ISKANDAR BIN RAHMAT & 35 Ors v ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF SINGAPORE

Q: Which legislation does [2024] SGHC 122 consider?

The judgment refers to Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68). The statutes cited are listed in full on this page, each linking to its primary text.

[2024] SGHC 122 High Court (General Division) 20 May 2024 • HC/OA 306/2024 ( HC/SUM 1124/2024 ) • 22 min read

14 cases cited (13 SG, 1 foreign) Cited by 3 cases

Catchwords

Civil Procedure — Striking out Constitutional Law — Equality before the law Constitutional Law — Fundamental liberties — Right to counsel

Practice Areas

Civil Procedure Constitutional Law

Judges (1)

Dedar Singh Gill Delivered

Counsel (4)

Attorney-General's Chambers Firm Chan Yi Cheng Counsel Respondent Darren Sim Counsel Respondent Timotheus Koh Counsel Respondent

Parties (37)

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

Case Significance

Iskandar bin Rahmat and others v Attorney-General [2024] SGHC 122 was decided in the General Division of the High Court on 20 May 2024, in Originating Application No 306 of 2024 (Summons No 1124 of 2024), by Dedar Singh Gill J, with judgment reserved after the hearing on 9 May 2024. The application was brought by Iskandar bin Rahmat and 35 other applicants, each of whom is a person convicted of a capital offence and presently awaiting capital punishment. The matter was framed in the context of Order 4, Rule 7 of the Rules of Court 2021 and Articles 9 and 12 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (2020 Rev Ed), and the catchwords identify the issues as civil procedure striking out, the constitutional right to counsel, and equality before the law. The respondent was the Attorney-General, represented by counsel from the Attorney-General's Chambers including Darren Sim, Chan Yi Cheng and Timotheus Koh.

[2024] SGHC 122 explained

ISKANDAR BIN RAHMAT & 35 Ors v ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF SINGAPORE ([2024] SGHC 122) is a Singapore judgment decided by the High Court (General Division) on 20 May 2024. It is categorised under Civil Procedure and Constitutional Law. Within this corpus it has since been cited by 3 other reported Singapore judgments, a measure of how often later decisions have referred to it. This page summarises what the reported decision covers and links the primary sources — the full judgment, the statutes it cites, and the other cases it engages with — so the decision can be read in context. It is reference information, not legal advice, and it does not state the outcome or any holding beyond what the official judgment records.

What is [2024] SGHC 122 about?

ISKANDAR BIN RAHMAT & 35 Ors v ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF SINGAPORE ([2024] SGHC 122) is a High Court (General Division) decision from 2024. Its published catchwords are “Civil Procedure — Striking out”, “Constitutional Law — Equality before the law”, and “Constitutional Law — Fundamental liberties — Right to counsel”, which indicate the subject matter the judgment addresses. The full reasoning and orders are in the judgment itself, linked below.

Which legislation does [2024] SGHC 122 consider?

The judgment refers to Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68). The statutes cited are listed in full on this page, each linking to its primary text.

What earlier Singapore cases does [2024] SGHC 122 cite?

Among the in-corpus authorities it refers to are [2024] SGCA 11. The complete list of cases cited, and of later cases that cite this decision, is shown on this page.

How influential is [2024] SGHC 122?

Within this corpus, [2024] SGHC 122 has been cited by 3 later reported Singapore judgments. That count reflects references from other decisions held in this corpus only and is a conservative lower bound on how often the case has actually been cited.

Summary

The applicants, each a person convicted of a capital offence and awaiting capital punishment, sought a declaration that an alleged policy of the Legal Aid Scheme for Capital Offences not to assign counsel for post-appeal applications was inconsistent with Articles 9 and 12 of the Constitution, together with damages, while the Attorney-General applied to strike out the application for disclosing no reasonable cause of action. The General Division of the High Court concluded that the originating application should be struck out in its entirety as it disclosed no reasonable cause of action. The court made no order as to costs against the applicants, as the Attorney-General had not sought such an order.

What was Iskandar bin Rahmat v Attorney-General [2024] SGHC 122 about?

It was a General Division of the High Court decision dated 20 May 2024 brought by Iskandar bin Rahmat and 35 other applicants, all convicted of capital offences and awaiting capital punishment. It engaged Articles 9 and 12 of the Constitution, striking out, the right to counsel and equality.

Who heard Iskandar bin Rahmat v Attorney-General [2024] SGHC 122?

Dedar Singh Gill J of the General Division of the High Court heard the matter in Originating Application No 306 of 2024 (Summons No 1124 of 2024), reserving judgment after the hearing on 9 May 2024 and delivering it on 20 May 2024.

Statutes Cited

Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68) Cases on this Act →

Cases Cited (14)

SG (4)

[2022] SGCA 46 [2023] SGHC 346 [2023] SGHC 350 [2024] SGCA 11

SLR (9)

[1996] 1 SLR(R) 853 [1997] 3 SLR(R) 649 [2016] 3 SLR 135 [2021] 1 SLR 67 [2021] 1 SLR 809 [2022] 2 SLR 1018 [2022] 2 SLR 668 [2023] 4 SLR 1133 [2023] 4 SLR 1760

MY (1)

[1980] 2 MLJ 201