New measures to protect complainants of sexual offences from improper questioning in court

The courts on Jan 13 implemented new measures aimed at protecting complainants of sexual offences from improper questioning, while preserving the right of accused persons to a fair trial.

The judiciary will pilot the use of a checklist at the pretrial stage to help identify the contentious issues that are likely to be explored in cross-examination.

This will enable the judge to shut out lines of questioning that are irrelevant or insulting to the complainant during the trial.

In addition, cases involving certain sexual offences will be heard by a specialist list of experienced and specially trained judges.

The measures were announced by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon on Jan 13 at the annual ceremony to mark the opening of the legal year.

He said in his speech: “These cases require careful handling because of the impact the trial process can have on both complainants and accused persons.”

The introduction of these measures follows the Chief Justice’s earlier comments on the need for judges to take a more active supervisory role in the management of such cases.

The comments were made in the written grounds of decision on a molestation case the Chief Justice issued on Dec 3, 2024.

That case involved 42-year-old software engineer Thangarajan Elanchezhian, who molested a 16-year-old girl on a bus in September 2021.

Thangarajan’s appeal against his conviction and sentence of six months’ jail was dismissed by the Chief Justice.

In his written grounds, the Chief Justice set out a recommended approach for how judges should manage the questioning of a complainant in trials involving sexual offences.

He said that while complainants must be protected from undue and insensitive harassment, this protection must be balanced against the accused person’s right to challenge the complainant’s testimony.

The Chief Justice recommended that, before the trial begins, the judge should hold a pretrial conference with the prosecution and the defence to identify the main issues in contention.

At the trial itself, the judge will have to assess the permissibility of each question or line of questioning as it is being posed to the complainant in cross-examination, he said.

The Chief Justice said a line of questioning where the 16-year-old victim of molestation was asked why she did not seek immediate help when the incident occurred would likely have been disallowed if the recommended approach had been applied.

In response to queries, a Singapore Courts spokesperson said the pilot of the pretrial checklist puts into practice the need for more active case management discussed by the Chief Justice in that case.

The spokesperson said that currently, for every criminal case, parties have to file a checklist to the court at least seven days before a case conference that is held ahead of a trial.

Building on this existing checklist, parties will now be required to confer on the factual and legal issues that are likely to arise at trial.

Accused persons who are represented by a lawyer will also have to provide information on the disputed issues, among other things.

Parties also have to provide estimates of the time they require for the questioning of each witness.

As for the specialist list judges, the spokesperson said 23 judges will be assigned to hear certain sexual offence cases.

They comprise 11 High Court judges and 12 district judges in the State Courts.

In the High Court, all sexual offences will be heard by the judges on the specialist list.

This covers trials, plead guilty mentions, appeals from State Courts cases, criminal motions and criminal revisions.

In the State Courts, the judges on the specialist list will hear trials for serious sexual offences, such as where there is a penetrative act, the exploitation of a vulnerable person, an abuse of a position of trust, the use of deception, or the use of violence, said the spokesperson.

They will also hear trials involving complainants or accused persons with special needs that impact their ability to give evidence.

The spokesperson added that in conjunction with the launch of the specialist list, steps are being taken to enhance training and resources for these judges to build deeper expertise in handling sexual offence cases.

Workplace bullying and harassment

In his speech on Jan 13, the Chief Justice also gave an update on the final report of an ethics and professional standards committee that was formed two years ago to develop a strategy to reinforce the moral centre and values of the legal profession.

He highlighted that in a survey of young lawyers, workplace bullying and harassment were commonly cited as key issues that negatively impacted workplace culture in the profession or affected their ability to practise successfully.

To encourage safe and sustainable workplaces, the Law Society of Singapore will issue a policy on the prevention of workplace harassment and bullying, he said.

This will be followed by a toolkit to guide law firms on basic structures and procedures they can implement to prevent such conduct in the workplace.

Speaking earlier at the same event, Law Society president Lisa Sam said the policy will reaffirm the legal profession’s stance on such behaviour.

She added that the society will issue a public leadership statement, imposing a positive duty on law firms and members to actively create harassment-free and bullying-free workplaces.

The final report of the committee, which was headed by Justice Valerie Thean and Senior Counsel Jimmy Yim, also found that young lawyers are strongly drawn to work and workplaces that are aligned with their values.

Said the Chief Justice: “The profession’s culture must therefore cohere with the values and aspirations of this generation of lawyers in order to inspire and motivate them, and to avoid losing them.”

Source: Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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