Singapore, 28 March 2012 – The Criminal Procedure Code of Singapore: Annotations and Commentary was launched today by the Honourable the Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong and the Honourable Attorney-General Sundaresh Menon, SC.

“CPC 2010 represents a watershed for Singapore’s criminal justice system,” said Mr Menon. “The new code which features a myriad of new ideas, initiatives and provisions carry the potential to trip even the most experienced criminal law practitioners and prosecutors, a fact reflected by the attendance of 140 practitioners at a CPC 2010 training seminar organised by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (“AGC”) in November 2010.”

Amongst the more prominent features of the CPC 2010 is the creation of a statutory criminal discovery regime both in the Subordinate Courts and Supreme Court and the introduction of community sentencing options for certain offences. These and other new reforms under the CPC 2010 are analysed in The Criminal Procedure Code of Singapore: Annotations and Commentary, published by Academy Publishing, the publishing arm of the Singapore Academy of Law.

The Criminal Procedure Code of Singapore: Annotations and Commentary captures and discusses the various new mechanisms that are found in the CPC 2010 and provides a systematic section by section analysis. There is also comprehensive coverage of case law that is still relevant under the new code. The book is written by a team of six prosecutors and a judicial officer, and lead by editors Ms Jennifer Marie who was formerly Chief Prosecutor of the Criminal Justice Division of the AGC (currently Deputy Chief District Judge of the Subordinate Courts) and Mohamed Faizal Mohamed Abdul Kadir, Deputy Senior State Counsel of the Criminal Justice Division of the AGC. It is the first book on criminal practice written by those who practice the subject on a daily basis.

Given the comprehensive manner in which authors have handled the subject, the book will be an essential reference guide for criminal practitioners, prosecutors and students.

In support of the Yellow Ribbon Project, from now till April 2012, Academy Publishing and the AGC will donate 50% of the net proceeds from the sale of the leatherbound edition to the Yellow Ribbon Fund which administers funding to the development and implementation of reintegration programmes for inmates and ex-offenders, as well as family support programmes to strengthen family ties.

Apart from this publication, Mr Menon said that the AGC will continue its initiatives to bridge the gap between theory and practice in the field of criminal law and procedure. This includes running courses on advanced criminal law at the NUS Law Faculty and organising the bi-annual Criminal Law Conference. The AGC is also looking at undertaking a new publication with the Singapore Academy of Law on the Misuse of Drugs Act

Where to buy the book

The Criminal Procedure Code of Singapore: Annotations and Commentary priced at S$96.30 (softcover edition) and S$267.50 (leatherbound edition) (including GST) is available at major bookstores in Singapore. Orders can also be placed online via the Singapore Academy of Law website www.sal.org.sg/ebookshop. For more information, call 63324388.

About the authors

Editors:
Editor-in-Chief: Jennifer Marie
General Editor: Mohamed Faizal Mohamed Abdul Kadir

Contributors:
Lee Lit Cheng
Han Ming Kuang
Lee Jwee Nguan
Toh Shin Hao
Crystal Ong Wai Mun
Chua Ying-Hong
Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz

About Academy Publishing

Academy Publishing is a division of the Singapore Academy of Law. It was officially launched on 18 May 2007 by the President of the Academy, the Honourable the Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong. This division was set up to publish books and other texts on Singapore law, and its objectives are threefold:

• To provide affordable legal materials to the legal profession (including corporate counsel), law academics, law students, and the Judiciary;
• To provide an alternative avenue to the academics in our law schools to publish their writings and thereby to encourage them to produce more works; and
• To disseminate the laws of Singapore to a wider public in the region and internationally.

The titles to be published are selected by a Commissioning Panel helmed by the Honourable Judge of Appeal Justice Andrew Phang Boon Leong.

Academy Publishing is not profit-driven and its immediate priority is to publish books on areas of law that fulfil practice and student needs, although other kinds of legal texts will also be included.