Singapore legislation
Section 25
Section 25
Notice to attend court
(1)
Where a registration officer has reasonable grounds to believe that a person has committed an offence under this Act (called in this section the alleged offender), the registration officer may, instead of applying to a court for a summons under the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, immediately serve upon the alleged offender a prescribed notice, requiring the alleged offender to attend at the court and on the date and time specified in the notice.
(2)
A duplicate of the notice must be prepared by the registration officer and, if so required by a court, produced to the court.
(3)
The registration officer may serve the notice on the alleged offender in the same manner as the service of a summons under section 116 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010.
(4)
Where the alleged offender appears before the court, the court is to take cognizance of the alleged offence and proceed as though the alleged offender were produced before the court under a summons issued under section 153 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010.
(5)
If the alleged offender fails to appear before the court in person or by counsel on the date and time specified in the notice, the court may, if satisfied that the notice was duly served on the alleged offender, issue a warrant for the arrest of the alleged offender unless before that date —
in the case of an offence which may be compounded, the alleged offender has been permitted to compound the offence; or
the notice has been cancelled under subsection (7).
(6)
Where the alleged offender is arrested under a warrant issued under subsection (5), the alleged offender must be produced before a court, and the court —
is to proceed as though the alleged offender were produced before the court under a summons issued under section 153 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010;
at the conclusion of the proceedings, is to call upon the alleged offender to show cause why the alleged offender should not be punished for failing to attend court in compliance with the notice; and
if cause is not shown by the alleged offender, may order the alleged offender to pay a fine not exceeding $2,000 or may commit the alleged offender to prison for a term not exceeding 2 months.
(7)
A registration officer may cancel a notice issued under subsection (1) at any time before the date specified in that notice for the alleged offender named in that notice to attend court.[16C