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AGC identifies 2 areas for improvement in wake of Parti Liyani case: Shanmugam

Parti Liyani posing before the State Courts with lawyer Anil Balchandani on 8 September. (PHOTO: Yahoo News Singapore/Wan Ting Koh)
Parti Liyani posing before the State Courts with lawyer Anil Balchandani on 8 September. (PHOTO: Yahoo News Singapore/Wan Ting Koh)

SINGAPORE — The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has identified two specific areas for improvement in the wake of the high profile acquittal of former domestic helper Parti Liyani, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam on Wednesday (4 November).

Firstly, AGC will develop guidelines on the valuation of stolen items, he told the House in his ministerial statement on the case.

There are currently no formal guidelines on this, with prosecutors expected to use their judgment and discretion, he said.

In Parti Liyani’s case, the valuation of items in the charges were derived from the estimates of her former employer Liew Mun Leong’s family.

“This has been the general practice, hitherto, to rely on the complainant’s assessment of the value,” said Shanmugam.

An independent assessment of the value of the items may have helped in this case, he added.

Secondly, AGC is also looking at how it prepares for trials, and will seek to learn from this case as well as others, said Shanmugam.

The prosecution’s overarching role is to ensure that justice is done and not to win at all costs, he pointed out.

“AGC has consistently emphasised this point to all its officers and will continue to do so,” he added.

On the High Court’s observations regarding the demonstration of a DVD player’s workability in court by two Deputy Public Prosecutors (DPP), Shanmugam said the matter is subject to disciplinary tribunal (DT) proceedings with possible penal sanctions.

“There will be a full account of what the DPPs did at the DT,” he added.

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