OBITER

Jailhouse Rock

Facing its highest ever jail population for the first time in British history, jail sentences are to be linked to whether there are enough prison places. Judges will be expected to consider the state of prisons and the numbers already in them in deciding if a criminal should be jailed or given community sentence. The move supported by Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice, is part of a Bill that includes plans for a huge increase in the maximum fines magistrates can impose. A new system of day fines is intended to be created which will link an offender’s punishment to disposable income as well as the seriousness of the offence.

Inappropriate Trunk Calls 

We have all heard about the 1964 Borneo High Court decision, which held that it was improper conduct for a barrister to moonlight as a travelling salesman in ladies’ underwear. But did you hear about the Hong Kong solicitor, Paul Tse, who stood in the business centre of Hong Kong wearing only his swimming trunks and holding a banner `Legal rights are inborn mine too.’ Like his fellow countryman, William Hung of American Idol fame, the judges were not amused and held that such behaviour was `bound to raise eyebrows’. Paul Tse was fined HK$130,000 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for `conducting yourself in a manner likely to bring the profession to disrepute.’  
The Hong Kong Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal.

Channelling Criminal Discovery

The Workplan Meeting 2005 of the Law Society of Singapore held on 29 January 2005, saw members gather to dialogue on the Society’s roadmap for the year. One major initiative to be undertaken this year is in the area of criminal discovery. In setting out what the Criminal Practice Committee will be doing in this regard, its Chairman, Mr Edmond Pereira, quipped that that the Committee may well be called the `Discovery Channel’ this year.  Make sure you tune in for 
more details …