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over and above that of the individual". Others disagree with this characterisation of Asian values. Sangmin Bai, a Professor at Northeastern Illinois University, argues that appeals to traditional values are factually inaccurate, and are a politically motivated attempt to establish legitimacy.

THE EFFICACY OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Although debate over "values" is unique to each society, certain fundamental tenets are established in the common law. Of particular importance is the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, and the notion that the burden of proof must always rest on the prosecution. In the following section I evaluate the drug offences in light of these accepted natural justice' principles. As mentioned, drug offences account for a majority of the death toll.

Procedural Fairness

The Misuse of Drugs Act reverses the burden of proof from the prosecution to the accused. In effect, the accused are presumed guilty unless they can persuade a court otherwise, on the balance of probabilities.

* Section 17 states that any person proved to have had in their possession more than specified quantities of drugs, is presumed to have that drug for the purpose of trafficking.
* Any person who has in their possession a key to premises where drugs are found is presumed to be in possession of the drugs: s 18(1)(c).
* Any person found in or escaping from any place or premises which is proved or presumed to be used for the purpose of smoking or administering a controlled drug shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to have been smoking or administering a controlled drug in that place or premises: s 19(2) .
* Any person who is proved or presumed to have had a controlled drug in his possession shall be presumed to have known the nature of that drug: s 18(2).

Such provisions place the accused at the mercy of police, who are sometimes corrupt. For example, in Poh Kay Keong v Public Prosecutor [1996] 1 SLR 209 (one of the rare cases where the death penalty was overturned on appeal), the court found that police had probably coerced a confession from the accused. As the accused can be sentenced to death based on an arbitrary quantity of drugs found, this makes it even more important for procedural fairness to be prioritised.

Other provisions are equally troublesome from a procedural fairness point of view. Section 23 allows anonymous witnesses (informants) to give evidence. This prevents the accused from cross-examining witnesses. Further, warrant-less searches are permitted

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