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Singapore judge finds WSJ Asia in contempt of court for articles on judiciary

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Singapore's High Court on Tuesday found the Wall Street Journal Asia in contempt of court over the newspaper's publication of three articles that allegedly undermined the country's judiciary. High Court Justice Tay Yong Kwang ruled that two editorials, "Democracy in Singapore" and "Judging Singapore's Judiciary", as well as a letter to the editor from Singapore Democratic Party secretary general Chee Soon Juan, implied that the country's judiciary was "subservient" to the ruling People's Action Party. Tay fined the newspaper $16,500 plus court costs. Earlier this month, the Singapore Attorney General's Chambers argued that the case should be treated as contempt of court rather than libel, and that a contempt finding was a justifiable restriction on free speech in the public interest not contrary to Singapore's constitution. In July, Singapore's government rejected criticisms from the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute after that group concluded that Singapore lacks an independent judiciary and fails to meet international standards of human rights by heavily regulating the international and domestic press and enforcing extreme defamation laws.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on November 25, 2008 (boomark / email).