Statement by civil society groups
On 7 March, the Minister of Home Affairs introduced a bill in parliament to renew the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act (“CLTPA”) for another 5 years with effect from 21 October 2024. The 2nd reading of this bill takes place today (2 April 2024). If the bill is passed, it would be the 15th time the CLTPA is renewed since its enactment in 1955. As of today, this law has been in existence for 69 years and actively enforced. The minister is not accountable to the people and the number of those detained since 1955 is not known.
The CLTPA empowers the Minister of Home Affairs to detain people without trial for alleged “criminal activities”. The minister claims that arrests and detentions are made in the “interests of public safety, peace and good order”. Such orders for detentions are renewable on an annual basis and for indefinite periods of time.
The Minister is also possessed of the power to order a detainee to be released and place him under a supervision order of up to 3 years under the CLTPA. Anyone convicted of a list of specified offences faces up to double of the maximum prescribed penalty for the offence which may include caning.
We, the undersigned, oppose indefinite detention without trial in any form. The period of such detentions may exceed the maximum punishment provided under ordinary criminal law. The exercise of such draconian powers without the knowledge of the public and without judicial oversight, is an affront to open justice and the rule of law.
In 2018, the CLTPA was drastically amended to make the minister’s decision final. This was a direct result of the Court of Appeal ruling in 2015 that found the detention of an alleged soccer match-fixer Dan Tan unlawful. In recent years, we have seen the extensive expansion of policing powers and a significant growth in police resources. By renewing the CLTPA, is the government admitting that their whole policing arsenal is ineffective?
When the CLTPA was renewed in 2013, the then 2nd Minister of Home Affairs S. Iswaran described the legislation as a tool of ‘last resort’. Today, the Ministry of Home Affairs calls the CLTPA an “essential and critical” tool for the government to take “swift and effective action”. Clearly, the use of the CLTPA is a lazy way of dealing with “lawlessness” if indeed Singapore is in such a deplorable state of development and not a first world country.
The CLTPA should not be renewed.
Signatories:
For the Children SG
Function 8
MARUAH
My Queer Story SG
NTU Financial Aid Friends
SG Climate Rally
Singaporean Campaign Group for the Academic Boycott of Israel
Student for Migrant Rights
Students for a Fossil Free Future
Think Centre
Transformative Justice Collective
We, The Citizens
Workers Make Possible
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