Death Penalty for Drug Offenders in Southeast Asia: Weakening of Resistance to Change?
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Singapore Management University
Singapore
Abstract
Although the global movement towards abolition of the death penalty has been supported by an increasing number of countries in the world, the number of persons executed for drug offences actually increased in the last few years. Known executions for drug offences now account for more than 40 per cent of all global executions. Most such executions take place in Asia. Of the 34 countries in the world that still retain the death penalty for drug offenders, all nine of those identified as “high application states” (China, Indonesia, Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Vietnam) are found in Asia. However, resistance to change is not as strong as before and there are hopeful shifts in drug policies in the region. This article provides an overview of the state of play regarding the death penalty for drug offenders in Southeast Asia.
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Author Biography
Wing-Cheong Chan is a Professor of Law at the Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University. He completed his undergraduate studies in Law in Oxford University (England) and his Masters degree in Cornell University (USA). He is an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore, a barrister of Gray's Inn (England & Wales), and a qualified attorney of New York State (USA). His academic career started with the Faculty of Law at the National University of Singapore in 1993. He teaches and researches mainly in the areas of criminal law and family law. His recent projects include drug offences in Asia, particularly the use of the death penalty for such offences, and the criminal laws of regional countries such as Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Laos and Bhutan.