 In mid @-@ May , Woon commented that an acquitted person may not be guilty in law , but guilty in fact . Two months later , without referring directly to these remarks , Judge of Appeal V.K. Rajah wrote in a judgment that such comments could undermine confidence in the courts ' verdicts and the criminal justice system , which was based on the doctrine of the presumption of innocence . The Minister for Law K. Shanmugam was asked in Parliament on 25 August 2008 to clarify the Attorney @-@ General 's comments . Shanmugam described the presumption of innocence as an " important and fundamental principle " which the Government was " absolutely committed to upholding " . Nonetheless , it was " entirely possible for a person to have committed acts which amount to a crime and yet , there may be no conviction " , as the trial process was designed to prove guilt and not innocence . He added : " It is for the courts , and the courts alone , to exercise judicial power and decide the question of guilt , in a trial . " 
