Unwrapped: Understanding Singapore's Judicial System

There is no doubt that the Singapore judicial system is said to be firm, just and fair; yet, according to reports in the media it seems to mete out different punishments to different people committing similar offences.

In our weekly series Unwrapped, TheHomeGround Asia takes a closer look at major stories and happenings that impact Singaporeans.

In early August, it sentenced two women, one a Briton and the other a Mongolian, differently for having kicked police officers on two separate occasions.

Briton Carlie Jayne Guy, 37, was fined $4,000 on 4 Aug after she pleaded guilty to a charge of voluntarily causing hurt and two charges over the use of criminal force. She had, on 2 Feb 2019, pushed a taxi driver into the bushes after a dispute over the fare and had scratched and kicked police officers who were called to the scene.

In the second case, Mongolian Boldbaatar Odonchimeg, 35, was sentenced to 12 weeks' jail and fined $3,000 on 8 Aug after she, too, pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing hurt to a police officer and another charge of harassment committed on 6 Dec last year. She had kicked the policeman in the groin, causing him to suffer a bruise.

TheHomeGround Asia speaks to Partner at IRB LAW LLP Muntaz Zainuddin to understand why this discrepancy seems to exist.

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