Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
2-2015
Abstract
To any criminal law practitioner, the Court’s power to grant probation as a sentencing option is of significant importance. Probation represents, to their clients, the key out of incarceration.Section 5 of the Probation of Offenders Act (Cap 252, 1985 Rev Ed) (“POA”) sets out the power of the Singapore Courts to grant probation. Section 5 uses three peculiar terms to create three categories of offences, namely:1. Sentences which are “fixed by law”; 2. Sentences carrying “specified minimum sentences”; and 3. Sentences carrying “mandatory minimum sentences”.For the latter two categories of offences, the Court can only grant probation if the offender:1. is between 16 and 21 of age at the time of conviction; and2. was not previously convicted of an offence with a mandatory or specified minimum sentence.What do those three peculiar terms mean?
Discipline
Asian Studies | Criminal Law
Research Areas
Public Law
Publication
Singapore Law Gazette
Volume
Feb
ISSN
1019-942X
Publisher
LexisNexis Asia Pacific
Citation
CHAN, Darius.
Probing the law on probation: Suggestions for reform. (2015). Singapore Law Gazette. Feb,.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/3037
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://v1.lawgazette.com.sg/2015-02/1242.htm