COURT PROSECUTION CASES

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COURT PROSECUTION CASES: 17.

Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Law since 2000 (a) what has been the success rate of charges brought to the courts by public prosecutors for each year; (b) what is the percentage of defendants who chose to plead guilty instead of claiming trial; and (c) for those who claimed trial and were subsequently

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found not guilty by the courts, what remedial actions were they able to take to claim for the legal cost and damage to their reputation.

Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong: Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to declare my private and public interest on this Question. My pending court case has brought to my understanding that many charged defendants of minor offences had chosen to plead guilty and pay the court fines rather than to claim trial and incur high legal cost to prove their innocence. Question No. 17, Sir.

Mr Speaker: You have two minutes, Prof. Ho.

Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee (for the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Law): Mr Speaker, Sir, over the past three years, the average success rate of convictions obtained for charges brought by Public Prosecutors is about 98%. Also, over the past three years, an average of about 97% of the accused persons chose to plead guilty instead of claiming trial.

Sir, the fact that one has been acquitted does not mean that he is entitled to seek compensation solely on the ground that he was not convicted. An acquittal does not mean that the prosecution was wrongful or should never have been brought. There may be an acquittal for various reasons. This general position is in line with the law of other countries. After all, the burden of proof on the prosecution is a high one, that is to say, the Public Prosecutor must prove his case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Of course, if the prosecution had acted arbitrarily or maliciously, the acquitted accused person may pursue a civil action for malicious prosecution. This is a common law principle, which provides a remedy when there is bad faith.

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In addition, under the Criminal Procedure Code, when the prosecution is frivolous or vexatious, the trial court can make such a finding on acquitting the accused, to acknowledge in public that the accused should not have been prosecuted. In that kind of case, the court may order the complainant or the person on whose information the prosecution was instituted to pay costs, charges and expenses incurred by the accused in his defence. Sir, also, the High Court has the power to award costs to be paid by the parties, including the Public Prosecutor, as it thinks fit.

3.00 pm

Mr Speaker: Order. End of Question time.

[ Pursuant to Standing Order No. 22, Written Answers to Question Nos. 20 and 21 on the Order Paper are reproduced in the Appendix*. Question Nos. 18, 19 and 22 have been postponed to the sitting of Parliament on 14th February 2006. ]

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