page_title: High Court of Singapore
section_title: Criminal trials
hierarchical_section_title: High Court of Singapore / Jurisdiction / Original jurisdiction / Original criminal jurisdiction / Criminal trials
context_page_description: The High Court of the Republic of Singapore is the lower division of the Supreme Court of Singapore, the upper being the Court of Appeal. It consists of the Chief Justice of Singapore and the Judges of the High Court. Judicial Commissioners are often appointed to assist with the Court's caseload. There are two specialist commercial courts, the Admiralty Court and the Intellectual Property Court, and a number of judges are designated to hear arbitration-related matters. In 2015, the Singapore International Commercial Court was established as part of the Supreme Court of Singapore, and is a division of the High Court. The seat of the High Court is the Supreme Court Building.
  The High Court exercises both original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters. By possessing original jurisdiction, the Court is able to hear cases at first instance – it can deal with trials of matters coming before the courts for the first time. A special aspect of the Court's original jurisdiction is its judicial review jurisdiction, under which it determines the constitutionality of legislation and actions taken by the Government.
context_section_description: All criminal trials before the High Court are heard and disposed of before a single Judge of the High Court. When the Court is ready to commence a trial, the accused appears or is brought before the court. The charge is read and explained, and the accused is asked whether he or she is guilty of the offence or claims to be tried. If the accused pleads guilty the plea is recorded, and he or she may be convicted on it and sentenced. If the accused refuses to or does not plead, or if he or she claims trial, the Court proceeds to try the case.
  Counsel for the Public Prosecutor opens his or her case by stating shortly the nature of the offence charged and the evidence by which the accused's guilt is proposed to be proved. The prosecution witnesses are then examined, cross-examined for the defence and, if necessary, re-examined by the prosecution. When the case for the prosecution is concluded, the defence may invite the Court to dismiss the case on the basis that there is no case to answer. The Court must decide whether there is evidence against the accused which is not inherently incredible and which satisfies every element of the charge against him or her. If there is no such evidence, the accused must be acquitted. If the Court finds that a case against the accused has been made out, it must call on the accused to give his or her defence. It is up to the accused to decide whether or not to offer a defence. If the accused elects to do so, he or she, or his or her advocate, may open the case for the defence, stating the facts or law on which the accused intends to rely and commenting on the evidence for the prosecution. The accused may then examine his or her witnesses, and after their cross-examination by the prosecution and re-examination by the defence, may sum up his or her case. The prosecution may then call persons as witnesses or recall persons already examined for re-examination for rebuttal purposes, and such rebuttal witnesses may be cross-examined by the defence and re-examined by the prosecution. Whether or not the accused has adduced evidence, the prosecution has the right to reply on the whole case.
  If the Court finds the accused not guilty, it records an order of acquittal. If it finds the accused guilty, it passes sentence on the accused according to law. The High Court is the sole court exercising original criminal jurisdiction that may impose the death penalty. Also, when a person is convicted of an offence punishable with imprisonment for two years or more and had previously been convicted in Singapore or elsewhere of a similar offence, the Court may, in addition to any other punishment, direct that he or she be subject to police supervision for not more than seven years starting immediately after the sentence passed for the last of these offences expires. In addition, only the High Court and District Courts are empowered to sentence convicted persons to corrective training, reformative training or preventive detention.
  At any stage of a trial before the Court before the return of the verdict, the prosecution may inform the Court that it will not further prosecute the accused upon the charge. All proceedings on the charge against the accused are then stayed, and he or she is discharged. The prosecution may act in this manner for various reasons; for example, if it no longer believes that the accused committed the offence, if it feels that the case against the accused is weak, or if it is of the view that further investigations are required to gather evidence for its case. Unless the judge expressly directs otherwise, such a discharge does not amount to an acquittal. This means that if the prosecution is able to obtain additional evidence to bolster its case, it may bring criminal proceedings against the accused again at a later stage.
caption: Imperial Japanese Army soldiers in the dock of a courtroom in the Old Supreme Court Building on 21 January 1946 during their trial for war crimes allegedly committed during the Japanese occupation of Singapore
exif: {}