Singapore legislation
Clause 52
Clause 52
Power of commanding officer
(1)
The commanding officer shall, upon an investigation being had of a charge made against a person subject to military law under his command of having committed an offence under this Act, dismiss the charge, if he in his discretion thinks that it ought not to be proceeded with, but where he thinks the charge ought to be proceeded with, he may take steps for bringing the offender to court-martial, or, in the case of an officer below the rank of field officer or of a warrant officer, may refer the case to be dealt with summarily under the provisions of this Act, or in the case of a soldier may deal with the case summarily.
(2)
Where he deals with a case summarily, he may —
award to the offender detention for any period not exceeding twenty-eight days;
in the case of the offence of drunkenness, may order the offender to pay a fine not exceeding fifteen dollars, either in addition to or in lieu of any other punishment;
in addition to or in lieu of any other punishment may order the offender to suffer any deduction from his ordinary pay authorised by this Act to be made by the commanding officer;
in the case of an offence by a soldier (not being a non-commissioned officer) on active service, may award to the offender field punishment within the meaning of section 50 for any period not exceeding twenty-eight days, and may in addition to, or in lieu of any other punishment, order that the offender forfeit all ordinary pay for a period commencing on the day of the sentence and not exceeding twenty-eight days; and
in addition to or in lieu of any other punishment may award such other minor punishment as he is for the time being authorised to award, so however that a minor punishment shall not be awarded for any offence for which detention exceeding seven days is awarded.
(3)
Where the charge is against a soldier for drunkenness the commanding officer shall deal with the case summarily unless the offence was committed on active service or on duty, or after the offender was warned for duty, or unless by reason of the drunkenness the offender was found unfit for duty, or unless the soldier has been guilty of drunkenness on not less than four occasions in the preceding twelve months; but nothing in this subsection shall affect the jurisdiction of any court-martial or the right of the soldier to be tried by a district court-martial.
(4)
In every case where the commanding officer has power to deal with the case summarily, the accused person may demand that the evidence against him be taken on oath, and the same oath or solemn declaration as that required to be taken by witnesses before a court-martial shall be administered to each witness in such case.
(5)
An offender shall not be liable to be tried by court-martial where the charge has been dismissed or the offence has been dealt with summarily by his commanding officer and shall not be liable to be punished by his commanding officer for any offence of which he has been acquitted or convicted by a competent civil court or by a court-martial.
(6)
Where a commanding officer has power to deal with a case summarily under this section, and, after hearing the evidence, considers that he may so deal with the case, he shall, in every case where the award or finding involves a forfeiture of ordinary pay, and in every other case, unless he awards no punishment other than one of the minor punishments referred to in subsection (2), ask the soldier charged whether he desires to be dealt with summarily or to be tried by a district court-martial and if the soldier elects to be tried by a district court-martial the commanding officer shall take steps for bringing him to trial by a district court-martial, but otherwise he shall proceed to deal with the case summarily.
(7)
The power of dealing summarily with a case may be delegated by a commanding officer to any officer under his command in accordance with and subject to such regulations as may be prescribed:Provided that such officer shall not have power to inflict any punishment other than a minor punishment, or such fine for drunkenness as may be provided for by those regulations.