Criminal Procedure Code 2010 amended to enhance powers of Police and improve efficiency in court processes

25 June 2024

On 31 May 2024, amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 introduced by the Criminal Procedure (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2024 (“Act”) to enhance the powers of the Police and improve efficiency in court processes took effect.

The remaining amendments in the Act will come into force at a later date.

Background

The Act, which was passed in Parliament on 5 February 2024, advances Singapore’s criminal justice system and contains various amendments aimed at (i) protecting the public by strengthening levers to tackle crime, including serious sexual crime, and (ii) enhancing transparency, fairness, and coherence in Singapore’s criminal court processes.

Amendments effective 31 May 2024

The Ministry of Law (“MinLaw”) explained in a press release issued on 30 May 2024 that the amendments set out in the Act will take effect in phases.

The first stage of the amendments took effect on 31 May 2024. Key amendments include the following:

  • Empowering the Police to order suspects of non-arrestable offences to provide their unique identification number (“UIN”) (e.g. NRIC, FIN, or birth certificate number). The Police may arrest persons who refuse to provide their name, residential address, or UIN, or if the Police has reason to believe that the information given is false. This improves identity verification of suspects by the Police.
  • Empowering the Police to search arrested persons at the point of arrest and remove dangerous items from them. This enables the Police to prevent arrested persons from causing harm to themselves or others.
  • Allowing the immediate release of persons suspected of committing non-arrestable offences who were arrested by the Police for not providing their UIN, name, or residential address. The Police can release such arrested persons without bringing them to a police station, upon verification of the person’s particulars.
  • Removing the requirement for the Police to physically go to the crime scene to investigate arrestable offences, given that crimes nowadays are not limited to the physical realm (e.g. cybercrimes).
  • Updating the definition of “police station” to remove references to defunct units and cover all police establishments (e.g. Neighbourhood Police Posts and Neighbourhood Police Centres).
  • Clarifying that where the court decides that it does not need to hear oral arguments when deciding on a matter, it does not need to convene an oral hearing to deliver its decision to the parties.

Reference materials

The following materials are available on the MinLaw website www.mlaw.gov.sg and Singapore Statutes Online sso.agc.gov.sg: