Singapore Armed Forces (Disciplinary Barracks) Regulations

Where a person is sentenced to special detention in a disciplinary barrack when his unit is engaged in military operations, and he cannot be delivered immediately into a disciplinary barrack, he may be kept in custody in such place as his unit commander may direct.

A person shall be kept under paragraph (1) under conditions which are not detrimental to his health and that he shall be delivered into a disciplinary barrack as soon as possible.

Paragraphs (1) and (2) shall also apply to —

Two persons shall not be kept in custody in one cell in a disciplinary barrack.

There shall be either one person or at least 3 persons in a cell referred to in paragraph (1).

Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), a person serving detention shall be allowed to keep in his cell necessary clothing, boots, mess-tins, cleaning and toilet kits.

Knives, razors, forks and spoons shall not be allowed to be kept in the cell of a person serving detention.

Persons serving detention shall not be allowed to wear decorations, insignias or badges of rank.

The commandant may permit a person serving detention to keep in such person’s cell any article in addition to those mentioned in paragraph (1).

A person sentenced to special detention in a disciplinary barrack shall be allowed to write one letter during his detention therein; and thereafter he shall not write any other letter.

There shall be no restriction on the length of the letter a person referred to in paragraph (1) may write.

A letter written under this regulation by a person serving detention shall be forwarded through the commandant of the disciplinary barrack in which such person is serving detention.

The commandant of a disciplinary barrack may scrutinize any letter written under this regulation by a person serving detention in the disciplinary barrack or any letter addressed to such person.

The commandant of a disciplinary barrack may withhold a letter, or any part thereof, written by a person serving detention in the disciplinary barrack or addressed to such person.

Where the commandant of a disciplinary barrack withholds a letter, or any part thereof, written by a person serving detention in the disciplinary barrack or addressed to such person, under paragraph (5), the commandant shall as soon as possible notify such person that the letter or part thereof has been withheld.

Notwithstanding regulation 14(1), a person serving detention shall be allowed to write more than one letter to his solicitor or defending officer.

Regulation 14(4) and (5) shall not apply to a letter written by —

Notwithstanding paragraph (2), where the commandant of a disciplinary barrack has reason to believe that a letter written by a person serving detention in the disciplinary barrack addressed to such person’s solicitor or defending officer or by the solicitor or defending officer addressed to such person contains material unrelated to the purposes of —

The commandant of a disciplinary barrack shall provide reasonable facilities for a person serving detention in the disciplinary barrack to be visited by his solicitor or defending officer for the purposes of —

Any visit made under paragraph (4) shall be within the sight, but not within the hearing of the commandant or a person on the staff of a disciplinary barrack.

The commandant of a disciplinary barrack may issue an order in writing for the physical restraint of a person serving detention in the disciplinary barrack to prevent such person from inflicting injuries to himself or another person, damaging property, creating any disturbance or escaping.

Physical restraint shall not be ordered for the purpose of punishing a person serving detention.

A person serving detention shall not be handcuffed to any object.

Persons serving detention may be handcuffed to one another when they are moving from one place to another.

An order made under paragraph (1) shall be in Part I of Form 2 set out in the First Schedule.

The period during which a person serving detention may be physically restrained under this regulation shall not exceed 12 hours, except that the Director of Manpower may order that the physical restraint shall continue for a period not exceeding 24 hours.

Physical restraint shall only be applied under this regulation by means of handcuffs of the figure of 8 and of a swivel or curb chain type not exceeding 567 grammes in weight.

The commandant of a disciplinary barrack may, when the handcuffs referred to in paragraph (7) cannot effectively secure a person serving detention in the disciplinary barrack, order any other means or manner of restraint with the approval of and subject to such conditions as may be laid down by a medical officer in Part II of Form 2 set out in the First Schedule.

Physical restraint may be applied to a person serving detention before the issue of an order under paragraph (1) only in a case of extreme urgency where an order in writing cannot be obtained.

The commandant shall in a case referred to in paragraph (9) issue forthwith an order in writing.

A person serving detention shall be engaged in such training as the commandant may require from time to time in accordance with these Regulations.

No person serving detention shall be engaged in training for more than 18 hours a day.

A person serving detention may be made to perform training on Sundays and gazetted public holidays.

No person shall be engaged in training when he is, on the advice of a medical officer, excused from training on medical grounds.

A person having a restricted diet as a punishment imposed on him under regulation 23 may be required to do drills.

A serviceman who discovers the escape from custody of a person serving detention or who has any knowledge which may assist in the apprehension of such person shall immediately report to the commandant.

The commandant of a disciplinary barrack shall forthwith inform the military police of any escape from custody of a person serving detention in the disciplinary barrack.

The military police shall upon receiving any information of the escape from custody of a person serving detention, forthwith report the escape to the police and the Director of Manpower.

The commandant may, on the application of a person serving detention, grant such person temporary release from a disciplinary barrack for a period not exceeding 48 hours on compassionate grounds.

The period during which a person is released under paragraph (1) shall be accountable for the purpose of calculating the period of sentence of special detention served by that person.

Upon releasing a person under paragraph (1) the commandant shall issue a certificate of release in Form 3 set out in the First Schedule.

Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), a person serving detention shall be entitled to have part of his sentence remitted in accordance with the following provisions:

For the purposes of calculating a remission of a sentence of special detention under paragraph (1), a part of a day shall be disregarded.

Where a person serving detention misbehaves himself the whole or a part of any remission of the sentence of special detention, granted to him under paragraph (1), may be withdrawn by —

Where a person serving detention is granted any medical leave during the detention, any remission of the sentence of special detention, granted to him under paragraph (1), shall be reduced by the number of days during which he was on such leave, unless the Director of Manpower, on the recommendation of the commandant, decides otherwise.

A person serving detention who commits a minor disciplinary barrack offence shall, after being given an opportunity of being heard, be liable, in addition to or in lieu of any other punishment which may be imposed under any written law, to any one of the following punishments to be imposed by the commandant:

The punishment of extra drill imposed under paragraph (1) may include performance by the person, who commits a minor disciplinary barrack offence, each day —

A person serving detention who is guilty of any act, conduct or neglect to the prejudice of good order or discipline shall be guilty of a minor disciplinary barrack offence.

Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (3), a minor disciplinary barrack offence includes —

For the purpose of sub-paragraph (1)(a) and regulation 18(5), a restricted diet shall consist of the food and quantity thereof set out in the Second Schedule.

When a sentence of caning is awarded under section 118(16) or 119 of the Act, the sentence shall be carried out in the presence of a commandant and a medical officer.

The medical officer, referred to in paragraph (1), shall give such directions for preventing any injury to health as he may consider necessary, and the person executing the caning shall comply with those directions.

Where a sentence of caning is awarded under section 118(16) or 119 of the Act, the caning shall be inflicted on the buttocks of the persons on whom such sentence is awarded.

A person on whom a sentence of caning, awarded under section 118(16) or 119 of the Act, is to be carried out, shall wear such protective clothing as may be required by a commandant from time to time to prevent as far as possible any permanent scar, cutting of the skin or bleeding from being caused by the caning.

A sentence of caning awarded by a subordinate military court under section 118(16) of the Act shall not be inflicted until after the expiration of 10 days from the date of sentence and after approval has been given by the Armed Forces Council or, if an appeal is lodged within that time, until the sentence is confirmed by the Military Court of Appeal and approval has been obtained from the Armed Forces Council.

A sentence of caning awarded by a commandant under section 119 of the Act shall not be inflicted until after the approval of the Armed Forces Council has been obtained.

A sentence of caning shall —

A person serving detention in a disciplinary barrack who considers himself wronged in any matter may complain to the commandant of the disciplinary barrack.

It is the duty of the commandant to investigate any complaint made to him under paragraph (1) and take such steps for redressing the wrong complained of as appears to him to be necessary to comply with these Regulations or the Act, as the case may be.

The Armed Forces Council shall in each year appoint a panel consisting of servicemen and other persons to be members of a Board of Visitors.

The Armed Forces Council shall decide on the number of persons who are to be appointed to the Board.

A member of the Board —

A commandant shall take such action as may be necessary on any irregularity drawn to his attention under paragraph (3) and report to the Board on the action taken by him as soon as possible.

The commandant shall not accompany any member of the Board in his visit to or inspection of a disciplinary barrack, but shall inform him of any request by a person serving detention to see the member, and shall otherwise assist the member in the exercise of his powers and the discharge of his functions and duties under these Regulations.

A member of the Board shall on every visit hear any complaint which a person serving detention may wish to make to him and shall inquire into the conditions of those persons who are in close confinement.

A person on whom a sentence of special detention in a disciplinary barrack has been passed may be detained in a military or civil prison or detention barrack temporarily for any period not exceeding 7 days if —

The committal order shall be in Form 4 set out in the First Schedule.

The authority committing a person serving detention to a military or civil prison or a detention barrack shall order the return of the person to a disciplinary barrack on the expiration of the authorised period.

The order referred to in paragraph (3) shall be in Form 5 set out in the First Schedule.