M Ravi began his legal career in civil and criminal litigation and has had the opportunity to work in a wide range of legal areas including family law, commercial law, intellectual property law, criminal law and constitutional law. He has taken a courageous stand against the mandatory death penalty, argued for the right of assembly, freedom of expression, the right to elections and equality for the LGBT community. Because of his advocacy for these issues, he has come to be seen as Singapore's leading human rights lawyer, one of the few willing to battle away on these matters of import.
Taking up the cudgel of human rights in the Lion City is often perceived by the authorities as an act of disloyalty, and those labelled as disloyal can see their own rights and liberties trampled upon. However, Ravi's immense spirituality imbues him with the commitment and moral strength to continue on this sometimes perilous path.
Ravi has been involved in some of the most high-profile and politically sensitive constitutional cases in Singapore since the early 2000s. He has represented opposition political figures and human rights defenders in a range of cases.
Ravi is actively leading the anti-death penalty campaign to abolish the death penalty in Singapore. He frequently represents those accused of capital offences. He addressed the European Parliament’s sub-committee on Human Rights in 2007. He is also involved in clinical legal education across Southeast Asia and participates actively in civil society initiatives on the ASEAN Human Rights mechanism. He has been invited as a speaker at various regional and international human rights conferences and forums around the world.
Ravi's first foray into the political arena was seen in the 2015 general elections where he stood as a candidate for the Reform Party, concomitantly laying a milestone as Singapore's first openly pansexual politician.
Educational background
Ravi graduated in 1993 from the National University of Singapore (NUS) with a degree in political science and sociology. He furthered his studies at the University of Cardiff in the UK, graduating as an advocate and solicitor and was admitted to the Singapore Bar in 1997.
Landmark cases
Defence against capital punishment
M Ravi’s work in human rights began in 2003 with the defence of Vicknes Moorthi who was facing capital punishment. Since that time, Ravi has continued to represent clients on Singapore’s death row and to advocate for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide.
Appeal for life of Yong Vui Kong
Yong Vui Kong (born 23 January 1988) is a Malaysian citizen of Hakka Chinese descent who was sentenced to death in Singapore for trafficking more than 15 grams of heroin in 2007. In May 2012, two days before Yong's scheduled execution, Ravi made an application for a stay of execution pending a High Court hearing of an appeal. The Court of Appeal had previously not heard Yong's case as his defence lawyer had withdrawn it. The judge decided that he was not in the position to make the decision for the Court of Appeal and granted the stay of execution. Largely owing to Ravi's efforts, Yong's sentence was reduced to life imprisonment and caning as a result of Singapore's amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Defending Cheong Chun Yin
In October 2010, Ravi took up the appeal for Cheong Chun Yin, who was arrested in Singapore three years ago and charged with trafficking in 2.7kg of heroin. To this day, Cheong maintains that he had believed himself to be carrying gold bars concealed for the purposes of tax evasion. He had assumed that gold bars had been hidden in the lining of a bag handed to him in Myanmar, and nothing had happened during the journey to suggest otherwise.
Ramalingam Ravinthran v. Attorney-General
In a Constitutional challenge on the ambit of prosecutorial discretion, Ravi argued that the prosecution leading to his client’s conviction of two capital charges of drug trafficking was unconstitutional. The specific ground relied on was an alleged violation of the right to equality before the law under Article 12(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore which occurred when the Attorney-General decided to charge the Applicant with capital offences while charging, a person complicit in the same criminal enterprise, with non-capital offences.
International Advocacy
European Tour
In July 2006, Ravi embarked on a speaking tour in Europe to promote awareness about human rights violations in Singapore and to campaign against the imminent execution of two Africans, Nigerian Amara Tochi and South African Okele Nelson Malachy.
Appeal to Nigerian National Assembly
In August 2006, M Ravi made an appeal to the Nigerian National Assembly to appeal for clemency for his client, Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi, facing the death penalty in Singapore. This led to Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo appealing directly to Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, for clemency for Tochi in January 2007. However, clemency was denied.
European Parliament Briefing
In 2008, Ravi returned to Europe and during an internship at the EU Parliament, he presented a briefing paper to the Directorate General on External Policies on the death penalty in Singapore.
Political defamation suits
Section 377A Constitutional challenge
Constitutional guarantee of by-elections
On 15 February 2012, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hougang Single Member Constituency (SMC) was expelled from his political party, which left his parliamentary seat vacant.
The next day, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that there was no fixed time within which he must call for a by-election. He added that "there are many other issues on the national agenda right now". In parliament he said he would decide whether and when to hold a by-election. The use of the word “whether” implied that he had unfettered discretion not to hold one.
Unhappy at being indefinitely left without an MP to represent her, Hougang resident Vellama d/o Marie Muthu, challenged PM Lee's decision by applying to the High Court. Before her case came up for hearing, PM Lee called for the Hougang by-election to be held.
In this video, Professor Kevin YL Tan delves into the history of the constitution on elections and how significant Vellama's case was to clear up certain doubts. He tackles the question of whether the right for Singaporeans to vote is enshrined in the constitution and explains why it was a historic decision[1]:
The above session, organised by Function 8 and coordinated by Teo Soh Lung, was moderated by Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss with Prof. Tan and Ravi on the panel. Vellama received a standing ovation for courageously fighting for the constitutional right of all citizens to have a by-election all the way to the highest court in the land despite threats of cost orders by the State and for eventually winning the case.
Article 12 Constitutional challenge for LGBT workplace equality
Awards
Asia Pink Awards 2014
For his work on the Section 377A Constitutional challenge and the Article 12 Constitutional case for LGBT workplace equality, Ravi was one of the 3 Singaporean recipients of the inaugural Asia Pink Awards organised by ELEMENT magazine. The event was held at 7:30pm at Dream Factory, 76A Peck Seah Street on Sunday, 16 March 2014.
Talks & speeches
Book launch of "Kampong Boy"
Ravi launched his autobiographical book entitled "Kampong Boy" at The Play Den, located on the second level of The Arts House, on Saturday, 27 April 2013. During the Q&A session, he responded to Roy Tan's query on what drove him fight for equality on behalf of the gay community. His legal colleague and master-of-ceremonies for the event, Rudy Marican, provided additional insight[2]:
Pink Dot 2014
Ravi was invited to be one of the speakers in the Community Voices segment of Pink Dot 2014 held on Saturday, 28 June 2016[3]:
Cause lawyering
On 21 May 2016, Ravi delivered a talk at The Agora about cause lawyering and the human rights cases that spurred him to take a different path in his legal profession[4]:
See also
- Kampong Boy
- Section 377A of the Singapore Penal Code
References
- M Ravi, "Kampong Boy", Ethos Books, 2013, ISBN 978-991-07-5755-7[].
- Kumaran Pillai, "It takes a “man without brakes” to mount constitutional challenges in Singapore", The Independent, 13 September 2016[5].
- Ellie Hu, "M RAVI “DON’T WALK THIS PATH FOR FAME AND GLORY, DO IT FOR THE POOR AND DEFENCELESS”", Singapore Daily, 7 October 2016[6].
Acknowledgements
This article was written by Roy Tan.