Criminal Law for the 21st Century

Book excerpt: In this book, the authors propose a set of improved and modernised provisions expressing the general principles of criminal responsibility. This set of principles will comprise a 'General Part' which, it is proposed, will form part of Singapore's Penal Code. The key objective of devising and enacting the General Part is to significantly revitalise the Penal Code and restore many of its original technical attributes. Each chapter of this book comprises: (a) a carefully considered and drafted provision on a general principle of criminal responsibility; (b) a summary of the existing law in Singapore pertaining to that principle; (c) a selection of recent formulations of that principle from other jurisdictions to benchmark Singapore's law (both current and proposed) with international best practices; and (d) a comparison of these formulations with the provision proposed in this book for inclusion as a General Part in Singapore's Penal Code.