A RELIABLE MCS IS REQUIRED FOR A Good LEGAL SYSTEM.
Some may also use MCs as an justification for some duty under the rules.
For instance, drug-related individuals are frequently required to go through routine urine tests at the Central Narcotics Bureau ( CNB), frequently weekly or twice a week.
Failing to do so constitutes an offence, unless the supervisee provides a valid reason for his presence, such as sickness, supported by an MC.
The MC would need to specifically forgive the person from court trials, which is interestingly often given, but this would also apply to people who are regularly required to report to a police station as part of their loan problems or go court hearings.
The implications for such conduct demonstrate the inertia with which the courts see fraudulently obtained MCs. In 2017, a prosecutor known as S K Kumar , was disbarred for, amongst other things, advising his buyer to obtain a medical letter under false pretences to support his lawyer’s absence from a court hearing in 2014. Mr. Kumar had forgotten that his client had a hearing scheduled for his case on that day.
Although the medical memo was never ultimately tendered to court, the fact that he had inadvertently advised his client to obtain one eventually served as justification for the lawyer’s dismissal.
Given how heavily rely on MCs in the dispensing of justice, the ease with which patients may obtain MCs from telemedicine providers raises risks beyond the workplace.
MCs carry other legal repercussions that have an impact on the life and liberty of others, more than just allowing an employee to be excused from work.
Mark Yeo is a Director at Fortress Law Corporation. He was formerly a Deputy Public Prosecutor with the Attorney- General’s Chambers.