Abstract:
Singapore’s criminal disclosure regime has undergone significant changes over the past 15 years. Often, the focus has been on the greater obligations placed on the Prosecution to disclose material to the Defence. These changes have been viewed as “levelling the playing field” and shifting Singapore’s criminal justice system from a model primarily based on crime control to one embracing aspects of due process. These analytical approaches view the developments in criminal disclosure as a “zero-sum” tug of war between rules which tend to favour either the Prosecution or the Defence. This article adopts a different lens – by surveying the evolution of criminal disclosure in Singapore, including past developments and the present position as reflected in the Criminal Procedure (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2024, it is argued that the shift which has taken place is more fundamental in nature, and is one which affects all parties involved in criminal litigation. Singapore has steadily moved away from a strictly adversarial model, which focuses on the parties’ narrow self-interests, to a collaborative model where there is a shared search for the truth based on mutual disclosure and reciprocity. The collaborative model promotes fairness as well as efficient and accurate outcomes. Therefore, the shift away from a strictly adversarial model in criminal disclosure is a wholly welcome development which is anticipated to continue into the future.