The discretionary penalty for murder: Guidance at last

• Main Author: MOHAN, S. Chandra
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2015
• Subjects: Criminal Law
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/2267; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/4219/viewcontent/20150225_S._Chandra_Mohan_The_Discretionary_Death_Penalty_for_Murder_Guidance_at_Last.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

In a much awaited decision, the Court of Appeal (“CA”) has finally provided some guidelines to judges on whether or not to impose the discretionary death penalty in murder cases. The decision of a specially constituted court of five judges, in Kho Jabing v Public Prosecutor [2015] SGCA 1, has made history of sorts. It is a case where five judges, of whom two delivered dissenting judgments, sat to hear an appeal from the decision of a single High Court judge; and is the first CA decision under the 2012 Penal Code amendments which provides for a discretionary death penalty for murder.