2012 Singapore National Round of the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition

Teams from the law faculties of the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore Management University (SMU) will compete in the 2012 Singapore National Round for the opportunity to represent Singapore at the White & Case International Rounds of the Jessup Competition, which will take place from 25-31 March 2012 in Washington, D.C..

2      Oral arguments in the Singapore National Round will be held in the Court of Appeal of Singapore, Supreme Court Building, on 4 February 2012. The judges for the oral arguments in the Singapore National Round are the Attorney-General, Mr Sundaresh Menon S.C., Judge of Appeal Justice V. K. Rajah and Managing Partner of the law firm Rodyk & Davison LLP, Mr Philip Jeyaretnam, S.C.. The Attorney-General’s Chambers is the National Administrator for the Jessup Competition in Singapore.

Please click here for AGC’s press release.

The Exercise of Prosecutorial Discretion

The exercise of prosecutorial discretion has been a matter of interest in the media and the public, especially following the recent decision of the Court of Appeal in Ramalingam Ravinthran v The Attorney-General CM 60 of 2011 ("Ramalingam's case").

Please click here for AGC's press release.

Speech by Attorney-General Sundaresh Menon SC at the Opening of Legal Year 2012 held on 6 January 2012

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On 17 October 2011, the Attorney-General gave a keynote speech on “Public International Law – A Requirement For Every Private Lawyer” at the Pacific Rim Advisory Council Conference, organized by Rodyk & Davidson LLP.

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AGC Internships in December 2011

The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) will be offering a 2 week internship programme from 5 – 16 Dec 2011. Unlike the longer 4 week summer internship programme, this shorter programme will give interns the chance to choose between the two main facets of our work – that of the Public Prosecutor and of the Legal Advisor to the government.

Those who choose to spend their time undertaking criminal prosecution work will be attached to the Crime Cluster of the AGC for the entire two weeks, where they will be mentored by Deputy Public Prosecutors and given work that will expose them to criminal litigation and the criminal justice system. Those who choose legal advisory work will be rotated to the International Affairs Division for one week, and the Civil, and Legislation and Law Reform Divisions for another week. During these two weeks, they will be given assignments that will expose them to a range of work revolving around civil litigation, international law and negotiations, legislative drafting and other types of legal advisory work.

The AGC has places for up to about 15 interns. If you wish to apply, please send a completed application form, your preferred facet of work (i.e. either criminal prosecution or legal advisory), a copy of your CV and your academic transcripts to lsc_sec@lsc.gov.sg by 10 Oct 2011.

If you require any further information on the programme, please feel free to drop the AGC internship officers an email at agc_internship@agc.gov.sg.

Court of Appeal’s Supplementary Grounds of Decision Clarify Obligations of Prosecution

On Friday 26 August 2011, the Court of Appeal released the supplemental grounds of decision in Muhammad bin Kadar and Another v Public Prosecutor [2011] SGCA 44.
In its supplementary grounds, the Court has clarified the obligations of the Prosecution to disclose what is referred to as “unused material” and how the disclosure framework developed by the Court is to sit alongside that created by Parliament under the Criminal Procedure Code (“CPC”) 2010.

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Mohammad Ashik Bin Aris

On August 17, the Court of Appeal chaired by Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong and including Justice Andrew Phang and Justice V K Rajah, dismissed the appeal against conviction for the case Mohammad Ashik Bin Aris, known as the “urine test case”, after hearing arguments from both prosecution and Defence Counsel. Grounds of decision will be issued at a later date. This case is important because it resolves the issue of what is required in testing of urine for cases of drug consumption. In the case of Lim Boon Keong v PP [2010] 4 SLR 451, questions had been raised by the High Court over the urine adequacy of the testing regime in place at the Health Sciences Authority and whether this regime met the requirements of the Misuse of Drugs Act. The Court of Appeal’s decision in Mohammad Ashik bin Aris puts to rest any such doubts about the adequacy of the regime.

Please click here to read full media release.

Inaugural Attorney-General’s Cup 2011

The Attorney-General’s (AG) Cup is a mooting competition organized by the NUS Criminal Justice Club (CJC), a sub-club under the NUS Law Club, with the support of the
Attorney-General’s Chambers and the SMU Moot Club. The competition was conceived by Professor Walter Woon of NUS Faculty of Law, shortly after he stepped down as
Attorney-General in 2010 and he then raised it with Attorney-General Sundaresh Menon, SC. AG Menon warmly endorsed the idea as a means to increase the level of interest in and awareness of criminal law issues among students, and also as a means to raise the standard of legal arguments and submissions made on criminal law issues.

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Singapore Academy of Law Litigation Internship Programme - 9 to 26 May 2011

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Speech by Attorney-General Sundaresh Menon SC at the Opening of Legal Year 2011 held on 7 January 2011

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Appointment of Second Solicitor-General Mr Lionel Yee Woon Chin

The President and Members of the Legal Service Commission have appointed Mr Lionel Yee Woon Chin as the Second Solicitor-General for an initial term of 3 years with effect from 1 January 2011.

Please click here for the media release.

Media Brief - Contempt of Court Proceedings against Mr Alan Shadrake - Summary of Hearing on 22 November 2010 on application for stay of execution of sentence

Media Brief - Contempt of Court Proceedings against Mr Alan Shadrake - Summary of Judgment delivered on 3 November 2010