Oaths of Allegiance in the Singapore Trials

Abstract

This chapter explores discussions about oaths of allegiance in the Singapore Trials. The questions raised about changes in allegiance during the war were particularly charged against the post-war socio-political landscape, as the returning British colonial authorities sought to reassert authority and re-establish order in Singapore and the region. This chapter focuses on how the question of allegiance change was treated in two cases: Ikegami Tomoyuki and others and Takashima Shotaro and another. Two different approaches may be identified in trial and post-trial discussions: the impossible-to-renounce approach and the criminal law approach. The first approach focuses on whether changes of allegiance could be effected in times of war. The second approach focuses on the mindset of the accused. This chapter critically examines the rationales and arguments underlying these two approaches.