A novel approach to deriving sentencing frameworks – Sentencing as a science and/or art? Supreme Court Case Summary: Takaaki Masui v Public Prosecutor

• Main Authors: TOH, Keith Ian Ray, ANG, Shawn De Xian
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2022
• Subjects: Courts; Dispute Resolution and Arbitration
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sljlexicon/11; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sljlexicon/article/1014/viewcontent/A_NOVEL.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

In Takaaki Masui v Public Prosecutor and another appeal and other matters [2021] 4 SLR 160 (“Masui v PP”), the High Court (“HC”) introduced a new sentencing framework for purely private corruption offences under ss 6(a) and 6(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (Cap 241, 1993 Rev Ed) (“PCA”). Significantly, the HC utilised mathematical concepts to evaluate and determine the content of sentencing frameworks, and also employed multiple two-dimensional and three-dimensional (“2D” and “3D”) graphs to represent various sentencing frameworks. This case summary will explore the analytical method employed by the HC and discuss whether the new sentencing framework derived from it is a material departure from traditional sentencing frameworks.