How to succeed at the Court of Appeal

Are there sure-fire techniques that make it easier to succeed in appeals?  Yes, there are. If appellate counsel don't practise the Rules of Minimalism, Detachment, or do not ask the right Questions of Law, they'd fail. If they argue at the Court of Appeal burdened with a blunderbuss, they'd fail - because they are kiasu: they shoot at any target, with everything they've got. Here are some techniques that ...

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Could we eliminate electoral fraud by improving election laws?

Could we eliminate electoral fraud by improving election laws? An election petition is a difficult thing. The law has ring-fenced it with several impenetrable technical rules.  Combating electoral corruption under the current, antiquated laws is impossible. After the results of the 13th General elections results were announced on 5 March 2013, I was asked, with a dozen others, to file election petitions for 22 constituencies in Perak. The petitions alleged that the winners ...

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What is the most cunning strategy used by lawyers?

What is the most cunning strategy employed by lawyers? None. It is not your cunning that gets you through a case. It is not your brilliance. The Bar is full of brilliant lawyers. Yet they are not all uniformly successful. It is painful, excruciating preparation that gets you through. Here is a true life and death story: it concerned a foreigner. He was found guilty of drug trafficking and was sentenced to death. ...

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