Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
9-2023
Abstract
After nearly fifty years of the mandatory death penalty for drug offences, Singapore amended its law in 2012 to give judges a choice in certain situations to impose a sentence of death or life imprisonment instead. However, this change should not be misunderstood as an alteration in Singapore’s zero-tolerance approach towards illegal drugs. Escaping the mandatory death penalty regime under the new law requires fulfilment of strict conditions. This article reviews the exceptional circumstances that are required before judges are given the discretion to impose the death penalty or not and the application of the new law by the Singapore courts.
Discipline
Asian Studies | Criminal Law | Food and Drug Law
Research Areas
Public Interest Law, Community and Social Justice
Publication
Australian Journal of Asian Law
Volume
24
Issue
1
First Page
83
Last Page
94
ISSN
1443-0738
Publisher
University of Melbourne Faculty of Law
Citation
CHAN, Wing Cheong.
Escape from the Hangman's Noose? Singapore's discretionary death penalty for drug traffickers. (2023). Australian Journal of Asian Law. 24, (1), 83-94.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/4326
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.