Criminal Defence

You should attend the Police Station and meet the IO for the charge(s) against you. You will be liable for a separate offence if you refuse to be served with the charge(s).

In order for us to assist you further, contact us and let us know what you have been charged with so that we can advise you.

You should read and listen to the particulars of the charge(s) that you have been served very carefully. You will also be asked by the IO if you have anything to say regarding the offence, at this juncture – this process is called recording the cautioned statement.

If you have any defence (e.g. you were overseas on the date(s) specified in the charge(s)) to the alleged offence, you should state them in the cautioned statement portion of the charge. If there are any particulars of the charge that you disagree with, it should be written in the same portion.

In Singapore, the Criminal Procedure Code sets out which offences are bailable and non-bailable. As a general rule, if you commit bailable offences you will be able to post bail and be released pending the disposition of your matter in court.

As for non-bailable offences, these offences are usually more serious offences and attract very severe punishment. The police or the court has the discretion to decide whether to release the accused person on bail.

If you have been charged with an offence that is punishable with death or life imprisonment, you will not be entitled to be released on bail and will have to be remanded.

To read up more on criminal proceedings in Singapore please read our article here.

The bail amount is not fixed but is left to the discretion of the court. The essence of bail is to ensure that the accused person will show up in court for the court proceedings. The bail amount also will be of an amount that is significant enough to ensure that the surety performs his/her duties such as ensuring the accused person shows up at court. In the event where the accused person runs away, the bail amount will be forfeited.

At the very first mention, a court officer will read the charge(s) to you. If you are not comfortable speaking in English, you can request to speak in a language that you are comfortable with. You can request for the charge to be read in dialects such as Hokkien, Bengali, etc. You will then be asked if you wish to plead guilty or not guilty. At this juncture, you may wish to break defence if you have any, or you may wish to inform the court that you want to engage a lawyer.

As a condition of bail, most of the time the IO would impound your passport. However, if the impounding of your travel documents is not a part of your bail bond conditions, you will still need to apply to the Court to leave Singapore. The Court may or may not grant your request and will consider the reasons for your application to leave Singapore.

Similarly, if your passport is impounded, you can make the same application in Court. If you have any supporting documents to support your application to leave Singapore, they should be tendered to the Court together with your request as well.

The sentences that can be meted out by the Court depends on the offence that you are alleged of. The punishment for different offences differs and is dependent on the provisions of the relevant statutes. You may wish to get a lawyer who will be able to advise you on this matter.

You may read further on how a Criminal Defence Lawyer can assist you here in our article.

Not necessarily. Depending on the offence that you have committed, you may not have the criminal offence registered. The first schedule of the Registration of Criminals Act sets out which offences are registrable crimes that will be registered under your name in the Criminal Records Office.

If you have committed the offence and agree with all the particulars of the charge(s), you should admit to the charge(s). Notwithstanding this, you should consider engaging a lawyer who may be able to advise you on your matter. The lawyer will also be able to write a letter of representation to the prosecution to assist you in your matter.

However, if you have any defence or any dispute to the charge(s), you should not be pleading guilty to the charge(s).