Shen Hanjie v PUBLIC PROSECUTOR

Case Significance

Shen Hanjie v Public Prosecutor [2024] SGCA 6 was decided by the Court of Appeal on 1 March 2024, with Tay Yong Kwang JCA delivering the grounds of decision of a coram that also comprised Steven Chong JCA and Belinda Ang Saw Ean JCA. The matter, Criminal Appeal No 38 of 2022, was an appeal against the appellant's conviction by the High Court on a charge of trafficking in a controlled drug by having in his possession for the purpose of trafficking not less than 34.94g of diamorphine, which had been found in a drawer in his bedroom at the time of his arrest.

For sentencing, the trial judge had held that the appellant was not a mere courier under the alternative sentencing regime in section 33B(1) of the Misuse of Drugs Act, and the Public Prosecutor did not issue a Certificate of Substantive Assistance, so the mandatory death penalty was passed. As framed by the catchwords, the appeal concerned the statutory offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act. The appellant confirmed he was not pursuing the chain-of-custody point in his Petition of Appeal; his main grounds on appeal against conviction concerned the presumption of knowledge of the nature of the drugs under section 18(2) of the Act. The appellant was represented by Advocatus Law LLP and BC Lim & Lau LLC, and the Public Prosecutor by the Attorney-General's Chambers.