In an article on Friday, April 27 2007, the Law Society of Singapore has told lawyers that they can request access to an accused person during his remand period so long as it does not provide any interference to any police investigations which are going on.
In my opinion, this new project that the police had undertaken is bringing us a step closer towards fairer treatment to all persons before the Law. I personally applaud this move as I believe it is essential to uphold equality in our judiciary system, and to also ensure fairness to everyone.
Singapore’s Constitution states that any accused person is allowed to seek legal counsel, so why the irony for keeping one in remand during investigations? According to a minister, this system is in place to allow “police officers to conduct investigations freely and effectively”. However, if you put yourself in the accused shoes, how would it feel to have your rights being infringed on and not being able to understand how better to help yourself?
Nonetheless, I know I am rather naive to think that equality and fairness can be upheld all the time for everyone, including criminals and murderers. I also acknowledge that fact that we must not overlook the importance to ensure fairness to the victim, and the need for the police to complete a thorough and effective investigation before any trial and prosecution.
However, upon taking the police’s point of view, this precaution is logical in the sense that it will prevent any possible tampering of essential evidences that are related to the case, if the accused was allowed to meet up with his lawyer, which may cause an impediment to the working of justice.
In my opinion, if the victim is placed in any disadvantage because of any interference in the police’s investigation, then I think the purpose of ensuring fairness to the accused by allowing him to meet his lawyer is completely lost. I acknowledge that not being in the police can make me unable to apprehend the need for precautions they have to take to ensure that no one is maligned of any charges. However I do know the difficulty of being an arm of Law, and the need to maintain a unbiased stand during all investigations.
However, standing in other country’s perspective, they may say that Singapore is being a paranoid country for not upholding individual rights as one of its basic principles. As a democratic country, I admit Singapore is not doing enough to safeguard personal and individual interest.
But still, we must understand that it is all these stringent checks and rules that are in place that ensures us a safe and peaceful place to live in as compared to many more “liberal” and “open” countries.
All in all, I believe that it’s a good step that the police have taken to uphold individual rights and personal freedom, but still there is more to be done provided that it does not compromise anyone who is involved.
Labels: English Blog Article
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