After struggling through the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals (CDRT) process for two years to resolve secondhand smoke exposure issues, unfortunately, it has proven to be an ineffective avenue to do so.
The CDRT does not have the ability to deal with chain smoking and public health issues. It also did not consider the urgency and severity of the health hazard and air pollution created by chain smokers. There is no solution given on how to constrain smokers if they breach the court order and there was no option to enforce the decision to ensure compliance. Smokers could continue smoking without fear of any legal consequences.
The biggest challenge is providing physical evidence, even SMS Amy Khor from MSE had already stated several times that it was difficult to capture residential smokers red-handed so why still insist victims submit physical evidence? Once we fail to meet the technicality of the burden of proof, we are back to square one despite submitting our health records, smoking records, and air quality records.
We hope to seek legal remedies to get a respite from chain smoking exposure but unfortunately, the whole process of CDRT was slow, time-consuming, and tedious. It was difficult to get proper guidance on filing as the court officers were not familiar with the procedures and the system was not user-friendly to file the claim.
The minister of Law – Mr. K Shanmugan had mentioned that they would review the CDRT framework to make it more effective. I hope they could expedite the process and work with other government agencies to set up a special unit to address secondhand smoke disputes. This unit should offer advice and assessment of our cases before court filing otherwise it is a waste of time, money, and effort. Also, offer proper guidance on the whole process of gathering evidence, preparing documents, filing, and attending Pre-Trial Conferences. What other options are available and which option suits best for each victim?
Partner with other agencies to develop penalties and strengthen enforcement of court orders. Most importantly, work with the Ministry of Health to send recalcitrant chain smokers for treatment, and rehabilitation and learn the use of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT).
Only when the above is in place and the CDRT framework could be improved significantly otherwise victims should not be told to approach CDRT as a last resort to resolve secondhand smoke disputes.
Source of Image: Image by wirestock on Freepik
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