By Xinghui Kok
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore on Monday passed a law to hold “dangerous offenders” indefinitely, even after they complete their jail sentences.
The legislation applies to those above 21 who are convicted of crimes such as culpable homicide, rape and sex with minors, who are deemed to be at risk of reoffending upon release.
In a speech in parliament, Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said: “An offender who continues to pose a real danger to others should not be released.”
He gave an example of a man jailed for raping his 6-year-old stepdaughter, who, after his release started sexually assaulting his sister’s granddaughter who was 10 in 2015. In 2017, he sexually assaulted the girl’s younger sister who was 9.
“We have to deal with these kinds of menace and protect our society,” said Shanmugam.
The new law means that instead of being automatically released after completing their prison terms, such offenders would need the home affairs minister to decide that they were no longer a threat to the public.
The minister would be advised by a review board made up of experts such as retired judges, lawyers, psychiatrists and psychologists, and the offender and his lawyers can make representations to the board. Those found unfit for release will have their case reviewed annually.
Singapore estimates this law will affect fewer than 30 offenders a year.
Looks like a big W so far, but I’d be open to hear how this could blow up in our faces.
It makes prison sentences more arbitrary rather than there being a standard fixed in law that is applied universally, somewhat objectively, and not subject to a single person’s unchecked discretion.
As with anything that allows for state power to be exercised more arbitrarily, this legislation is autocratising. That’s not necessarily a bad thing—it just means you have to put more trust in the Government to not abuse the power they’ve gained.
And if there’s One Thing we all know about government, it’s that it does not abuse power
In principle this law seems fine. If anything, it should be accompanied by reducing sentence lengths. I haven’t read the law directly to know if there are some glaring loopholes or w/e, but at the end of the day prison should be about rehabilitation, and when thats impossible, humane indefinite incarceration.