Thio Shen Yi, SC, comments in The Edge: “Are Singapore’s safeguards for deferred prosecution agreements adequate?”

The Edge Singapore asked for Thio Shen Yi, SC’s opinion on the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) framework enacted in Parliament last month. First, on the requirement of a judge to assess whether the DPA is in the interests of justice, he felt that the Court’s involvement provides a sanity check. In addition, having Court oversight increases confidence in the business community that DPAs will be fair, proportionate and reasonable. It minimises the possibility of prosecutorial overreach and ensures greater consistency and predictability. I’m also inclined to keeping the DPA discussions confidential. This will encourage voluntary good behaviour from corporates. The DPA is like a settlement, which are often confidential, and certainly the negotiations leading up to a settlement are confidential. As a litigator his preference is to keep unsuccessful attempts to settle confidential to protect the integrity of the decision making process. Further comments in the article: https://www.theedgesingapore.com/are-singapores-safeguards-deferred-prosecution-agreements-adequate