MASOUD RAHIMI BIN MEHRZAD & 35 Ors v ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF SINGAPORE

[2024] SGCA 11 Court of Appeal 27 March 2024 • CA/CA 1/2024 • 7 min read

2 cases cited Cited by 1 case

Catchwords

Civil Procedure — Striking out Constitutional Law — Judicial review

Practice Areas

Civil Procedure Constitutional Law

Judges (3)

Belinda Ang Saw Ean Coram Steven Chong Coram Sundaresh Menon Delivered

Counsel (4)

Attorney-General's Chambers Firm Chew Shi Jun James Counsel Respondent J Jayaletchmi Counsel Respondent Teo Meng Hui, Jocelyn Counsel Respondent

Parties (37)

Attorney-General Respondent A Steven Raj s/o Paul Raj Appellant Chandroo Subramaniam Appellant Chong Hoon Cheong Appellant Datchinamurthy a/l Kataiah Appellant Gunalan Goval Appellant Hamzah bin Ibrahim Appellant Iskandar bin Rahmat Appellant Jumaat bin Mohamed Sayed Appellant Jumadi bin Abdullah Appellant Kishor Kumar A/L Raguan Appellant Lingkesvaran Rajendaren Appellant Masoud Rahimi bin Mehrzad Appellant Moad Fadzir bin Mustaffa Appellant Mohamed Ansari bin Mohamed Abdul Aziz Appellant Mohammad Azwan bin Bohari Appellant Mohammad Reduan bin Mustaffar Appellant Mohammad Rizwan bin Akbar Husain Appellant Mohd Akebal s/o Ghulam Jilani Appellant Muhammad Hamir bin Laka Appellant Muhammad Salleh bin Hamid Appellant Omar bin Yacob Bamadhaj Appellant Pannir Selvam a/l Pranthaman Appellant Pausi bin Jefridin Appellant Ramdhan bin Lajis Appellant Roshdi bin Abdullah Altway Appellant Roslan bin Bakar Appellant Rosman bin Abdullah Appellant Saminathan Selvaraju Appellant Sanjay Krishnan Appellant Shisham bin Abdul Rahman Appellant Steve Crocker Appellant Sulaiman bin Jumari Appellant Syed Suhail bin Syed Zin Appellant Tan Kay Yong Appellant Teo Ghim Heng Appellant Zamri bin Mohd Tahir Appellant

Case Significance

Masoud Rahimi bin Mehrzad and 35 others v Attorney-General [2024] SGCA 11 is a judgment of the Court of Appeal of the Republic of Singapore (Civil Appeal No 1 of 2024), delivered on 27 March 2024 by Sundaresh Menon CJ, sitting with Steven Chong JCA and Belinda Ang Saw Ean JCA. The proceedings involved 36 appellants, led by Masoud Rahimi bin Mehrzad, against the Attorney-General as respondent, and arose out of Originating Application No 987 of 2023. According to the catchwords, the case concerned civil procedure relating to the striking out of an action and constitutional law relating to judicial review. The Attorney-General was represented by counsel from the Attorney-General's Chambers, including Chew Shi Jun James, J Jayaletchmi and Teo Meng Hui, Jocelyn.

Summary

In this Court of Appeal matter, 36 appellants who were prisoners awaiting capital punishment appealed against the General Division of the High Court's decision to strike out their constitutional challenge to two provisions of the Post-appeal Applications in Capital Cases Act 2022, which established a permission procedure for post-appeal applications in capital cases. The appellants contended that those aspects of the procedure were inconsistent with their rights under Articles 9 and 12 of the Constitution. The court observed that the procedure concerned a limited category of applications by prisoners who had already had the merits of their cases heard at trial and on appeal, and that the expectation of what due process requires for such a prisoner is likely to differ from that of an accused person being tried for the first time.

What was Masoud Rahimi bin Mehrzad v Attorney-General [2024] SGCA 11 about?

Decided by the Court of Appeal on 27 March 2024, the matter involved 36 appellants led by Masoud Rahimi bin Mehrzad against the Attorney-General. According to the catchwords, it concerned the striking out of an action in civil procedure and constitutional law issues of judicial review, arising from Originating Application No 987 of 2023.

Who heard the appeal in [2024] SGCA 11?

The Court of Appeal panel was led by Sundaresh Menon CJ, who delivered the judgment, sitting with Steven Chong JCA and Belinda Ang Saw Ean JCA. The case, Civil Appeal No 1 of 2024, was decided on 27 March 2024 against the Attorney-General as respondent.