Chief Justice rejects Bar exam cheat's bid to seal legal documents, citing need for 'open justice'

SINGAPORE — Bar exam cheat Leon Tay Quan Li, who last month apologised for his actions and withdrew his application to be called to the Bar, has failed in a bid to have the documents in his legal case sealed from public view on mental health and other grounds.

Mr Tay, 26, had asked to have the documents sealed on the grounds that the public had no interest in seeing them given he was not proceeding to apply to be called to the Bar, and because naming him publicly could trigger a severe psychiatric reaction.

However, in reasons published on Monday (June 6), Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon noted the key principle of open justice, and said medical evidence presented in court relating to Mr Tay "fell far short" of justifying a departure from this principle.

In his published reasons, Chief Justice Menon noted that prior to this application, Mr Tay had also written to the Supreme Court Registry on April 20 requesting that his personal particulars be redacted so that it would not be accessible through the eLitigation platform, which allows court documents to be filed online.

The judge said Mr Tay asserted that he suffered from a mental health condition which he claimed had been exacerbated by his anxiety over the public exposure and the subsequent outcry over the cheating cases, especially on social media.