In essence, a voluntary surrender is visiting the police to confess to a crime you’ve fully commited, instead of looking forward to the law enforcement to search out and arrest you.
What Occurs If you Voluntarily Surrender into the Law enforcement?
The treatments you'll experience any time you voluntarily surrender into the police are the same as should you were arrested.
The steps taken versus you count largely on regardless of whether you’ve dedicated an arrestable or non-arrestable offence.
Arrestable offences seek advice from offences that enable the law enforcement to create an arrest without having a warrant, and include offences like theft, robbery and rape. The rule of thumb is offences which might be punishable with not less than three decades of imprisonment, or simply a death sentence, are categorised as arrestable.
However, a non-arrestable offence is a single the place the police will need to obtain a warrant prior to carrying out an arrest. Offences that drop beneath this group are voluntarily triggering hurt and dishonest misappropriation of assets, amid Other individuals.
When you have fully commited an arrestable offence
When you've got dedicated an arrestable offence, the police will follow an arrest method that begins with getting you into custody just after your voluntary surrender.
The law enforcement will then launch an investigation, which entails taking witness statements. Alternatively, you'll have for making a observe statement if the law enforcement decides to go forward with pressing charges.
You may well be necessary to take a polygraph (or lie detector) test or get involved in an identification parade, where you might be lined up with Others to allow victims and eyewitnesses to identify you, in addition.
Preferably, you need to be comparatively effectively-versed together with your rights in custody, including the suitable to produce a telephone connect with to Your loved ones or to consult an attorney (presented that these functions will not likely inhibit the investigation). Nonetheless, it is necessary to notice that the correct to refer to a lawyer typically occurs only following interrogations are actually carried out.
For more information, you may want to refer to our short article on law enforcement custody in Singapore.
For those who have dedicated a non-arrestable offence
Within this state of affairs, even In case you have turned your self in towards the law enforcement, you will not be taken into custody straight away.
Instead, the law enforcement will Obtain witness experiences and file any get-togethers included. Any doable victim(s) of one's offence are going to be suggested to file a Justice of the peace’s Grievance for further more motion to be taken.
When the Complaint has become gained, the Justice of the peace will then choose just what the most suitable study course of motion will be. It's only at this point that a warrant might be issued to take you into police custody, In case the Magistrate directs the police to conduct an investigation in to the Grievance.
Is Making a Voluntary Surrender a Mitigating Issue?
Voluntarily surrendering to the law enforcement demonstrates a willingness to cooperate and indicates probably regret and repentance. Your surrender would also allow the police to speculate their time and sources into other investigations.
This could Enjoy an element inside the choose’s conclusion and you may well be specified a lighter sentence for your personal diploma of cooperation.
Scenario review: No jail expression soon after voluntary surrender
In 2018, then 24-12 months-outdated Ekawit Tangtrakarn, acquired a $6,000 good for defaulting on his National Service (NS) duties.
Although Ekawit mainly lived in Thailand, he was registered to be a Singapore Citizen – building him chargeable for NS. In Oct 2015, he dropped his Singaporean citizenship right after failing to take the Oath of Renunciation, Allegiance and Loyalty inside 12 months of his twenty first birthday.
Having said that, shedding his Singaporean citizenship didn't reduce him of his NS obligations, and Ekawit later voluntarily returned to Singapore to encounter his charges for defaulting on them. Top criminal lawyer His voluntary return thus held pounds for a mitigating issue.
That's why, following the court took other mitigating factors under consideration, what might have been a greatest 3-year imprisonment time period and also a $ten,000 fantastic, becoming the maximum penalties underneath the Enlistment Act, turned a attainable 9-week jail time period which was at some point decreased to a $6,000 good.
Obtaining your expenses taken into consideration with the uses of sentencing
In relation to your conviction and you also are dealing with multiple prices, voluntarily admitting to the offences also prevents the situation of your prosecution continuing with Each and every charge versus you individually. This allows for the possibility of you acquiring these kinds of costs taken into account for sentencing as a substitute.
Because of this, you might facial area less expenses or a minimized sentence when compared with in the event you were being to deny or dispute the costs.
—
Voluntarily surrendering for the law enforcement may possibly demonstrate to be handy later on in your scenario. Your admission in your criminal offense may be nicely-been given and operate inside your favour, lessening your punishment drastically.
If you're continue to Uncertain on how to progress, you'll be able to have interaction a felony defence lawyer to hunt guidance on the placement, as well as make clear your rights. A seasoned law firm will be able to most effective put together you on What to anticipate if you switch yourself in and the way to deal with any investigations performed towards you.