Singapore

Criminal Procedure Code

PART XVI
SENTENCES

Division 1 — Sentences in general

Sentences
303. —(1) The High Court may pass any sentence authorised by law.

(2) Subject to this Code and any other written law, a District Court may pass any of the following sentences:

(a) imprisonment not exceeding 10 years;

(b)fine not exceeding $30,000;

(c) caning not exceeding 12 strokes;

(d) any other lawful sentence, including a combination of the sentences it is authorised by law to pass.

(3) Subject to this Code and any other written law, a Magistrate’s Court may pass any of the following sentences:

(a) imprisonment not exceeding 3 years;

(b) fine not exceeding $10,000;

(c) caning not exceeding 6 strokes;

(d) any other lawful sentence, including a combination of the sentences it is authorised by law to pass.


Corrective training and preventive detention
304. —(1) Where a person of the age of 18 years or above —

(a) is convicted before the High Court or a District Court of an offence punishable with imprisonment for 2 years or more, and has been convicted in Singapore or elsewhere at least twice since he reached the age of 16 years for offences punishable with such a sentence; or

(b) is convicted at one trial before the High Court or a District Court of 3 or more distinct offences punishable with imprisonment for 2 years or more, and has been convicted and sentenced in Singapore or elsewhere to imprisonment for at least one month since he reached the age of 16 years for an offence punishable with imprisonment for 2 years or more,

then, if the court is satisfied that it is expedient with a view to his reformation and the prevention of crime that he should receive training of a corrective character for a substantial period of time, followed by a period of supervision if released before the expiration of his sentence, the court, unless it has special reasons for not doing so, shall sentence him to corrective training for a period of 5 to 14 years in lieu of any sentence of imprisonment.

(2) Where a person of the age of 30 years or above —

(a) is convicted before the High Court or a District Court of an offence punishable with imprisonment for 2 years or more, and has been convicted in Singapore or elsewhere at least 3 times since he reached the age of 16 years of offences punishable with such a sentence, and was on at least 2 of those occasions sentenced to imprisonment or corrective training; or

(b) is convicted at one trial before the High Court or a District Court of 3 or more distinct offences punishable with imprisonment for 2 years or more, and has been convicted and sentenced in Singapore or elsewhere to imprisonment for at least one month since he reached the age of 16 years for an offence punishable with imprisonment for 2 years or more,

then, if the court is satisfied that it is expedient for the protection of the public that he should be detained in custody for a substantial period of time, followed by a period of supervision if released before the expiration of his sentence, the court, unless it has special reasons for not doing so, shall sentence him to preventive detention for a period of 7 to 20 years in lieu of any sentence of imprisonment.

(3) Before sentencing any offender to corrective training or preventive detention, the court must call for and consider any report submitted by the Director of Prisons, or any person authorised by the Director of Prisons to submit the report on his behalf, on the offender’s physical and mental condition and his suitability for such a sentence; and if the court has not received such a report, it must remand the offender in custody for a period or periods, not exceeding one month in the case of any single period, to enable the report to be submitted.

(4) The court must give a copy of any report submitted by the Director of Prisons to the offender or his advocate and to the Public Prosecutor.

(5) Where an offender who is sentenced under subsection (1) or (2) is also convicted at the same trial of any offence other than an offence punishable with imprisonment for 2 years or more, the court may, on the application of the Public Prosecutor, instead of imposing any term of imprisonment as may be prescribed for that offence, take into account such offence for the purposes of determining the period of corrective training or preventive detention, as the case may be.

(6) A person sentenced to corrective training or preventive detention must be detained in a prison for the term of his sentence in accordance with the regulations made under section 428.


Reformative training
305. —(1) Where a person is convicted by a court of an offence punishable with imprisonment and that person is, on the day of his conviction —

(a) of or above the age of 16 years but below the age of 21 years; or

(b) of or above the age of 14 years but below the age of 16 years and has, before that conviction, been dealt with by a court in connection with another offence and had, for that offence, been ordered to be sent to a juvenile rehabilitation centre established under section 64 of the Children and Young Persons Act (Cap. 38),

the court may impose a sentence of reformative training in lieu of any other sentence if it is satisfied, having regard to his character, previous conduct and the circumstances of the offence, that to reform him and to prevent crime he should undergo a period of training in a reformative training centre.
[3/2011]

(2) Where a young person has been ordered by a Juvenile Court under the Children and Young Persons Act to be brought before a District Court, then the court must inquire into the circumstances of the case and may —

(a) if satisfied that to reform him he should undergo a period of training in a reformative training centre, sentence him to reformative training instead of any other sentence; or

(b) in any case, deal with him in the manner that the Juvenile Court might have dealt with him.

(3) Before imposing any sentence of reformative training, the court must call for and consider any report submitted by the Director of Prisons, or any person authorised by the Director of Prisons to submit the report on his behalf, on the offender’s physical and mental condition and his suitability for the sentence; and if the court has not received such a report, it must remand the offender in custody for a period or periods, not exceeding one month in the case of any single period, to enable the report to be submitted.

(4) The court must give a copy of any report submitted by the Director of Prisons to the offender or his advocate and to the Public Prosecutor.

(5) A person sentenced to reformative training must be detained in accordance with the regulations made under section 428.


Sentence in case of conviction for several offences at one trial
306. —(1) Where a person is convicted at one trial of any 2 or more distinct offences, the court must sentence him for those offences to the punishments that it is competent to impose.

(2) Subject to section 307 and subsection (4), where these punishments consist of imprisonment, they are to run consecutively in the order that the court directs, or they may run concurrently if the court so directs.

(3) The court need not send the offender for trial before a higher court merely because the combined punishment for the various offences exceeds the punishment which the court is competent to inflict for a single offence.

(4) Subject to any written law, a Magistrate’s Court or District Court may not impose a total term of imprisonment that exceeds twice that which such court is competent to impose under section 303.


Consecutive sentences in certain cases
307. —(1) Subject to subsection (2), if at one trial a person is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for at least 3 distinct offences, the court before which he is convicted must order the sentences for at least 2 of those offences to run consecutively.

(2) Where a sentence of life imprisonment is imposed by the High Court at a trial mentioned in subsection (1), the other sentences of imprisonment must run concurrently with the sentence of life imprisonment, except that where the Court of Appeal sets aside or reduces the sentence of life imprisonment then the Court of Appeal may order any of the other sentences of imprisonment to run consecutively.


Limit of punishment for offence made up of several offences
308.—(1) Where anything which is an offence is made up of parts, any of which parts is itself an offence, the person who committed the offence shall not be punished with the punishment of more than one of such offences unless it is expressly provided.

(2) Where —

(a) anything is an offence falling within 2 or more separate definitions of any law in force for the time being by which offences are defined or punished; or

(b) several acts, of which one or more than one would by itself or themselves constitute an offence, constitute when combined a different offence,

the person who committed the offence shall not be punished with a more severe punishment than the court which tries him could award for any one of such offences.

Illustrations

(a) A gives Z 50 strokes with a stick. Here A may have committed the offence of voluntarily causing hurt to Z by the whole beating, and also by each of the blows which make up the whole beating. If A were liable to punishment for every blow, he might be imprisoned for 50 years, one for each blow. But he is liable only to one punishment for the whole beating.

(b) But if, while A is beating Z, Y interferes and A intentionally strikes Y, here, as the blow given to Y is no part of the act whereby Avoluntarily causes hurt to Z, A is liable to one punishment for voluntarily causing hurt to Z, and to another for the blow given to Y.


Police supervision
309. —(1) If a person who has been convicted in Singapore or elsewhere of an offence punishable with imprisonment for 2 years or more is convicted of another offence also punishable with imprisonment for 2 years or more, a court may, in addition to sentencing him to any other punishment, order that he be placed under police supervision for a period starting immediately after the last sentence passed on him ends.

(2) The period of supervision imposed by the High Court, the District Court and the Magistrate’s Court under subsection (1) must not exceed 7 years, 5 years and 3 years, respectively.


Requirements from person subject to supervision
310. —(1) Every person ordered to be placed under police supervision and who is at large in Singapore must —

(a) personally present himself and notify the place of his residence to the officer in charge of the police division in which his residence is situated;

(b) where he changes his residence, personally present himself and notify the change of residence to the officer in charge of the police division in which his new residence is situated;

(c) where he changes his residence to a place outside Singapore, personally present himself and notify the change of residence and the place to which he is going to reside to the officer in charge of the police division in which his last residence in Singapore is situated;

(d) if, having changed his residence to a place outside Singapore, he later returns to Singapore, personally present himself and notify his return and his place of residence in Singapore to the officer in charge of the police division in which his residence in Singapore is situated; and

(e) if he intends to be absent from his last notified residence for more than 48 hours without changing his place of residence, personally present himself and notify his intention, where he intends to go and how long he will be away to the officer in charge of the police division in which his residence is situated.

(2) A person under police supervision must, at least once every 30 days, report personally at the time and place and to the police officer appointed by the Commissioner of Police, and such officer may on each occasion take or cause to be taken the fingerprints of the person reporting to him.


Penalty for non-compliance with section 310
311. —(1) If any person subject to police supervision who is at large in Singapore —

(a) remains in any place for 48 hours without personally presenting himself and notifying the place of his residence to the officer in charge of the police division in which such place is situated;

(b) fails to comply with the requirements of section 310 on the occasion of any change of residence;

(c) is absent from his notified place of residence for more than 48 hours without having complied with the requirements of section 310(1)(e); or

(d)fails to comply with the requirements of section 310(2),

he shall in every such case, unless he proves to the satisfaction of the court before which he is tried that he did his best to act in conformity with the law, be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months.

(2) Where a court convicts a person of an offence under this section, the court may, in addition to sentencing him to any other punishment, order that he remain under police supervision for a further period of not more than one year, commencing immediately after the end of the sentence passed on him by that court, or immediately after the end of the period of police supervision in respect of which the offence was committed, whichever is the later.

(3) Where a person under police supervision is, while still subject to such supervision, sentenced to a term of imprisonment for any offence, then the period of supervision may exclude any term spent in prison.


Application of law to orders for police supervision made in Malaysia
312. Sections 310 and 311 apply to every person who, by reason of an order made under the law for the time being in force in Malaysia or any State thereof, would be subject to the supervision of the police if he were at large in Malaysia or that State, and who is at large in Singapore.


Provisions as to execution of sentences of death
313. The following provisions apply to death sentences:

(a) after sentence has been pronounced, a warrant under the seal of the court must be made out for the person sentenced to be committed to the custody of the Director of Prisons in accordance with such prescribed form;

(b) the warrant shall be full authority to the Director of Prisons, or any officer appointed by him for that purpose, for receiving into his custody and detaining the person sentenced until he receives the court’s further warrant or order;

(c) the trial Judge who tried the accused must, within a reasonable time after sentence has been pronounced, prepare a copy of the notes of evidence taken at the trial and a report in writing signed by him stating whether, in his opinion, there is any reason (and, if so, particulars of the reason) why the death sentence should be carried out;
[Act 33 of 2012 wef 01/01/2013]

(d) the trial Judge must forward to the Court of Appeal the notes of evidence and report referred to in paragraph (c), within a reasonable time after being notified by the Registrar of the Supreme Court that a notice of appeal has been given or petition for confirmation has been lodged, as the case may be;
[Act 33 of 2012 wef 01/01/2013]

(e) if the Court of Appeal dismisses the appeal or confirms the imposition of the sentence of death, then the Chief Justice or other presiding Judge must, within a reasonable time, forward to the Minister the notes of evidence and report referred to in paragraph (c), stating whether he agrees with the trial Judge, together with a notification of the decision of the Court of Appeal and also any report on the case that the Court of Appeal may think fit to make, signed by the Chief Justice or other presiding Judge;
[Act 33 of 2012 wef 01/01/2013]

(f) the President must, acting in accordance with the Constitution —

(i) transmit to the Court of Appeal a copy signed and sealed by him of any order he makes;
(ii) if the sentence is to be carried out, state the time and place of execution of the sentence in the order; and
(iii) if the person sentenced is pardoned or the sentence is commuted to another punishment, state this in the order;
[Act 33 of 2012 wef 01/01/2013]

(g) on receiving the copy of the President’s order the Court of Appeal must, if the sentence is to be carried out, cause a warrant to be issued under the seal of the Supreme Court and signed by the Chief Justice or other presiding Judge, or in the absence thereof any other Judge of Appeal or High Court Judge, setting out the time and place of execution as prescribed in the order of the President;
[Act 33 of 2012 wef 01/01/2013]

(h) the President may, at any time before the warrant is carried out, order a respite of the execution of the warrant and afterwards appoint some other time or other place for its execution;

(i) the warrant must be directed to the Director of Prisons who must carry out the sentence in accordance with law;

(j) there must be present at the execution of the sentence the superintendent of the prison, a medical officer of the prison, and any other prison officers that the Director of Prisons requires;

(k) there may also be present a minister of religion in attendance at the prison and any other persons that the Director of Prisons thinks proper to admit;

(l) immediately after the death sentence has been carried out, the medical officer of the prison present must examine the body of the person executed, ascertain the fact of death and sign a death certificate and deliver it to the Director of Prisons;

(m) within 24 hours after the execution, a Coroner must hold an inquiry as provided under the Coroners Act 2010(Act 14 of 2010) and satisfy himself of the identity of the body and whether the sentence of death was duly carried out;

(n) a copy of the Coroner’s findings must be forwarded to and filed in the Registry of the Supreme Court and another must be forwarded to and filed in the office of the Minister;

(o) where a sentence of death is avoided by the escape of the person sentenced to death, the sentence must be carried out at such other time after his recapture that the High Court then orders;

(p) no omission or error as to time and place and no defect in form in any order or warrant given under this section, and no omission to comply with paragraphs (j) to (n) may be held to make illegal any execution carried out or intended to have been carried out under the order or warrant or make illegal any execution that would otherwise have been legal.


No sentence of death against person below 18 years
314. A sentence of death must not be passed or recorded against an accused convicted of an offence if the court has reason to believe that, at the time the offence was committed, he was below the age of 18 years, but instead the court must sentence him to life imprisonment.


Sentence of death not to be passed on pregnant woman
315. —(1) Where a woman convicted of an offence punishable with death alleges that she is pregnant, or where the court before whom a woman is so convicted thinks fit, the question whether or not the woman is pregnant must, before sentence is passed on her, be determined by the court.

(2) If the court finds the woman pregnant, it must pass a sentence of life imprisonment on her.

(3) If the court finds the woman not to be pregnant, she may appeal to the Court of Appeal against that finding in the manner set out under this Code.

(4) On hearing the appeal referred to in subsection (3), the Court of Appeal, if satisfied for any reason that the finding should be set aside, must set aside the sentence, and pass a sentence of life imprisonment.


Judgment of death
316. Where any person is sentenced to death, the sentence must direct that he must be hanged by the neck until he is dead but shall not state the place where nor the time when the sentence is to be carried out.


Sentences other than of death
317. —(1) Where an accused is sentenced to imprisonment or to caning, the court must immediately forward a warrant (unless the accused is already confined in prison) stating the name of the accused
and sentence to the Director of Prisons or an officer appointed by him for that purpose who must receive into his custody the person named in the warrant.

(2) The warrant shall be full authority to the Director of Prisons or the officer appointed by him for receiving into custody and detaining the accused and carrying out the sentence.


Date that sentence begins
318. Subject to this Code and any other written law, a sentence of imprisonment shall take effect from the date it was passed, unless the court passing the sentence or, when there has been an appeal, the appellate court, otherwise directs.


Provisions as to sentence of fine
319. —(1) Where any fine is imposed and there is no express provision in the law relating to the fine, the following provisions apply:

(a) if the maximum sum is not stated in the law, the fine to which the offender is liable shall be unlimited but must not be excessive;

(b) the court which imposed the fine may choose to do all or any of the following things at any time before the fine is paid in full:

(i) allow and extend time for its payment;
(ii) direct that the fine be paid by instalments;
(iii) order the attachment of any property, movable or immovable, belonging to the offender —
(A) by seizure of such property which may be sold and the proceeds applied towards the payment of such fine; or
(B) by appointing a receiver who shall be at liberty to take possession of and sell such property and apply the proceeds towards the payment of such fine;
(iv) direct any person who owes money to the offender to pay the court the amount of that debt due or accruing or the amount that is sufficient to pay off the fine;
(v) direct that in default of payment of the fine, the offender must suffer imprisonment for a certain term which must be consecutive with any other imprisonment to which he may be sentenced, including any other imprisonment term or terms imposed on the offender under this section in default of payment of fine, or to which he may be liable under a commutation of a sentence;
(vi) direct that the person be searched, and that any money found on him when so searched or which, in the event of his being committed to prison, may be found on him when taken to prison, shall be applied towards the payment of such fine, and the surplus, if any, being returned to him; provided that the money shall not be so applied if the court is satisfied that the money does not belong to the person on whom it was found;
[Act 33 of 2012 wef 01/01/2013]

(c) before allowing time for payment under paragraph (b)(i) or directing payment by instalments underparagraph (b)(ii), the court may require the offender to execute a bond with or without sureties on condition that he pay the fine or the instalments, as the case may be, on the day or days directed; and if the fine or any instalment is not paid as ordered, then the whole of the fine remaining unpaid becomes due and payable and the court may issue a warrant for the offender’s arrest;

(d) the term for which the court directs the offender to be imprisoned in default of payment of a fine shall be as follows:

(i) if the offence is punishable with imprisonment for a term of 24 months or more, it must not exceed one half of the maximum term of imprisonment fixed for the offence;
(ii) if the offence is punishable with imprisonment for a term of less than 24 months, it must not exceed one third of the maximum term of imprisonment fixed for the offence;
(iii) if the offence is not punishable with imprisonment, it must be 6 months or less;

(e) the imprisonment that is imposed in default of payment of a fine may be additional to the sentence of imprisonment for the maximum term which the court may impose under section 303 provided that the total punishment of imprisonment passed on an offender at one trial does not exceed the limits prescribed bysection 306;

(f) the imprisonment imposed in default of payment of a fine shall end when that fine is paid or levied by process of law;

(g) if, before the end of the period of imprisonment imposed in default of payment of a fine, such a proportion of the fine is paid or levied that the term of imprisonment already suffered in default of payment is at least equivalent to the part of the fine still unpaid, then the imprisonment must end;

(h) the fine or any part of it that remains unpaid may be levied at any time within 6 years after the passing of the sentence or, if under the sentence the offender is liable to imprisonment for a longer period than 6 years, then at any time before that period expires; and the offender’s death does not discharge from the liability any property that would after his death be legally liable for his debts.

(2) If a person fails to pay the court the amount which he is directed to pay under subsection (1)(b)(iv), it shall be recoverable as though it were a judgment debt due to the court.
[Act 33 of 2012 wef 01/01/2013]

(3) Any person may, not later than 7 days after the date of the seizure of any property under subsection (1)(b)(iii)(A) or the taking of possession of any property by the receiver under subsection (1)(b)(iii)(B), as the case may be, make a claim against that property by applying to the court for the property to be excluded from the order of attachment issued under subsection (1)(b)(iii) and the court shall make such order as it sees fit.
[Act 33 of 2012 wef 01/01/2013]


Suspension of execution in certain cases
320. —(1) Where an offender has been sentenced to a fine only and to imprisonment in default of payment of the fine and the court issues an order of attachment under section 319(1)(b)(iii), it may suspend the sentence of imprisonment and may release the offender on his executing a bond with or without sureties, as the court thinks fit, on condition that he appear before that court on the day appointed for the return of the order of attachment.

(2) The day appointed under subsection (1) must not be more than 15 days from the time of executing the bond.

(3) If the fine has not been paid, the court may direct the sentence of imprisonment to be carried out at once.


Who may issue warrant
321. A warrant for the execution of any sentence, including an order of attachment of property, may be issued either by the Judge, District Judge or Magistrate who passed the sentence or by his successor or other Judge, District Judge or Magistrate acting in his place.


Commencement of sentence of imprisonment on prisoner already undergoing imprisonment
322. —(1) Where a person who is an escaped convict or is undergoing a sentence of imprisonment is sentenced again to imprisonment, the latter sentence of imprisonment must begin either immediately or at the end of the imprisonment to which he was previously sentenced, as the court awarding the sentence directs.

(2) A death sentence must be carried out despite a pending sentence of imprisonment.

(3) Nothing in subsection (1) may be held to excuse a person from any part of the punishment to which he is liable upon his former or subsequent conviction.


Juvenile may be dealt with under Children and Young Persons Act
323. If a juvenile is convicted of an offence punishable by fine or imprisonment or both, and whether or not the law under which the juvenile is convicted provides that fine or imprisonment or both shall be imposed, the court may, instead of sentencing him to fine or imprisonment, deal with the juvenile in the manner provided by the Children and Young Persons Act (Cap. 38).


Return of warrant of execution
324. Where a death sentence has been carried out pursuant to a warrant issued under section 313(i), the Director of Prisons who carried out the sentence must return the warrant to the court which issued it with an endorsement signed by him, certifying that the sentence has been carried out.


Division 2 — Sentence of caning

Execution of sentence of caning forbidden in certain cases
325. —(1) The following persons shall not be punished with caning:

(a) women;

(b) men who are more than 50 years of age at the time of infliction of the caning; and

(c) men sentenced to death whose sentences have not been commuted.

(2) Subject to any other written law, if a person is convicted of one or more offences punishable with caning (referred to in this section as the relevant offences) but the person cannot be caned because subsection (1)(a) or (b) applies, the court may, in addition to any other punishment to which that person has been sentenced, impose a term of imprisonment of not more than 12 months in lieu of the caning which it could, but for this section, have ordered in respect of the relevant offences.

(3) A court may impose a term of imprisonment under subsection (2) notwithstanding that the aggregate of such term and the imprisonment term imposed for any of the relevant offences exceeds the maximum term of imprisonment prescribed for any of those offences.

(4) A Magistrate’s Court or District Court may impose a term of imprisonment under subsection (2) notwithstanding that the aggregate sentence of imprisonment (comprising the term of imprisonment imposed under subsection (2) and the combined terms of imprisonment imposed by the court in respect of the relevant offences) exceeds the limits prescribed by section 306.

(5) The power of a court to impose the additional term of imprisonment under subsection (2) shall not apply in relation to any offence which is committed before the date of commencement of this Division.


Place for executing sentence of caning
326. Where a person is sentenced to caning only or where the sentence of caning cannot reasonably be carried out before the release of the person under any sentence of imprisonment, the court must, on the application of the Public Prosecutor, authorise the detention of the person for as long as is reasonably necessary for carrying out the sentence of caning at the place and time that the court directs.


Time of executing sentence of caning
327. —(1) Where an accused is sentenced to caning in addition to imprisonment, the caning must not be inflicted —

(a) until after the expiration of the time within which notice of appeal may be given under this Code, or any extension of time which may be permitted under this Code; or

(b) if notice is so given, until after the determination of the appeal.

(2) The caning must be inflicted as soon as practicable after the time prescribed in subsection (1) has expired.


Limit on number of strokes
328. —(1) Notwithstanding any provision of this Code or any other law to the contrary, where an accused is sentenced at the same sitting for 2 or more offences punishable by caning (referred to in this section as the relevant offences), the aggregate sentence of caning imposed by the court in respect of the relevant offences shall not exceed the specified limit.

(2) Subject to any other written law, where an accused would but for subsection (1) have been sentenced to an aggregate sentence of caning which exceeds the specified limit, the court may impose a term of imprisonment of not more than 12 months in lieu of all such strokes which exceed the specified limit.

(3) A court may impose a term of imprisonment under subsection (2) notwithstanding that the aggregate of such term and the imprisonment term imposed for any of the relevant offences exceeds the maximum term of imprisonment prescribed for any of the relevant offences.

(4) A Magistrate’s Court or District Court may impose a term of imprisonment under subsection (2) notwithstanding that the aggregate sentence of imprisonment (comprising the term of imprisonment imposed under subsection (2) and the combined terms of imprisonment imposed by the court in respect of the relevant offences) exceeds the limits prescribed by section 306.

(5) The power of a court to impose the additional term of imprisonment under subsection (2) shall not apply in relation to any offence which is committed before the date of commencement of this Division.

(6) In this section, the specified limit is 24 strokes in the case of an adult and 10 strokes in the case of a juvenile.


Mode of executing sentence of caning
329. —(1) The Minister may make rules to prescribe the mode of carrying out the sentence of caning.

(2) Caning shall be inflicted on such part of the person as the Minister from time to time generally directs.

(3) The rattan shall not be more than 1.27 centimetres in diameter.

(4) In the case of a juvenile, caning shall be inflicted with a light rattan.


Caning not to be carried out by instalments
330. —(1) No sentence of caning shall be executed in instalments.

(2) The maximum number of strokes of the cane that can be inflicted on the offender at any one time is 24 strokes for an adult and 10 strokes in the case of a juvenile.


Medical officer’s certificate required
331. —(1) The punishment of caning may be inflicted only if a medical officer is present and certifies that the offender is in a fit state of health to undergo such punishment.

(2) If, during the execution of a sentence of caning, the medical officer certifies that the offender is not in a fit state of health to undergo the rest of the sentence, the caning must be stopped.


Procedure if punishment cannot be inflicted under section 331
332. —(1) Where a sentence of caning is wholly or partially prevented from being carried out under section 331, the offender must be kept in custody until the court that passed the sentence can revise it.

(2) That court may —

(a) remit the sentence; or

(b) sentence the offender instead of caning, or instead of as much of the sentence of caning as was not carried out, to imprisonment of not more than 12 months, which may be in addition to any other punishment to which he has been sentenced for the offence or offences in respect of which the court has imposed caning (referred to in this section as the relevant offences).

(3) A court may impose a term of imprisonment under subsection (2)(b) notwithstanding that the aggregate of such term and the imprisonment term imposed for any of the relevant offences exceeds the maximum term of imprisonment prescribed for any of those offences.

(4) A Magistrate’s Court or District Court may impose a term of imprisonment under subsection (2)(b) notwithstanding that the aggregate sentence of imprisonment (comprising the term of imprisonment imposed under subsection (2)(b) and the combined terms of imprisonment imposed by the court in respect of the relevant offences) exceeds the limits prescribed by section 306.

(5) The power of a court to impose the additional term of imprisonment under subsection (2)(b) shall not apply in relation to any offence which is committed before the date of commencement of this Division.


Division 3 — Suspensions, remissions and commutations of sentences

Power to pardon, suspend or remit sentence, etc.
333. —(1) Where a person has been sentenced to punishment for an offence, the President, acting in accordance with the Constitution, may grant a pardon, reprieve or respite, on such conditions as the President thinks fit, of the execution of the sentence, or remit the whole or any part of the sentence or any penalty or forfeiture imposed by law.

(2) Where an application is made to the President for any of the reliefs mentioned in subsection (1), the President —

(a) in the case of a sentence of death, shall act in accordance with Article 22P(2) of the Constitution; or

(b) may in any other case, require the presiding judge of the court before or by which the person is convicted to state his opinion as to whether the application should be granted or refused, and the judge shall state his opinion accordingly.

(3) If any condition on which a sentence has been suspended or remitted is, in the opinion of the President, not fulfilled, the President may cancel the suspension or remission, and upon such cancellation, the person in whose favour the sentence has been suspended or remitted may, if at large, be arrested by a police officer without warrant and remanded to undergo the unexpired portion of the sentence.

(4) Subsection (3) does not apply to a sentence of death.


Power to commute punishment
334. The President may —

(a) commute a sentence of death for a sentence of imprisonment or fine or both; or

(b)commute a sentence of imprisonment for a sentence of fine.

Keywords

Sentencing - national proceedings
Sentencing - national procedures for national proceedings



EDIT.