Singapore lawyer Amolat Singh says some of his friends have been puzzled by a phrase they have been reading in the newspapers: "con- 1

tempt of court". Do people get into such trouble

because they do not have a lawyer to plead their case, they ask him.

Or does it have something to do with not properly addressing a judge in court?

The phrase has come up in re- ports about opposition politician Chee Soon Juan, 46, and his sister Siok Chin, 42, who were recently given jail terms of 12 and 10 days re- spectively by a judge for "scandalis- ing the court".

The Chees had represented themselves.

A senior lawyer with 15 years of experience, Mr Singh readily takes such questions in his stride. After all, contempt of court is rarely re- ported here.

The reason the Chees were found to be in contempt was not re- lated to the fact that they had repre- sented themselves or that they may not have known how to address the court, he said. Others have gone to court without legal counsel and have come away unfazed by court procedures, he added.

Mr Singh and other lawyers that The Sunday Times spoke to stressed that contempt of court is a very seri-

Publication: The Sunday Times, p 37 Date: 15 June 2008 Headline: What Qualifies As Contempt Of Court

What qualifies as contempt of court ous matter in any country where the rule of law is paramount.

This is because when judges make decisions, these must be seen to be fair. Their decisions can be ap- pealed against but not in a manner that attacks their authority.

As law professor Eugene Tan ex- plained, "contempt of court" cov- ers all conduct, inside and outside the court room, that defies the au- thority or dignity of the court.

He said contempt-of-court con- duct can be broadly divided into four categories:

Interfering deliberately with the court proceedings and their out- come. Examples of this would be in- timidating or bribing witnesses or the judge; C o n t e m p t in the face of the court. Using abusive or threatening language or creating a disturbance in court are examples of this;

Scandalising the court. This in- cludes conduct that goes beyond reasonable criticism and amounts to attacking the integrity of the court and undermining the adrnin- istration of justice;

Interfering with the administra-

tion of justice. Dis- tempt of court, obeying court or- the easier - and ders and breach- more practical - ing undertakings solution would given to the court be to send him would fall into out of the court- this category. room.

The crucial He added: point is that such "Judges know conduct interferes that coming to with the adminis- court isn't like tration of justice coming t o a and undermines birthday party. the reputation People have and standing of grievances, heat- the judiciary and ed words may be the rule of law, exchanged, toes said Prof Tan. Teo Cheng Wa may be stepped

"The definition on. is deliberately "But they broad, so as to cover the innumera- won't throw the rulebook at them ble ways in which the authority immediately. Usually there will be and dignity of the courts can be un- warnings, and the offender will usu- dermined," he noted. ally apologise or back off."

In fact, judges - despite having such broad powers - have generally Exampkr of contempt been very tolerant.

Mr ~ & g h gave a hypothetical ex- ample: Someone's cellphone repeat- CO~TEMPT of is most corn- edly rings while he is in court. A]- monly seen when court orders are though the judge can theoretically defied. At the Family Court, people cite the offending person for con- are cited for contempt almost daily,

such as when a man fails to pay maintenance in a divorce case.

Another example of defying a court order would be releasing de- tails about a young victim of a sex crime when a judge has prohibited it to protect the child's identity.

As for scandalising the court, which the Chees were found @ty of, lawyers estimate that such cases happen only once in a few years.

In such cases, typically, some- one persists in attacking the charac- ter of a judge. These cases get report- ed in the media too.

Chee had been cited before for scandalising the court; he was sen- tenced to eight days in jail for the offence in 2006. His latest citation makes him likely to be the first per- son to be convicted twice for such an offence.

The latest charges against him and his sister were due to their be- haviour during a three-day hearing last month to assess damages in a defamation suit brought against them by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

Justice Belinda Ang, who was the judge, cited the Chees for 15 in-

stances of contempt. These includ- ed accusing her of pre-judging the case and "rubber-stamping" every application made by the lawyer for the Lees.

Chee's 12-day jail sentence is the stiffest given here so far for con- tempt by scandalising the court.

However, in the High Court, where he was charged, there is no maximum limit set on the length of the jail term or fine that can be imposed, the lawyers noted.

In the Subordinate Courts, the maximum jail term for contempt is six months or a fine not exceeding $2,000, or both.

Prof Tan notes that no one is above the law, and even lawyers can be cited for contempt -as long as the person's conduct under- mines the authority of the court, or interferes with the administration of justice.

"What is often misunderstood is that in a case of contempt of court, it is not the court or judge per se who is offended," he said.

"It's the due administration of justice that is being undermined and threatened."

Said criminal lawyer Subhas Anandan: "When you accuse the judge of bias, you accuse the whole system of justice. It's a very serious allegation."

Source: The Straits Times O Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.