Justice?
I was reading the case of Mohd Yasin bin Hussin v PP:
The appellant was convicted of murder. He had gone to the victim's house intending to burglar it. At the end of the night, he discovered she was dead only after he was done raping her. He and his co-offender then threw her body into the sea.
Cause of death was multiple rib fractures that caused congestion of the lungs, resulting in cardiac arrest.
Sick bastard.
On appeal, his conviction for murder was set aside because he had not intended to cause the particular injury (rib fractures) which was sufficiently grave to cause her death. Instead, the Privy Council (on appeal from Singapore) directed that he be convicted for causing death by rash act not amounting to culpable homicide. Consequently, this meant that his sentence from the mandatory death penalty was reduced to a max of 5 years imprisonment.
At that stage, he was not yet charged with burglary or rape. I can't seem to find what his eventual sentence was.
I guess strictly speaking, the decision of the PC wasn't wrong. But I can't help but feel that 5 years imprisonment is much too light a punishment for what he did. Perhaps with the other charges, his consecutive sentence (I do hope it's consecutive) will be much more proportionate to the crimes he committed.
But let me remind myself that "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matthew 7:1) Ultimately, God is the perfect Judge. And I am to trust in His righteousness and wisdom.
and I am after all nothing but a sinner. Murder begins in the heart.
"You have heard that it was said to those of old, "You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment." But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment." Jesus preaches in Matthew 5:21-22a.
Anyway, it made me think really hard for a very brief while. There is a difference in choosing between working for the public sector and the private sector. Sounds duh. But I meant, the prosecution has a huge duty to uphold criminal justice and it's very important that they get their job right - sourcing of evidence, deciding on the charge, how to present their case - I mean, if a criminal gets away on a technicality because of their failure to do things right, that's a huge burden to bear. In the private sector, you never know what you're going to get. You may be acting for someone who has a cause of action in protecting their property or defending a criminal but one who has been given an unfair/excessive charge. Of course the type of law you want to specialize and practice in is a factor.
It was naive and narrow-minded perception of mine that I could not be in the public sector because I didn't get a scholarship. But I guess that helped me decide, by default. Perhaps my passion to serve wasn't strong enough for it to have been so easily extinguished. Perhaps I've always allowed my choices to be made by default. Interestingly, choosing to intern at MinLaw over AGC when the offers clashed was probably a factor that has pushed me further from the path of a prosecutor. And even then, the choice was really made for me. Maybe it was my boss' ploy. We'll see. Practice comes later. Gotta tackle the exams first. If not all talk goes down the drain.
The appellant was convicted of murder. He had gone to the victim's house intending to burglar it. At the end of the night, he discovered she was dead only after he was done raping her. He and his co-offender then threw her body into the sea.
Cause of death was multiple rib fractures that caused congestion of the lungs, resulting in cardiac arrest.
Sick bastard.
On appeal, his conviction for murder was set aside because he had not intended to cause the particular injury (rib fractures) which was sufficiently grave to cause her death. Instead, the Privy Council (on appeal from Singapore) directed that he be convicted for causing death by rash act not amounting to culpable homicide. Consequently, this meant that his sentence from the mandatory death penalty was reduced to a max of 5 years imprisonment.
At that stage, he was not yet charged with burglary or rape. I can't seem to find what his eventual sentence was.
I guess strictly speaking, the decision of the PC wasn't wrong. But I can't help but feel that 5 years imprisonment is much too light a punishment for what he did. Perhaps with the other charges, his consecutive sentence (I do hope it's consecutive) will be much more proportionate to the crimes he committed.
But let me remind myself that "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matthew 7:1) Ultimately, God is the perfect Judge. And I am to trust in His righteousness and wisdom.
and I am after all nothing but a sinner. Murder begins in the heart.
"You have heard that it was said to those of old, "You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment." But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment." Jesus preaches in Matthew 5:21-22a.
Anyway, it made me think really hard for a very brief while. There is a difference in choosing between working for the public sector and the private sector. Sounds duh. But I meant, the prosecution has a huge duty to uphold criminal justice and it's very important that they get their job right - sourcing of evidence, deciding on the charge, how to present their case - I mean, if a criminal gets away on a technicality because of their failure to do things right, that's a huge burden to bear. In the private sector, you never know what you're going to get. You may be acting for someone who has a cause of action in protecting their property or defending a criminal but one who has been given an unfair/excessive charge. Of course the type of law you want to specialize and practice in is a factor.
It was naive and narrow-minded perception of mine that I could not be in the public sector because I didn't get a scholarship. But I guess that helped me decide, by default. Perhaps my passion to serve wasn't strong enough for it to have been so easily extinguished. Perhaps I've always allowed my choices to be made by default. Interestingly, choosing to intern at MinLaw over AGC when the offers clashed was probably a factor that has pushed me further from the path of a prosecutor. And even then, the choice was really made for me. Maybe it was my boss' ploy. We'll see. Practice comes later. Gotta tackle the exams first. If not all talk goes down the drain.