MHA proposes to list crimes where suspects can be detained without trial

SINGAPORE — Seeking the renewal of the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act (CLTPA), the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday (Jan 9) tabled amendments to the Act which will, among other things, specify the scope of criminal activities for which suspects could be detained without trial.

The ministry proposed adding a Fourth Schedule listing the types of activity for which the Minister for Home Affairs can make orders for detention or Police supervision. The list includes unlicensed moneylending, involvement in secret society activities, human trafficking, murder, robbery with firearms, gang rape and kidnapping.

The Bill, which seeks to renew the Act from Oct 21, 2019, also clarifies that “the Minister’s decisions on matters such as whether a person has been associated with activities of a criminal nature and whether it is necessary to detain such a person in the interests of public safety, peace and good order, are final”, the MHA said in a press release.

The Act has to be renewed every five years. It was put into effect in 1955 and has been extended 13 times to date.

In introducing the amendments, the ministry said it had “considered the observations of the Court of Appeal” in the case of alleged match-fixer Dan Tan Seet Eng, whose detention under the Act was ruled unlawful by the courts in Nov 2015.

Delivering an 80-page judgment, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon had said at the time that the detention was “beyond the scope of the power vested in the Minister, which was to detain persons in the circumstances where activities of a sufficiently serious criminal nature threatened to or did undermine public safety, peace or good order in Singapore”.

Tan was subsequently re-arrested and detained, but this time with the MHA establishing in detail the relevant threat in Singapore posed by him.

On Tuesday, the MHA reiterated that the powers under the Act are exercised in cases where prosecution in court was not possible, for example, when witnesses were unwilling to give evidence in a trial due to fear of reprisals. These powers have been used “judiciously”, the ministry said.

Other proposed amendments include strengthening the administration of the Police Supervision Order (PSOs) regime. Those issued the order have to observe curfews and travel restrictions, and report regularly to the police, among other requirements. Flouting these restrictions could result in a jail term.

In addition to police officers, the MHA proposed empowering Central Narcotics Bureau officers to investigate breaches of such PSOs. The ministry also wants to make the obligations and restrictions into law. This move will allow the Minister more flexibility to impose the necessary obligations and restrictions on the supervisees, said the MHA.

The Act remains an “essential and effective legal instrument” in Singapore’s fight against secret societies, drug traffickers and syndicated crimes, and continues to be relevant for the maintenance of public safety, peace and good order in Singapore, the MHA said.

It reiterated that the Act contains “substantial safeguards” for the issuance of the PSOs and detention orders. The Minister will have to get the consent of the Public Prosecutor, and each order will be reviewed by an independent advisory committee comprising Justices of the Peace, former judges and senior lawyers. The committee will then present its recommendations to the President, who may then confirm, cancel or change the order based on the advice of the Cabinet.

Latest statistics from the Singapore Prisons Service showed that the number of detainees under the Act fell from 136 in 2014, to 118 in 2015 and 109 in 2016. Over the years, the vast majority of the cases have been for secret society involvement. In 2016, there were 91 people detained for secret society activities, 12 for unlicensed moneylending, five for drug trafficking, and one categorised under “others”.

Most recently, former S-League player Gaye Alassane — who was detained under the CLTPA for two years and three months before he was released in January 2016 — made the news last month, after MHA announced that he would be stripped of his citizenship due to his involvement in a global match-fixing syndicate. He allegedly conspired with his syndicate members to fix football matches in several countries by bribing corrupt officials and players.

The MHA had said that for Alassane’s case, “witnesses were afraid of testifying against (him) and his syndicate members in open court for fear of reprisal”.