearly statistics given in Parliament on 12 January 2001, we can see how many persons were hung in 1999 and 2000.  But how many persons were hung in each of the years 2001, 2002 and 2003? 

Fortuitously, a set of official execution statistics that fell into the public domain inadvertently answered this question. On 24 September 2003, then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong gave the BBC in an interview in which he glibly said that up to 80 people had been executed in the first nine months of 2003.  To correct the erroneous figure, the Singapore Government attached a note to the transcript of the BBC interview stating that 21 persons were executed in 2000, 27 in 2001 and 28 in 2002. [4] Thus, another set of official statistics fell out into the open. The number of persons executed in 2003 can be worked out by arithmetic.  Thus, the gap in the execution statistics was filled.

How about executions statistics prior to 1999?

Rolling up my sleeves, I went on my hands and knees to claw and trawl the graveyard of old Parliamentary reports.  My efforts were rewarded.  I found that on 12 January 2001, in reply to a question filed by then non-constituency member of parliament JB Jeyaretnam from the Workers’ Party, Wong Kan Seng provided the number of persons who have been hanged in Singapore for the years 1991-2000, giving the numbers year by year and splitting the number for each year into the various crimes for which they were hanged.[5]  Thanks to JBJ's guts, another trove of official execution statistics was given out. 

As for the number of persons hanged prior to 1991, my efforts to find those numbers have drawn a blank.  Hopefully, someone has or has found those numbers and if so, I would be keen to learn.   

 In summary, the official sources which I managed to find are as follows:

1. SPS website giving execution statistics from 2007 to 2019;
2. Parliamentary report dated 12 October 2011 giving execution statistics from 2004 to 2010;
3. Singapore Government’s rebuttal dated 30 January 2004 to Amnesty International's paper giving execution statistics from 1999 to 2003;
4. Note attached to the transcript of Goh Chok Tong's interview with BBC released by the Singapore Government on 25 September 2003 giving number of persons executed in 2002, 2001 and 2000; and
5. Parliamentary report dated 12 January 2001 giving execution statistics from 1991 to 2000. 

Piecing them together, the total number of persons hanged in each year from 1991 to 2019 can be calculated. Below is a tabulation of the information provided by the official sources.  From the tabulation, the following conclusions can be quickly be drawn:

1. From 1991 to 2003 (13 years), 414 persons were executed, thus vindicating Amnesty International’s charge that more than 400 had been executed in Singapore since 1991 up to the date of their paper, 15 January 2004;
2. From 2004 onwards, there has been perceptible drop in the rate of executions for mysterious reasons; and
3. From 1991 to 2019 (29 years), 491 persons were executed.

No doubt more observations or inferences will come to mind on further consideration of the statistics. 

A set of information with gaps is incoherent. A complete set of figures is always useful. Which is why coherent factual information, especially information relating to state action carried out on behalf of the citizenry, should be made available for one to consider and ponder.  

Who knew that one has to be quite a sleuth to track down the number of persons hanged by the state. 

I do feel I am like Sherlock Holmes solving a murder mystery, pardon the pun.

 

Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss is a practising lawyer of more than 30 years’ standing who is interested in but does not specialise in the practice of Criminal Law. In uncovering the facts discussed in this article, her research tool was a good wi-fi connection to the internet and a bee in her bonnet.  Putting herself in the shoes of a layman, she did not avail of materials which are only accessible by subscription or otherwise unavailable to the general public. 

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[1] “Judicial Executions in Singapore” Parl. No. 12, Sess. 1, Vol. 88, Sitting No. 6 (21 October 2011)

[2] https://www.sps.gov.sg/news-about-us/publications

[3] Execution statistics from 2007 to 2019 are also available at https://data.gov.sg/dataset/judicial-executions

[4] "More people executed in Singapore", AFP report published in The Age, 25 September 2003 https://www.theage.com.au/world/more-people-executed-in-singapore-20030925-gdwejk.html

[5] “Number of Persons Hanged” Parl. No. 9, Sess. 2, Vol. 72, Sitting No. 13 (12 January 2001)

COURT OF 3 JUDGES TO DECIDE IF LEE SUET FERN SHOULD BE DISBARRED

This article was first published on 11 August 2020 by the onlinecitizen at: https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2020/08/11/court-of-3-judges-to-decide-if-lee-suet-fern-should-be-disbarred/

This Thursday, 13 August 2020, a Court of Three Judges will be considering whether Lee Suet Fern, a practising lawyer of 37 years' standing, should be disbarred for legal professional misconduct. 

Lee Suet Fern is the wife of Lee Hsien Yang and the daughter-in-law of Lee Kuan Yew. Lee Hsien Yang is one of the three beneficiaries of Lee Kuan Yew’s estate.

The charges of misconduct were brought against Lee Suet Fern by the Law Society of Singapore (the Society) following a complaint filed by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to the Society on 4 December 2018.  As the complaint came from the AGC, the Society is by law mandated to apply to the Chief Justice to appoint a Disciplinary Tribunal. 

The Society’s charges against Lee Suet Fern relate to her involvement in the execution of Lee Kuan Yew’s Last Will signed on 17 December 2013.

From 20 August 2011 to 17 December 2013, Lee Kuan Yew made a total of seven Wills.  By operation of law, each new Will superceded the previous Will.  Lee Kuan Yew signed the Last Will on 17 December 2013.  Two lawyers came to Lee Kuan Yew’s house to witness his execution of the Last Will. 

On 2 January 2014, Lee Kuan Yew on his own prepared and signed a Codicil to his Last Will.  He arranged his own witnesses.  A ‘codicil’ is a formally executed document made after a will that adds to, subtracts from, or changes the will.  The Codicil bequeathed two carpets to Lee Hsien Yang.

Lee Kuan Yew passed away on 23 March 2015. Probate was granted on the basis of the Last Will on 6 October 2015.

On 13 February 2019, two practising lawyers, Sarjit Singh Gill and Yee Kee Shian Leon, were appointed by the Chief Justice as the Disciplinary Tribunal to hear and investigate the Society’s charges against Lee Suet Fern.

The issues at stake before the Disciplinary Tribunal were essentially:

1.       Whether Lee Suet Fern and Lee Kuan Yew stood in a solicitor-client relationship i.e. was there an Implied Retainer; and 

2.       If Lee Kuan Yew was her client, did she fail her client to the extent of professional misconduct.

Lee Suet Fern pleaded not guilty to all the charges.  The Disciplinary Tribunal conducted a five-day hearing from 1 to 5 July 2020.  During the hearing, Lee Suet Fern and Lee Hsien Yang were cross-examined on the witness stand by the Society’s lawyers on their testimonies. 

On 18 February 2020, the Disciplinary Tribunal released their decision.  The Disciplinary Tribunal concluded Yes on the two questions.

The Disciplinary Tribunal agreed with the Society that Lee Suet Fern and Lee Kuan Yew stood in a solicitor-client relationship.  The Disciplinary Tribunal said that Lee Suet Fern had failed to advance her client’s interest, instead she had promoted her own interest and/or the interest of her husband, Lee Hsien Yang ahead of her client's interest. She also failed her duty to advise Lee Kuan Yew to be independently advised in respect of his intention to give a one-third share of his estate to Lee Hsien Yang. 

Given the Disciplinary Tribunal’s findings against Lee Suet Fern, the Court of Three Judges will now determine if the Respondent should be disbarred.

 The Society's case against Lee Suet Fern is about a solicitor's legal professional duties, how a solicitor should conduct himself when he deals with his client and what amounts to professional misconduct. 

The Society's case against Lee Suet Fern is not about whether Lee Kuan Yew was aware or unaware the Last Will contained the Demolition Clause.   In a statement published by the AGC on 7 January 2019 to announce that the AGC had filed a complaint of professional misconduct involving Lee Suet Fern, the AGC stated that their complaint did not relate to the validity of Lee Kuan Yew’s Last Will.

Doubts as to whether Lee Kuan Yew was aware his Last Will contained the Demolition Clause was publicly raised by Lee Hsien Loong on 15 June 2017 who said a “series of events led me to be very troubled by the circumstances surrounding the Last Will.”

Notwithstanding Lee Hsien Loong had publicised his unhappiness with Lee Suet Fern’s involvement in the execution of Lee Kuan Yew’s Last Will, Lee Hsien Loong is not the Complainant nor a party to the proceedings against Lee Suet Fern. 

As earlier mentioned in this article, the case against Lee Suet Fern was initiated by AGC.  More accurately, it was filed by Deputy Attorney-General Lionel Yee, as Attorney-General Lucien Wong had recused himself from the case against Lee Suet Fern. Lucien Wong had been Lee Hsien Loong’s personal lawyer prior to becoming the Attorney-General.

In their 7 January 2019 statement, the AGC referenced their statutory duty to deal with misconduct by lawyers as the basis for filing their complaint against Lee Suet Fern. The AGC said that when the AGC becomes aware of possible professional misconduct, it is required to consider if the matter should be referred to the Society.  In this case, AGC became aware of a possible case of professional misconduct by Lee Suet Fern. The AGC statement did not say how the AGC became or was made aware of possible professional misconduct by Lee Suet Fern in respect of the execution of Lee Kuan Yew’s Last Will.

Notwithstanding Lee Hsien Loong’s misgivings with Lee Suet Fern’s involvement in the execution of Lee Kuan Yew’s Last Will, the focus of the Disciplinary Tribunal was on what Lee Suet Fern should or should not have done, rather than on whether Lee Kuan Yew was aware or unaware of the Demolition Clause when he signed the Last Will.

The Court of Three Judges hearing the case this Thursday comprises Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon,

Justice Judith Prakash and Justice Woo Bih Li.

Although the next step following the Disciplinary Tribunal’s findings against Lee Suet Fern is for the Court of Three Judges to decide if Lee Suet Fern should be struck off the roll, the powers of the Court of Three Judges are not limited to that role. 

The Court of Three Judges is not bound to accept the findings and decision of the Disciplinary Tribunal.  If the Court of Three Judges does not agree with the decision of the Disciplinary Tribunal, it has the power to set aside the determination of the Disciplinary Tribunal, direct Disciplinary Tribunal to rehear and reinvestigate the complaint, or even order the appointment of another Disciplinary Tribunal to hear and investigate the complaint.

We shall see in the coming days whether the Court of Three Judges agrees with Disciplinary Tribunal’s conclusions or not; and if the Court does, then whether the Court considers it would be an appropriate sanction to strike Lee Suet Fern off the roll.

Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss is a practising lawyer of 30 years’ standing.  Wills & Probate is one of her areas of specialisation.