What exactly is a Voluntary Surrender?
In essence, a voluntary surrender is going to the law enforcement to confess to a criminal offense you’ve fully commited, instead of looking ahead to the police to search out and arrest you.
What Occurs If you Voluntarily Surrender to the Police?
The methods you can experience after you voluntarily surrender towards the law enforcement are similar to should you were arrested.
The steps taken towards you rely largely on regardless of whether you’ve fully commited an arrestable or non-arrestable offence.
Arrestable offences consult with offences that enable the police to produce an arrest and not using a warrant, and consist of offences like theft, theft and rape. The rule of thumb is the fact offences which are punishable with not less than 3 several years of imprisonment, or simply a death sentence, are categorised as arrestable.
Alternatively, a non-arrestable offence is a person exactly where the police will require to acquire a warrant before carrying out an arrest. Offences that slide less than this category are voluntarily leading to damage and dishonest misappropriation of assets, amongst Other folks.
If you have dedicated an arrestable offence
In case you have fully commited an arrestable offence, the police will adhere to an arrest treatment that commences with having you into custody just after your voluntary surrender.
The police will then start an investigation, which entails taking witness statements. Alternatively, you might have to make a notice statement In case the police decides to go forward with urgent charges.
You could be necessary to take a polygraph (or lie detector) examination or get involved in an identification parade, by which you might be lined up with Other individuals to permit victims and eyewitnesses to establish you, at the same time.
Ideally, try to be somewhat perfectly-versed with all your legal rights in custody, such as the right for making a mobile phone get in touch with to All your family members or to refer to an attorney (supplied that these acts will likely not inhibit the investigation). On the other hand, it is necessary to note that the appropriate to consult a lawyer typically occurs only right after interrogations happen to be conducted.
For more info, you may want to seek advice from our write-up on police custody in Singapore.
Should you have dedicated a non-arrestable offence
On this scenario, even When you have turned yourself in into the law enforcement, you will not be taken into custody instantly.
Instead, the law enforcement will Get witness reviews and record any parties associated. Any probable sufferer(s) within your offence is going to be suggested to file a Justice of the peace’s Grievance for additional motion to get taken.
Once the Criticism has become gained, the Magistrate will then choose what the most fitted study course of action will be. It is just at this time that a warrant could be issued to consider you into law enforcement custody, If your Magistrate directs the law enforcement to carry out an investigation into the Criticism.
Is Producing a Voluntary Surrender a Mitigating Variable?
Voluntarily surrendering to your police demonstrates a willingness to cooperate and indicates likely regret and repentance. Your surrender would also allow the law enforcement to invest their time and methods into other investigations.
This could Enjoy a part during the decide’s selection and you may be supplied a lighter sentence on your diploma of cooperation.
Scenario study: No jail expression following voluntary surrender
In 2018, then 24-12 months-previous Ekawit Tangtrakarn, received a $6,000 fine for defaulting on his Nationwide Service (NS) responsibilities.
Even though Ekawit mainly lived in Thailand, he was registered as being a Singapore Citizen – building him accountable for NS. In Oct 2015, he dropped his Singaporean citizenship following failing to go ahead and take Oath of Renunciation, Allegiance and Loyalty in 12 months of his twenty first birthday.
Nevertheless, getting rid of his Singaporean citizenship did not ease him of his NS obligations, and Ekawit later voluntarily returned to Singapore to deal with his rates for defaulting on them. His voluntary return As a result held excess weight to be a mitigating issue.
Therefore, once the court took other mitigating things into consideration, what might have been a greatest 3-yr imprisonment expression along with a $ten,000 good, getting the maximum penalties under the Enlistment Act, turned a doable 9-week jail term which was sooner or later lowered to some $6,000 great.
Owning your costs taken into consideration to the applications of sentencing
When it comes to your conviction and you also are experiencing various costs, voluntarily admitting on your offences also helps prevent the situation in the prosecution continuing with Every cost in opposition to you independently. This permits for the possibility of you Singapore criminal lawyer possessing these kinds of prices taken into account for sentencing rather.
Therefore, it's possible you'll encounter less fees or a decreased sentence in comparison with when you were being to deny or dispute the charges.
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Voluntarily surrendering towards the police may possibly establish to generally be helpful later inside your situation. Your admission in your criminal offense could be nicely-obtained and function inside your favour, minimizing your punishment appreciably.
When you are continue to Doubtful regarding how to proceed, you are able to engage a criminal defence lawyer to seek advice on your position, as well as clarify your legal rights. A seasoned law firm should be able to most effective get ready you on What to anticipate if you switch on your own in and the way to cope with any investigations performed from you.