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- [Virtual Roundtable #9] “Criminal Law Reform in Asia”
[Virtual Roundtable #9] “Criminal Law Reform in Asia”
Virtual Roundtable #9 on “Criminal Law Reform in Asia” took place this morning at 11AM (SGT)! The Panel featured Professor Stanley Yeo (NUS Law), Professor Michael Hor (HKU Law), Dr Farah Nini Dusuki (UM Law), Dr Jamie Walvisch (UniMelb) and Moderator, Dr Cheah Wui Ling (NUS Law).
The Roundtable began with Professor Yeo’s reflections on how political inertia affects criminal law reforms across jurisdictions, highlighting how the engagement of academics with politicians/higher government officials are pivotal for effective law reform. Professor Hor shared on issues of gross indecency and attitudes towards the death penalty in the Singapore and Hong Kong jurisdictions, noting how recent judicial shifts in attitudes towards the death penalty in Singapore may be juxtaposed with the government’s stance. Dr Farah spoke on the role of public sentiment and political will on pushing for the abolition of the mandatory death penalty in Malaysia, stressing that continued advocacy and public education was the way forward to abolition. Dr Walvisch spoke on his experience with criminal law reforms in Australia, particularly in dealing with “impaired mental functioning” in sentencing.
The session ended with a lively Q&A discussion where the Panel tackled questions on effective alternatives to the death penalty, the scope of pardons for death row inmates across jurisdictions and the general gaps in criminal codes that require reform.
This Roundtable was organised by the Centre for Asian Legal Studies (CALS) NUS in collaboration with the Asian Law Centre (UniMelb).
Missed this event? Catch up on the video recording, due on the CALS Youtube channel soon!