What Takes place When You Voluntarily Surrender for the Law enforcement

In essence, a voluntary surrender is going to the police to confess to a criminal offense you’ve committed, in contrast to looking forward to the law enforcement to seek out and arrest you.

What Happens If you Voluntarily Surrender to the Police?
The strategies you are going to facial area once you voluntarily surrender into the police are similar to if you had been arrested.

The steps taken towards you count largely on whether or not you’ve dedicated an arrestable or non-arrestable offence.

Arrestable offences refer to offences that allow the law enforcement to create an arrest and not using a warrant, and include offences like theft, robbery and rape. The general guideline is the fact that offences that happen to be punishable with a minimum of three decades of imprisonment, or perhaps a Demise sentence, are categorised as arrestable.

On the other hand, a non-arrestable offence is a single where by the police will require to acquire a warrant prior to finishing up an arrest. Offences that fall beneath this classification are voluntarily creating harm and dishonest misappropriation of assets, among Other folks.

When you've got committed an arrestable offence
In case you have fully commited an arrestable offence, the police will stick to an arrest technique that begins with using you into custody immediately after your voluntary surrender.

The law enforcement will then launch an investigation, which entails getting witness statements. Alternatively, you may have to produce a detect assertion When the police decides to go in advance with urgent expenses.

You could be needed to take a polygraph (or lie detector) check or be involved in an identification parade, wherein you're lined up with Others to permit victims and eyewitnesses to detect you, as well.

Ideally, you need to be somewhat well-versed along with your legal rights in custody, including the ideal to create a cellphone phone to All your family members or to refer to a lawyer (offered that these acts will not likely inhibit the investigation). Having said that, it is important to note that your appropriate to refer to an attorney typically arises only right after interrogations are already executed.

For more info, you might want to refer to our post on police custody in Singapore.

In case you have fully commited a non-arrestable offence
During this state of affairs, even if you have turned your self in for the police, you won't be Best criminal lawyer taken into custody promptly.

In its place, the police will gather witness studies and file any functions associated. Any probable sufferer(s) of your offence will probably be advised to file a Magistrate’s Complaint for more action for being taken.

When the Criticism has long been received, the Magistrate will then determine what the most suitable program of action will probably be. It is only at this point that a warrant may be issued to acquire you into police custody, In case the Justice of the peace directs the police to perform an investigation into the Complaint.

Is Creating a Voluntary Surrender a Mitigating Element?
Voluntarily surrendering into the law enforcement demonstrates a willingness to cooperate and signifies very likely regret and repentance. Your surrender would also enable the law enforcement to speculate their time and means into other investigations.

This may Perform a component inside the decide’s selection and you might be offered a lighter sentence for the degree of cooperation.

Situation research: No jail term after voluntary surrender
In 2018, then 24-year-previous Ekawit Tangtrakarn, obtained a $six,000 great for defaulting on his Countrywide Service (NS) obligations.

Whilst Ekawit mostly lived in Thailand, he was registered for a Singapore Citizen – generating him chargeable for NS. In October 2015, he misplaced his Singaporean citizenship right after failing to take the Oath of Renunciation, Allegiance and Loyalty within twelve months of his twenty first birthday.

Nonetheless, dropping his Singaporean citizenship did not relieve him of his NS obligations, and Ekawit afterwards voluntarily returned to Singapore to deal with his prices for defaulting on them. His voluntary return As a result held bodyweight like a mitigating aspect.

Hence, once the court docket took other mitigating variables into consideration, what could have been a maximum three-12 months imprisonment expression as well as a $10,000 fine, remaining the most penalties beneath the Enlistment Act, became a possible 9-7 days jail expression that was ultimately reduced to the $six,000 fantastic.

Getting your charges taken into account for that reasons of sentencing

In terms of your conviction and also you are facing various rates, voluntarily admitting on your offences also stops the situation of your prosecution continuing with Each and every charge versus you individually. This enables for the possibility of you owning these kinds of expenses taken into consideration for sentencing as a substitute.

Therefore, you might face much less expenses or a lessened sentence when compared with in the event you were to deny or dispute the fees.



Voluntarily surrendering for the law enforcement may well demonstrate to be handy later on in your scenario. Your admission in your criminal offense may be nicely-been given and operate inside your favour, lessening your punishment drastically.

If you're continue to Uncertain on how to commence, you are able to have interaction a legal defence lawyer to hunt guidance on the placement, as well as make clear your rights. A seasoned law firm will be able to most effective put together you on What to anticipate if you turn yourself in and the way to tackle any investigations completed against you.

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