Once upon a time, there was an Ahlong named Ah Ben. A factory worker, Ah Kao was in dire need of cash, and decided to take a loan from Ah Ben. Ah Kao didn’t repay the money when it was due, so Ah Ben showed up at his door and beat Ah Kao up badly with a metal rod.
Ah Kao suffered injuries to his head and required 10 stitches. After getting sewn up, Ah Kao filed a police report leading to Ah Ben’s arrest.
What happens to Ah Ben now?
Rights upon arrest
Ah Ben has the right to know the Penal Code section which deems his conduct an offence.
There are two types of offences which the police may perform arrest with our without a warrant; and in Ah Ben’s case, he has committed an offence under Section 324 of the Penal Code – voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means.
Section 324 states:
“Whoever, except in the case provided for by section 334, voluntarily causes hurt by means of any instrument for shooting, stabbing or cutting, or any instrument which, used as a weapon of offence, is likely to cause death, or any scheduled weapon as specified under the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act 1958, or by means of fire or any heated substance, or by means of any poison or any corrosive substance, or by means of any explosive substance, or by means of any substance which it is deleterious to the human body to inhale, to swallow, or to receive into the blood, or by means of any animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years or with fine or with whipping or with any two of such punishments.”
Arrests under this offence can be made without a warrant, and the police may proceed with investigations of such criminal offences without needing an Order To Investigate (“OTI“) from the Public Prosecutor prior.
The police is given 24 hours to complete the investigation. If the investigation cannot be completed within the given 24 hours, the police may apply to Court for the suspect to be remanded under Section117 of the Criminal Procedure Code (“CPC“) pending further investigations.
At this juncture, Ah Ben may inform the police that he wishes to be represented by a lawyer before any questioning/interrogation session or the recording of any statement. With this, any such sessions will only proceed after Ah Ben has consulted with his lawyer.
What happens after an arrest? Remand?
Upon the expiration of the 24 hours from his arrest, Ah Ben shall either be released, or be brought before the Court to have charges against him read. Under Section 117 of the CPC, the police may apply to the Court for Ah Ben to be remanded beyond the initial 24 hours should more time be required by the police to complete investigations.
For offences which carries imprisonment of less than 14 years, the Magistrate may make an order to remand the suspect for up to 4 days upon the first application, and the duration shall not exceed 3 days for the second application.
For offences punishably by death or imprisonment of 14 years or more, the detention period shall not exceed 7 days on the first application, and another 7 days on the second application.
Appointing a lawyer at this stage will be enable the suspect to oppose the remand application by the police. It is wise for this application to be made as soon as possible the minute Ah Ben is arrested and brought under police custody.
Soon after the period of remand has expired, the criminal charge will be read to Ah Ben in the language he understands (in this case it would be in Mandarin) before the Magistrate. If Ah Ben understands the nature and consequences of the charge, Ah Ben is entitled to enter a plea and he has the right to be represented by a lawyer when the charge is read.
Bail
In Court, Ah Ben will be asked whether he wishes to plead “guilty” or “not guilty”.
If he pleads guilty, his lawyer will mitigate on behalf of him to lessen his sentence. If he pleads not guilty, Ah Ben will be detained until the next mention and/or trial unless a bail application is requested by his lawyer.
Bail is applicable to persons under police custody for both bailable and non-bailable offences. Section 388 of the Criminal Procedure Code states:
(1) When any person accused of any non-bailable offence is arrested or detained without warrant by a police officer or appears or is brought before a Court, he may be released on bail by the Officer in charge of the Police District or by that Court, but he shall not be so released if there appears reasonable grounds for believing that he has been guilty of an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life:
The Court has the discretion to direct any accused persons under the age of 16 or any woman or persons who are sick or infirm to be released on bail.
If Ah Ben committed an offence that allows for bail to be applied, his lawyer will be able to submit to the Court the mitigating factors as to why Ah Ben should be released from police custody upon payment of the requisite security deposit to the Court.
If the Court is persuaded by the reasons submitted by Ah Ben’s lawyer, bail will be granted and a bailor (this could be a friend, relative, employer… anyone really) can then bail Ah Ben out of jail.
The Court will require the bailor to pay a sum of money to the Court as a guarantee (also known as a bail sum). This sum will need to be duly deposited before Ah Ben’s release from detention.
When Ah Ben is released on bail, it will be compulsory for him to attend every mention and/or trial on the date and time as fixed by the Court, and also report to the police station every week. His passport is to be surrendered to the Court for safekeeping until his case is completed. If Ah Ben fails to do so, a warrant of arrest will be issued against him, and the security deposit will be forfeited. Simply put, Ah Ben will end up back in custody again.
However, in Ah Ben’s case, he is not allowed bail because he is charged under a non bailable offence under Section 324 of the Penal Code.
Pre-trial Case Management
A new date will be fixed for the case management and all relevant documents and evidence will be given to the Ah Ben’s lawyer, also known as a defence lawyer.
Trial
During the trial, the prosecution will call on their witnesses and present their evidence in Court. The burden of proof borne by the prosecution is “beyond reasonable doubt”.
If the prosecution is unable to prove Ah Ben guilty beyond reasonable doubt, Ah Ben will most likely be acquitted and discharged. However, Ah Ben will be sentenced in accordance to Section 324 of the Penal Code should he be found guilty beyond reasonable doubts for the offence committed.
The last scene would usually see Ah Ben’s lawyer requesting the judge for a chance to mitigate the sentence imposed, or to subsequently file an appeal and a stay of execution pending such appeal.