Times Online, 15 Dec 2008, Gary Slapper
Three men in Singapore have been jailed for contempt of court for wearing T-shirts picturing a kangaroo dressed as a judge.
A “kangaroo court” is an unfair tribunal that disregards proper procedure. (The term originated in the 1849 Californian gold rush, to which many Australians had travelled). The three men involved in the T-shirt protest were prosecuted for a form of contempt known as “scandalising the judiciary” on the grounds that it was the worst insult that could be levelled at the judicial system.
The men are members of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), which had been found liable for defaming the Prime Minister and a government minister. It was at a hearing to determine damages in that case that the men staged their T-shirt protest.
At their subsequent contempt trial, they were given an opportunity to apologise for their insinuation and to withdraw it but they declined to do so. They told the court that the T-shirt they wore to the defamation hearing was fair criticism. One of the defendants told the judge the meaning of the T-shirt was to express a hope that the quality of justice would be improved. He said, politely, that by wearing the shirt he had hoped to identify “weaknesses in the system”.
Read More
