When faced with certain crimes, it is sometimes difficult to discern whether there are any legally valid mitigating factors available to the accused. For example, in particularly heinous offences of sexual abuse within the family context, or abuses of public office, it is a difficult task for lawyers to raise genuinely mitigating factors, as opposed to merely neutral factors (like lack of a previous criminal record).
Indeed, in attempting to mitigate, lawyers may run the risk of even making things worse for the accused, for example, raising good character can be a double-edged sword as the court may take the view that the offending is even more serious, given the accused’s previous good standing.
This event explores the issue of whether any offences are truly unmitigable, and if so, how lawyers can add value in sentencing such cases. Justice See Kee Oon will deliver the keynote address, followed by a panel discussion involving members of the Judiciary and the criminal bar.