Criminal Trial in Singapore- An Overview

         Generally, the offences which are tried by the High Court in its original jurisdiction are the more serious offences such as murder, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, drug trafficking, arms offences, kidnapping, rape and carnal intercourse. 

      The offences triable by the High Court are classified into capital (i.e. punishable by death) and non-capital cases.  Where an accused is charged with a capital offence, he may request the High Court to assign counsel to defend him if he cannot afford to engage his own lawyer.  In such a case, two lawyers (one main counsel and one assisting counsel) will be assigned to defend the accused, and the lawyers' fees will be borne by the State.  Where an accused is charged with a non-capital offence, the accused may apply for legal assistance under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (CLAS) run by the Law Society of Singapore.  For more information on CLAS, please refer to the Law Society's website. Assigned counsel may download the honorarium claim form here.

(a) Pre-Trial Conferences
        Once an accused is charged with an offence triable by the High Court, the Court actively monitors the progress of the investigations carried out and other steps taken by the prosecution authorities in preparation for the trial.  Such monitoring is done by way of pre-trial conferences (PTCs). 

          Criminal PTCs are attended by the Deputy Public Prosecutor handling the case and the defence counsel (if any) representing the accused person.  At each PTC, both the prosecuting and defence counsel update the Registrar of the Supreme Court on the progress of the case.  The Registrar will then give directions to ensure that the parties proceed in a fair and expeditious manner.  Criminal PTCs are conducted in the Supreme Court fortnightly on Tuesday mornings.  The PTCs are held in chambers and are not open to the public.

(b) Preliminary Inquiries
        Once a criminal case is ready for trial, the Registrar will fix a date for a Preliminary Inquiry to be conducted.  The relevant legislation relating to Preliminary Inquiries is set out in ss 187 to 194 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68).

           The function of a Preliminary Inquiry is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to commit the accused for trial in the High Court. They are conducted by Magistrates of the Subordinate Courts. Since March 1995, Preliminary Inquiries have been conducted by Assistant Registrars of the Supreme Court, who are concurrently appointed as Magistrates of the Subordinate Courts.  The public may attend Preliminary Inquiries which are held in open court, but not those held in camera which usually concern rape or sexual offences involving minors.

(c) The trial proper
         If the accused is committed for trial in the High Court after a Preliminary Inquiry, he will be remanded in prison pending trial. Bail is available only at the discretion of the High Court.

          The relevant legislation on the High Court's original jurisdiction in criminal trials and the mode of conducting such trials are set out in s 15 of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Cap 322) and ss 187-194 of the Criminal Procedure Code respectively.  Trials which are held in open court may be attended by the public.

        If the accused or the Public Prosecutor is dissatisfied with the decision made by the High Court, an appeal may be filed to the Court of Appeal

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