The Prosecution of Lingle for Contempt of Court by former Chief Justice and NUS Law Distinguished Fellow Mr Chan Sek Keong Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore 21 November 2014 The prosecution of Christopher Lingle, a NUS Senior Fellow in European Studies, and International Herald Tribune for contempt of court in 1994 caused a minor kerfuffle among the Western liberal media. Twenty years later, it continues to reverberate in Singapore’s political, legal and academic environment. To critics, foreign and local, of Singapore’s political system, it was a symbol of repression of political dissent by an intolerant regime. To free speech proponents, it was an act of suppression of free speech by an intolerant regime. To the Government, it was a necessary act to prevent confidence in the independence and integrity the courts - of its most important state institutions - from being undermined. To the Public Prosecutor, it was a legitimate apolitical and impartial act of law enforcement of a constitutionally-sanctioned law. To the legal profession, it was grist to the mill, even if some disagreed with the law or the purpose of the prosecution. To academics, it might have been an act of suppression academic freedom of expression and research in relation to the politics of Singapore. To law students, it was just another case they had to study in constitutional and criminal law. There is however, one other face, or phase, of this prosecution that the public does not know of. The then Attorney-General who prosecuted Lingle considers it a forensic triumph, given the limitations of the investigative framework. In this talk, he will revisit why he did what he had to do in order to bring the requisite evidence before the court. He will also offer some comments on whether the law of contempt of court is still necessary or obsolete as a coercive measure of self-protection for the courts to be judges in their own cause.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 14:12:45 +0000
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