Singapore—On the heels of acquitted Indonesian helper Parti Liyani filing court action seeking disciplinary proceedings against two Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) prosecutors comes the news that the AGC is now seeking leave to be heard at the said application.
Aside from seeking leave to be heard, the AGC is also seeking to submit the court notes related in Ms Parti’s case, as well as present to the Chief Justice pertinent extracts of evidence that she and other witnesses gave.
The straitstimes.com (ST) reports that the originating summons application of Ms Parti had been taken out on an ex parte basis, in which case only the applicant can be heard, except if the court decides otherwise.
The ST report said that the AGC has sought to be represented at the application hearing, as well as applied to place extracts from the record of the proceedings from Ms Parti’s trial at the State Court.
The AGC also wants to include evidence notes that apply to Ms Parti and her former employers, Liew Mun Leong and his wife, Madam Ng Lai Peng. Prominent businessman Mr Liew is the former Chairman of the Changi Airport Group (CAG), a position from which he only recently stepped down, in the wake of Ms Parti’s acquittal.
The prosecution’s closing submissions in the trial and a copy of Ms Parti’s appeal petition are also among the other documents that the AGC seeks to include.
If what the AGC asks for is approved, Senior State Counsel Kristy Tan and Jeyendran Jeyapal as well as State Counsel Jocelyn Teo will represent the prosecutors from Ms Parti’s case.
On Wednesday (Sep 23), Ms Parti took to court to seek disciplinary proceedings against the two deputy public prosecutors in her case, Mr Tan Wee Hao, and Ms Tan Yanying.
Representing her was her lawyer, Mr Anil Balchandani, who attended a pre-trial conference in the High Court against representatives from the AGC for an originating summons to seek disciplinary proceedings against legal service officers. A further case management hearing will be held later on.
Should Ms Parti’s application succeed, proceedings to determine whether there had been prosecutorial misconduct in her original case may follow.
According to a report from CNA, if due cause is shown with proof that the legal service officer is guilty of misconduct, he or she could be punished under Section 82A, which governs misconduct by legal service officers or non-practising solicitors.
Penalties include censures, being struck off the roll, penalty of up to S$20,000, or any other order a disciplinary tribunal deems fit. —/TISG
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