No plans to amend presumptions under Misuse of Drugs Act for possession: Shanmugam

A law that shifts the burden of proof to offenders caught with a certain amount of drugs will be defended by the Government amid a constitutional challenge before the Court of Appeal.

In a ministerial statement on April 8, Minister for Home Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam said there are no plans to amend the law, but he added that the courts will decide on the constitutionality of presumptions under the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA).

Under the law, a person who is proven to be in possession of certain things containing a controlled drug is presumed to have had that drug in his possession, until he proves the contrary.

The law also states that any individual who has in possession an amount of drugs that crosses certain thresholds, for example, 2g of diamorphine, is presumed to be trafficking the illicit substance.

Mr Shanmugam said the presumptions deal with the accused’s knowledge of the nature of the drugs and address challenges in proving certain facts that are exclusively within the accused person’s knowledge, of which it would not be practical for the prosecution to obtain direct evidence.

“For example, the prosecution will be able to prove that the drugs were in the accused person’s possession. But it will be very easy for the accused to claim that he did not know that they were drugs, and by that way, try and avoid conviction,” he added.

Mr Shanmugam said it may not be easy for the prosecution to rebut this claim, or get the necessary evidence to prove that the accused person was aware that they were drugs, for example, if such evidence may be overseas.

Under the MDA, the onus is on the accused to prove that he did not know that what was found to be in his possession were drugs, which the minister said are usually facts within the accused’s knowledge.

The minister was responding to a parliamentary question by Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim (Chua Chu Kang GRC) on possible plans by the Government to introduce amendments to the law.

Mr Shanmugam said Mr Zhulkarnain’s question may have arisen because of a specific challenge before the courts.

The Court of Appeal is slated to hear submissions involving four convicted drug traffickers.

The inmates, who lost their case in the High Court in November 2024, had argued then that provisions in the MDA violate the constitutionally protected presumption of innocence.

As the matter is before the Court of Appeal, the High Court on Feb 19 granted a stay of execution for Malaysian national Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, who was convicted in 2017 of importing 51.84g of heroin into Singapore.

The stay was ordered on the grounds of the constitutional challenge, as well as the determination of Pannir’s complaint to the Law Society against his former counsel.

Separately, an order of respite was granted on Feb 24 for convicted drug offender, Singaporean Hamzah Ibrahim, by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam on the advice of Cabinet in the light of developments in the courts.

Hamzah was convicted of having 26.29g of heroin in his possession for the purpose of trafficking and sentenced to death in 2017.

In his statement, Mr Shanmugam said that under the law, the prosecution must first prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the drugs were in the accused person’s possession, in order to trigger the presumption of knowledge.

“Also, the prosecution must still prove all the other elements of the offence beyond a reasonable doubt,” he added.

Mr Shanmugam said that while many other countries have faced huge difficulties in combating drugs, Singapore has been able to maintain one of the lowest rates of drug abuse in the world.

“That is despite the worsening global drug situation, and our location at the doorstep of the Golden Triangle, one of the world’s leading areas for the production of illicit drugs.

“The presumptions have been an essential part of the legal framework that enables us to deal effectively with the drug problem,” he added.

Mr Zhulkarnain also asked if the Government reviews the fixed quantity thresholds of the presumptions, “to take into account the actual patterns of drug abuse or trafficking, and also the changing drug markets and the new substances that are coming up”.

Mr Shanmugam said the Central Narcotics Bureau and the Ministry of Home Affairs, together with the Health Sciences Authority, review the weight of the purities regularly.

“That review is done annually so that we make sure that it’s proportionate and relevant to the patterns of consumption and the market,” he said.

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

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