1. The Criminal Procedure (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 20241 was passed in Parliament on 5 February 2024. The first batch of the amendments came into effect on 31 May 20242. Seven more amendments will come into effect in the second phase on 1 August 2024.
2. The seven amendments that will come into effect in Phase 2 include:
(a) Expanding and clarifying the circumstances under which a search can be conducted without a warrant issued by the courts. This amendment allows the Police to search for a document or a thing if the Police consider it necessary for investigations, and believe that it is in the possession or control of a person suspected of having committed an arrestable offence. Obstruction of such searches will be an arrestable offence.
(b) Clarifying that the Police may order all financial institutions (e.g., banks, merchant banks, finance companies) to provide customer information for investigations.
(c) Enhancing the powers of specific non-Police Home Team Departments (i.e. the Central Narcotics Bureau, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority and Singapore Prisons Services) to pursue and arrest persons who have escaped from lawful custody. This enhances the Home Team’s operations.
(d) Empowering non-Police law enforcement agencies (“LEAs”) to deal with seized property, e.g., assess claims of ownership and decide whether the property should be sold. This allows the non-Police LEA that has seized the property to continue to deal with the property without having to seek the Police’s assistance.
(e) Allowing persons accused of relatively minor non-bailable offences (i.e. offences punishable with up to seven years’ imprisonment) to be released on personal bond, as an alternative to bail. This will allow more accused persons to be released during investigations and court proceedings, where appropriate.
(f) Enhancing the protection of confidential customer information held by banks, merchant banks and licensed trust companies. Following the amendments, only specified LEAs can issue production orders for customer information, or search for and make copies of computerised customer information data, for the purpose of investigating an offence under a specified law. The list of specified LEAs and specified laws will be set out in the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 (“CPC”).
(g) Improvements to the victim compensation regime. Under the CPC, the Court must consider whether to order an offender to pay compensation to a person injured in respect of his or her person, character or property by the offence (“victim”), or the victim’s representative. If the Court thinks it appropriate to make such an order, it must do so. There will be improvements3 to the current victim compensation regime, including the following:
(i) The Court must give reasons if it does not make a compensation order, where it has the power to do so.
(ii) Victims will be able to participate in the compensation order process by making submissions or giving evidence.
(iii) The Court will be empowered to order compensation for bereavement and funeral expenses to be paid to the dependants of a victim whose death was caused by the offence.
3. The remaining amendments will come into force at a later stage.
Ministry of Law
Ministry of Home Affairs
[1] The Act advances our criminal justice system and contains various amendments aimed at (i) protecting the public by strengthening our levers to tackle crime, including serious sexual crime, and (ii) enhancing transparency, fairness and coherence in our criminal court processes.
[2] For information on the amendments that came into force under Phase 1, please see https://www.go.gov.sg/cpcphase1.
[3] The amendments to improve the victim compensation regime were passed by Parliament previously. The Criminal Procedure (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2024 made further amendments to smoothen and clarify the processes for the improved victim compensation regime.
