Free Singapore Legal & Lawyer Advice

This is what you need to know about your legal rights are during the investigation process:

1. A Police officer will interview and record a statement in English from you.
2. You can talk in the language or dialect you’re most comfortable with.
3. An interpreter will be arranged if you don’t understand the interviewer.
4. You must check that the statement is completely accurate before you sign it.
5. You can amend the statement if you need.
6. You won’t be given a copy of the statement.
7. You won’t be given the opportunity to talk to your Singapore lawyer before the interview and your Singapore lawyer won’t be allowed to accompany you during the interview.
8. You must tell the truth during the interview. Otherwise, you can be prosecuted for giving false information or lying.
9. If you’re accused of having carried out an offence, you must give your full explanation early, otherwise, it can be viewed as being less believable if you only mention it much later.
10. But remember, regardless of what the interviewer can tell you, you must not admit that you’ve carried out the offence. This is your legal right.

If you decide to plead guilty, you’ll be given the opportunity to tell the Judge of any mitigating factors which you have and the Judge to impose a sentence against you (e.g. to pay a fine or serve a period of imprisonment).

If you decide to claim trial, a separate Court hearing (known as a trial) will take place where the Judge will take into account the evidence presented and arrive at a decision as to whether the Prosecution has succeeded in showing your guilt.

• If the Prosecution succeeds in showing its case against you and that you carried out the offence alleged, the Judge will convict you of the charge and impose a sentence against you.
• If the Prosecution fails in showing its case against you and that you carried out the offence alleged, the Judge will acquit you of the charge.

If you’ve been convicted of the charge, you’ll be given the opportunity to tell the Judge of any mitigating factors which you have.

The Judge will then take into account your mitigation plea before imposing a sentence against you.

After a decision on the conviction and sentence is made by the Judge, either you or the Prosecution can make an appeal to a higher Court (e.g. the High Court) in these situations:

• If you’re sentenced after having pleaded guilty and are not satisfied with the Judge’s decision, you can make an appeal against the sentence imposed
  • You can make an appeal against sentence if you feel that it was manifestly excessive or not supported by the facts or the law.
  • The Prosecution can make an appeal against the sentence if it feels that it was manifestly inadequate or not supported by the facts or the law.
• If you’re convicted and sentenced after having claimed trial and you’re not satisfied with the Judge’s decisions, you can make an appeal to the High Court against the conviction and sentence.
• If you’re acquitted after having claimed trial, the Prosecution can make an appeal to the High Court against the acquittal.

• You need to submit the official application for an appeal within 10 days from the date of conviction or sentence.
• After an appeal is filed, a separate Court hearing will take place for the Court to take into account if the reasons in support of the appeal are of merit and deserving of the appeal being given.

A Court will only grant your application for a Divorce if you can show that there is an “Irretrievable Breakdown” of your marriage.

The “Irretrievable Breakdown” of your marriage can be proven by showing at least one of these facts:

• Adultery: your spouse committed Adultery and you find it intolerable to live with your spouse.
• Unreasonable behaviour: your spouse behaved in such a way that you cannot reasonably be expected to live with you and her.
• Desertion: your spouse deserted you for a continuous period of at least 2 years before the Divorce.
• 3 years’ Separation with consent: you and spouse must have lived apart for a continuous period of at least 3 years before the Divorce and your spouse must agree to the Divorce.
• 4 years’ Separation without consent: you and spouse have lived apart for a continuous period of at least 4 years before the Divorce.

In Singapore, the Husband has legal responsibility and duty to maintain or contribute to the Maintenance of Wife or ex-Wife (e.g. reasonable cost of accommodation, clothing, food and education).

The Husband’s duty to maintain his ex-Wife will typically close when she remarries or when he is deceased (whichever takes place earlier).

The Court will decide the amount of Maintenance to be paid looking at these factors:

• Financial needs of the Wife.
• Income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources of both the Wife and Husband.
• Any physical or mental disability of the Wife.
• Age of each party and the duration of the marriage.
• Contributions made by each of the parties to the marriage to the welfare of the family, including any contribution made by looking after the home or caring for the family.
• Standard of living enjoyed by the Wife before the Husband neglected or refused to give reasonable Maintenance for the Wife.
• Any value and benefit which one party would stand to lose as a result of the Divorce (e.g. pension)
• Conduct of the parties.

In determining the amount of Maintenance to be paid by the Husband, the Court typically aims to place the Husband and Wife in the financial position in which they would have if the marriage had not broken down.

This is because the general aim of requiring a former Husband to maintain his former Wife is to even out any financial inequalities between the spouses and, if you need, take into account any economic prejudice suffered by the former Wife during the marriage (e.g. a Wife suffered financial loss because she has sacrificed her career or lost out in her earning capacity to look after the family).