Internal Security (Detained Persons) Rules

The Minister may appoint —

The officer-in-charge of a place of detention may issue and approve orders (called in these Rules standing orders) for the place of detention that are not inconsistent with these Rules.

Subject to the orders of the officer-in-charge of a place of detention, it is the duty of the Superintendent of the place of detention to assist the officer-in-charge in the following matters:

If the Superintendent of a place of detention —

The officer-in-charge of a place of detention must appoint at least one medical officer for the place of detention in accordance with this rule.

A medical officer appointed under paragraph (1) must be a registered medical practitioner.

The officer-in-charge of a place of detention may appoint any registered medical practitioner to act temporarily as a medical officer for the place of detention during any period, or during all periods, when a medical officer for that place of detention —

Every officer may use weapons against any detained person escaping or attempting to escape:Provided that resort shall not be had to the use of any such weapons unless the officer has reasonable ground to believe that he cannot otherwise prevent the escape.

Every officer may use weapons on any detained person engaged in any combined outbreak or in any attempt to force or break open the outside door or gate or enclosure wall of the place of detention, and may continue to use such weapons so long as such combined outbreak or attempt is actually being prosecuted.

Every officer may use weapons against any detained person using violence to any officer or other person, provided that the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the officer or other person is in danger of life or limb, or that other grievous hurt is likely to be caused to him.

Before using firearms against a detained person under the authority conveyed in paragraph (1), the officer shall give a warning to the detained person that he is about to fire on him.

No officer shall, in the presence of his superior officer, use arms of any sort against a detained person in the case of an outbreak or attempt to escape except under the orders of such superior officer.

The use of weapons under this section shall be, as far as possible, to disable and not to kill.

Every police officer, and every member of the Armed Forces or of any Force established under any written law, who is for the time being serving in the capacity of an escort guard or of a guard in or about a place of detention for the purpose of ensuring the safe custody of any detained persons in such place of detention shall be deemed to have all the powers and privileges granted to an officer under this rule.

An officer employed at or deployed to a place of detention may use force on a detained person in the place of detention if —

Where force is used on a detained person in a place of detention —

The Superintendent of a place of detention must —

A medical officer for a place of detention may recommend, for medical reasons —

Where, in the opinion of a medical officer for a place of detention, the refusal of a detained person in the place of detention to consume any food provided to the detained person is likely to endanger or seriously affect the detained person’s health —

The Superintendent of a place of detention must, without delay after receiving the written notice mentioned in paragraph (3)(a), inform the officer-in-charge of the place of detention about the refusal.

In this rule, “food” includes drink.

The Superintendent of a place of detention must, upon the dangerous illness or death of a detained person in the place of detention, give immediate notice of the illness or death of the detained person to the most accessible known relative of the detained person or of the deceased, as the case may be.

The Superintendent of a place of detention must, upon the death of a detained person in the place of detention —

The Minister may permit a person who has good reasons, to view a place of detention at reasonable hours accompanied by an officer.

A visitor to a place of detention must give his name and address and sign his name in the visitors book and is liable to be searched by order of the Superintendent of the place of detention.

The Superintendent of a place of detention may remove from the place of detention any visitor to the place of detention whose conduct is improper.

Money and all other articles whatever in possession of, or sent in to, any detained person, not expressly allowed by these Rules, shall be taken from such detained person. Such property shall be inventoried in the register of property, which shall be signed by the detained person.

Any article of a perishable or dangerous nature may be destroyed.

The Superintendent of a place of detention must take particular care to see that every precaution is taken to ensure the safe custody of detained persons’ property and to prevent the loss or misappropriation of any such property.

The Superintendent of a place of detention must provide every detained person in the place of detention with detention clothes.

Every detained person must wear the detention clothes provided to the detained person under paragraph (1).

The Superintendent of a place of detention must ensure that —

The Superintendent may cause any dangerous or objectionable thing that is taken from a detained person to be destroyed.

A female detained person must not be searched except by a woman officer.

person who without lawful authority —

officer who without lawful authority —

If a detained person escapes by breach of a place of detention or otherwise out of custody, he may be retaken in the same manner as a person convicted of crime against the law of Singapore may be retaken on an escape.

Any person who is guilty of the offence of so escaping or of attempting to escape, or of aiding or attempting to aid any such detained person so to escape, shall be deemed to have committed an offence against the law of Singapore, and may be tried and punished accordingly.

A medical officer for a place of detention must give a written report to the Superintendent of the place of detention about the medical condition of any detained person in the place of detention to which, in the medical officer’s opinion, the Superintendent’s attention should be drawn.

A medical officer for a place of detention may recommend, for medical reasons —

Where, in the opinion of a medical officer for a place of detention —

The Superintendent of a place of detention must, without delay after receiving the written notice mentioned in paragraph (1), forward the written notice to the officer-in-charge of the place of detention.

The Superintendent of a place of detention must —

Every detained person must keep his cell clean.

The officer-in-charge of a place of detention may, at any time, require any detained person in the place of detention to undergo a medical examination by a medical officer for the place of detention or a registered medical practitioner for the purposes of ascertaining whether the detained person is suffering from, or is a carrier of, any infectious disease.

Where a detained person refuses to undergo the medical examination mentioned in paragraph (1) or refuses to provide any sample necessary for the purposes of such an examination, the medical officer or registered medical practitioner (as the case may be) must, without delay, give to the Superintendent of the place of detention a written notification.

The Superintendent of a place of detention may, upon receiving a written notification mentioned in paragraph (2) in respect of a detained person in the place of detention, direct that the detained person be detained separately from any other detained persons until the detained person undergoes the medical examination mentioned in paragraph (1).

Where a medical officer for a place of detention ascertains that a detained person in the place of detention is (or is likely to be) suffering from, or is (or is likely to be) a carrier of, any infectious disease, the medical officer must without delay, give to the Superintendent of the place of detention a written report containing —

The Superintendent of a place of detention may, upon receiving a written report mentioned in paragraph (4) in respect of a detained person in the place of detention, direct that —

In the case of a contagious or infectious disease occurring in any place of detention it shall be lawful to remove any of the detained persons from the place of detention to any other place and such removal may be made in pursuance of an order under the hand of the officer-in-charge.

Such other place as aforesaid shall be deemed during the continuance of any detained person therein to be a part of the place of detention from which the detained person was so removed, and when such disease shall have ceased, any detained person so removed from any place of detention shall be taken back to the place of detention from where he was removed, if still liable to be confined therein.

Whenever a detained person in a place of detention appears to a medical officer for the place of detention to be mentally disordered he may direct that the detained person be removed to any mental hospital or other fit place of safe custody and be there detained, and an order of removal signed by the Superintendent of the place of detention shall be authority for the reception of the detained person and for his detention therein until removed or discharged as provided in paragraph (2).

Where a detained person who is detained in a mental hospital under these Rules is, in the opinion of a registered medical practitioner of the mental hospital, no longer mentally disordered, the registered medical practitioner shall report accordingly to the Superintendent of the place of detention who shall, by order, direct the return of the detained person to the place of detention from where he was removed or to any other place of detention.

A person under detention may, as far as is consistent with the proper discipline of the persons in the place of detention, have the use of books and papers, provided that all such articles are received or procured through the Superintendent of the place of detention.

A Superintendent may detain any paper or book which, in his opinion, contains any objectionable matter.

A detained person shall, consistent with the proper discipline of the persons in the place of detention and subject as is hereinafter provided, be entitled to visits from his close relatives and legal advisers. In the absence of any close relatives, the Superintendent of a place of detention may grant permission for other relatives or friends to visit the detained person in the place of detention.

A detained person in a place of detention must not, except with the express permission of the Superintendent of the place of detention, receive more than one visit a week from the detained person’s close relatives.

Not more than two persons shall be admitted to visit a detained person at any one time.

No visit shall last more than 30 minutes or any longer period that the Superintendent may allow.

A Superintendent or an officer, or in the case of a visit to a woman detained person, a woman officer shall, together with an interpreter in any case where the officer does not understand the language spoken, be in sight and hearing during the whole of any visit to a detained person, unless the Superintendent by an order in writing sees fit to dispense with any of the above requirements.

The Superintendent of a place of detention may remove from the place of detention any visitor to a detained person if the conduct of the visitor or detained person is improper.

The Superintendent of a place of detention may prohibit (temporarily or otherwise) any visitor from visiting a detained person in the place of detention if —

A visitor to a detained person in a place of detention must provide the Superintendent of the place of detention or an officer authorised by the Superintendent with his name and address and, if the Superintendent or the officer has any ground for suspicion, he may search or cause to be searched male visitors and may direct a woman officer to search women visitors, but such search shall not take place in the presence of any detained person or of another visitor.

If any visitor refuses to be searched or if a Superintendent or such authorised officer is of opinion that the admission of the visitor would be prejudicial to security or good order in the place of detention, the Superintendent or the officer may deny him admission, recording the grounds of his refusal in the journal.

If any article is found as the result of a search which, in the opinion of a Superintendent or such authorised officer, is prohibited by the rules of the place of detention or likely to be dangerous to the health or life of any detained person or likely to facilitate escape from the place of detention, he may impound the article.

A detained person may, consistent with the proper discipline of a place of detention, receive one letter and send one letter in any week.

The Superintendent of a place of detention (or an officer authorised by the Superintendent) shall read every letter written by or addressed to any detained person in the place of detention and if he considers it to contain any objectionable matter he shall detain it.

The decision of the Superintendent shall, subject to an appeal to the officer-in-charge, be final.

The Minister may appoint any two or more persons to constitute a Board of Inspection (referred to in this rule as the Board) for a place of detention.

The Board may visit the place of detention at any time and shall visit the place of detention at least once in every month.

The Board shall be entitled to inspect any part of the place of detention and shall in particular visit the sick in hospital and enquire into the condition of persons undergoing punishment in cells.

The Board shall hear any complaint (not being a complaint relating to the validity of a detention order or relating to the grounds on which a detention order was made) which any detained person may wish to make, and it shall be the duty of the Superintendent of the place of detention to inform the Board of any detained person who wishes to make a complaint. The hearing of a complaint shall be as informal as possible.

A minute book shall be provided at the place of detention in which the members of the Board shall record their visits and may enter any remarks and recommendations which they wish to make. A certified copy of the entries in the minute book for the preceding month shall be transmitted to the Minister on the first day of each month.

The Superintendent of a place of detention may, for the purpose of promoting the wellbeing of any detained persons in the place of detention, require the detained persons to participate in any recreational, vocational or other programmes that the Minister may determine.

The Superintendent of a place of detention may decide not to require any detained persons in the place of detention from participating in all or any of the programmes mentioned in paragraph (1).

If the place of detention of a detained person is —

To avoid doubt, the Prisons (Police Lock-ups and Temporary Lock-ups) Regulations 2013 (G.N. No. S 684/2013) apply to, or in relation to, the detained person and the lock-up mentioned in paragraph (1).

The Minister may by order in writing declare any place to be a place for the rehabilitation of detained persons or of persons against whom an order of detention has been made but the operation thereof suspended under section 10 of the Act, and who have been admitted on their signed application to reside in such place.

The Minister may by such order —

Any person without lawful excuse entering any such place in contravention of the provisions of any order made under paragraph (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to 6 months’ imprisonment.

The provisions of these Rules and of any order made under paragraphs (1) and (2) and of any standing orders made thereunder shall, except as otherwise expressly provided therein, apply to any person, against whom an order of detention has been made but the operation thereof suspended under section 10 of the Act and who has been admitted on his signed application to reside in such place, in the same manner in all respects as they apply to a detained person residing therein.