How strong is public support for the death penalty in Singapore?

• Main Authors: CHAN, Wing-Cheong, TAN, Ern Ser, LEE, Jack Tsen-Ta, MATHI, Braema
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
• Subjects: Death penalty; Deterrence; Public opinion; Singapore; Asian Studies; Human Rights Law; Law and Society
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/2394; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/4352/viewcontent/101007_2Fs11417_017_9260_y.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Singapore is well known internationally for its uncompromising stance towards law and order and its use of the death penalty in particular for murder and drug trafficking. Until 2012, it was one of the few countries in the world where the death penalty was mandatory for persons convicted of these two crimes. The law was amended in 2012 to give a judge the choice to impose the death penalty or life imprisonment (with caning) for non-intentional murder and drug trafficking in some situations. What do Singaporeans think of the use of the death penalty in their own country? This article reports on some findings of a survey conducted in 2016 on 1500 Singaporeans to assess their knowledge and support of the death penalty.