Former transport minister S. Iswaran pleaded guilty to five charges in court on Sept 24. ST ILLUSTRATION: MIEL
SINGAPORE: Former transport minister S. Iswaran on Tuesday (Sept 24) pleaded guilty to five charges – four charges under Section 165 over obtaining, as a civil servant, valuable items and one charge of obstructing the course of justice.
Iswaran, who faced a total of 35 charges, had released a statement after he was handed 27 charges on Jan 18, saying he was innocent and would focus on clearing his name.
What followed was months of court hearings and several likely behind-closed-doors meetings, that led to, among other things, two corruption charges being amended to Section 165 charges.
The Straits Times asked legal experts what typically happens behind the scenes leading up to an accused person’s day in court.
Q: Is it common for an accused person to plead guilty in a case where a trial is indicated at the onset?
A: It is not uncommon for an accused person to plead guilty even though he might have initially indicated he would like to claim trial, said Mr Alexander Woon, provost’s chair at Singapore University of Social Sciences School of Law.
Woon, who currently practices at RHTLaw Asia, said out of the six cases he was assigned to as a deputy public prosecutor for four years that were meant to go to trial, five ended in a plea of guilt.
He said: “Early on in the process, many accused persons will think they are not guilty and feel they can contest the charge.
“But as time goes on, as the defence talks to the prosecution, and there’s disclosure of evidence, it may become increasingly obvious that, actually, there’s nothing to contest. And it goes from a contested charge to a plea of guilt.”
Q: What goes on between the defence and the prosecution at the pre-trial stage?
A: SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan said the exchange between a defence lawyer and the prosecution at the pre-trial stage often happens through representations. This could be fewer or less severe charges in exchange for a guilty plea.
Woon said while this process is known colloquially as plea bargaining, this could be misleading.
He said: “Unlike other jurisdictions where there is a formal plea bargaining process, in Singapore, under the Constitution, the prosecution has discretion. You can ask the prosecution for things, but whether they agree or not is entirely up to them.
“The courts in Singapore are also not bound by anything that goes on during this process.”
Prof Tan said the public prosecutor’s acceptance of the guilty plea offer by Iswaran removes the uncertainty of a trial’s outcome in terms of securing a conviction.
He added: “It also saves public resources, especially in a prolonged trial.”
Prof Tan said: “The Public Prosecutor believes that they could have made out a case on the Prevention of Corruption Act charges.
“Nevertheless, the plea bargain agreed to in this case secures the certainty of conviction on section 165 of the Penal Code charges and the obstruction of justice charge while also producing a reasonable and fair outcome and with the accused being held accountable for his actions.”
In response to media queries, an AGC spokesperson said that in deciding whether to amend the charges, it considered the litigation risks involved in proving the corruption charges beyond a reasonable doubt at trial, given that there are two primary parties to the transactions, and both would have an interest in denying corruption in the transactions.
“AGC also considered whether the amendment would lead to a fair and just outcome that is in line with the public interest,” it added.
Q: What does it mean when charges are taken into consideration?
A: A total of 30 charges will be taken into consideration during Iswaran’s sentencing on Oct 3.
Prof Tan said this refers to a situation where an accused person admits to the charges, but he is not convicted of them.
“The effect of offences taken into consideration is to raise the total sentence imposed for the offences for which the accused was convicted of,” he said.
Prof Tan added it is not uncommon for the public prosecutor to recommend to the court to take into consideration charges for the purposes of sentencing, when an individual elects to plead guilty.
Prof Tan cited Section 148(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, which states that the court may take into consideration other offences in passing sentence in cases begun by the public prosecutor, with consent of the prosecution and the accused.
“Bearing (this) in mind, the public prosecutor and the defence would have to agree on the number and nature of charges Iswaran pleads guilty to and the number and nature of charges taken into consideration,” he added. - The Straits Times/ANN
