Laws must be seen as fair to be credible and enforceable: Shanmugam

Public outcry over penalties in individual cases do not necessary lead to review of laws, Law Minister K Shanmugam said.

Reviews of laws have been announced in cases that did not attract public attention. For example, drugs, drink-driving, false and malicious allegations against public officers are some offences that have been flagged recently for review.

So why does the government pay attention to public outcry over certain penalties?

Laws would lose their credibility and become un-enforceable if the public do not find the penalties fair, Mr Shanmugam said.

Addressing public outcry over certain punishment is not equivalent to bowing down to public pressure. It is understanding where the weight of public opinion is.

This does not mean that the government automatically agrees with the public outcry.

There are two parts to it. As Mr Shanmugam said:

“But it doesn’t mean automatically you agree with it. You must assess it, whether it is also fair. So, there are two parts to it — one, whether it is fair; two, what does the public believe is right.”

Any announcements for reviews should not be seen as an indictment of the work of the Attorney-General Chambers (AGC).

This is because the Public Prosecutor can only apply the law of the day and it is up to the Government to decide what the laws and penalties ought to be.

There is a fine balance though.

A former prosecutor, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that while public perception is a “relevant” concern, it “must not be the overriding consideration”.

“Otherwise we may run the risk of undermining the rule of law with mob justice ... In my view, it would help if the AGC engages the public more actively and explains its decisions,” said the lawyer, who is now practising in a private firm.

“This way, concerns of bowing to political pressure of public opinion would be allayed to some degree.”