Law & Order

The legal team advocating the repeal of Section 377A of the Penal Code — which criminalises acts of “gross indecency” between men — argued before the High Court on Mon (18 Nov) that sexual orientation is a product of genetic and environmental factors, and cannot be changed at will. Lawyers Eugene Thuraisingam, Suang Wijaya and Johannes Hadi of Eugene Thuraisingam …

The recent posters that highlight the punishments for committing certain crimes, including outrage of modesty, are aimed at sending “a strong deterrent message” to potential perpetrators, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) on Sat (16 Nov). Said posters, which are among the latest additions to SPF’s lineup of crime prevention visuals, were “designed to warn would-be offenders, who are unable to …

Singapore has fined Swiss banking giant UBS Sg$11.2 million ($8 million) after investigations showed its advisors deceived clients about prices for bonds and other financial products. The city-state’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said UBS had admitted liability for its advisors’ actions and paid a civil penalty. “The conduct of UBS through its representatives is unacceptable and …

Law enforcement exists to protect the people, while the government exists to serve the people, said Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in a statement on Wed (13 Nov). Tsai warned that the people’s trust in the government will cease to exist when it “no longer does what is best for its people”, and when the police “no longer protect citizens”. Her …

The prosecution has sought probation instead of a fine, following the guilty plea of an 18-year-old part-time pizza delivery rider to one charge of a negligent act endangering the personal safety of others on Tue (12 Nov). According to court documents, Skye Lee Shi Jia committed the negligent act whilst riding an e-scooter over the speed limit near Block 137, …

About 70 food-delivery riders showed up at the Meet-the-People Session (MPS) held in Taman Jurong yesterday evening (11 Nov) to urge the government to lift it’s e-scooter ban on footpaths. Dressed in their food-delivery attire, they expressed their concerns to Mr Ang Wei Neng, Member of Parliament (MP) for Jurong GRC, who sat in to hear their appeal on behalf …

Three Workers’ Party (WP) Members of Parliament (MP) – Sylvia Lim, Pritam Singh and Low Thia Khiang – and the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC) have appealed against a High Court judgement in which the WP MPs were found guilty of breaching their duties as the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) town councillors. A Supreme Court spokesperson told The Straits Times …

The Workers’ Party (WP) Members of Parliament (MP) do not have a legal obligation to recuse themselves from the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC)’s financial matters, according to a partner at law firm Eugene Thuraisingam LLP. Suang Wijaya told The Straits Times, as seen in an article published on Thu (7 Nov), that legal recuse from a matter “is generally justified …

Four Singaporean men were sentenced by the State Courts in October 2019 to between 33 months’ and 105 days’ and 45 months’ imprisonment, and fined between $8 million and $34 million, for dealing with duty-unpaid cigarettes. Singapore Customs (SC) announced in a press release on Thursday (31 October) that the four men are Kamaruddin bin Abdul Latiff, 51 years old; …

Following public transport operator SBS Transit Ltd’s decision to refer a recent wage dispute case filed by five bus drivers against the company to the Industrial Arbitration Court (IAC), a hearing was held on Mon (4 Nov) to determine whether public transport operators have the legal right to require their employees to work beyond the maximum of 44 hours per …