Timeframe from Final Appellate Court Decision to Date of Hanging, and Timing of Notification of Clemency Outcome and Execution Date to Petitioner
Ministry of Home AffairsSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the execution timelines and clemency notification procedures for death row inmates, as raised by Ms Sylvia Lim. Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam stated that the median and average time from a final appellate decision to execution is roughly one year. He noted that while clemency outcomes and execution notices have been issued simultaneously since 2016, the government is currently reviewing this procedure. Following a Court of Appeal decision, the Ministry aims to notify prisoners of their clemency results in advance of their execution dates. This review intends to ensure that the notification of the clemency outcome and the execution date are no longer provided at the same time.
Transcript
11 Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) where persons are sentenced to death, what is the median and average time frame from the final appellate court decision to the date of hanging; (b) where a clemency petition is filed with the President's Office, whether there are guidelines as to the time within which Cabinet advice should be rendered to the President and for the President's Office to reply to the petitioner; and (c) whether it is usual for the prisoner and his family to receive both the reply from President's Office on clemency and the notice of the execution date from the Prisons Service at the same time.
Mr K Shanmugam: The median and average time from the final appellate court decision to the date of execution is around one year, for executions in recent years. Each clemency petition is carefully considered on its own merits. There is no expressly stipulated timeline by which Cabinet's advice should be rendered to the President or by which the President's Office should reply to the petitioner.
The Member asked about the timing of the notification of the clemency outcome and the notification of the execution date. It has been the procedure for a prisoner and his family to receive both the notification of the clemency outcome from the President's Office and the notification of the execution date from the Singapore Prison Service at the same time since 2016. Following a consideration of the Court of Appeal's decision in CA/CM 6/2019, we are reviewing the procedure, in particular to notify the prisoner and the petitioner of the clemency outcome some time in advance of the notification of the execution date.