In essence, a voluntary surrender is visiting the law enforcement to confess to a crime you’ve fully commited, rather than awaiting the law enforcement to discover and arrest you.

What Comes about Once you Voluntarily Surrender into the Police?
The methods you can encounter any time you voluntarily surrender towards the law enforcement are the same as in case you were arrested.

The actions taken from you depend mostly on whether or not you’ve fully commited an arrestable or non-arrestable offence.

Arrestable offences refer to offences that enable the law enforcement to create an arrest and not using a warrant, and consist of offences like theft, theft and rape. The general guideline is offences which have been punishable with a minimum of three years of imprisonment, or even a Dying sentence, are categorised as arrestable.

However, a non-arrestable offence is one particular where the police will require to obtain a warrant ahead of finishing up an arrest. Offences that slide beneath this class are voluntarily producing hurt and dishonest misappropriation of home, among Other folks.

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

The police will then launch an investigation, which involves having witness statements. Alternatively, you might have to produce a detect statement When the law enforcement decides to go in advance with urgent costs.

You could be needed to take a polygraph (or lie detector) check or engage in an identification parade, wherein you are lined up with other people to permit victims and eyewitnesses to determine you, likewise.

Preferably, you ought to be somewhat well-versed using your rights in custody, including the right for making a phone get in touch with to All your family members or to consult an attorney (provided that these acts will likely not inhibit the investigation). Nevertheless, it is necessary to notice that the right to consult a lawyer commonly arises only soon after interrogations are conducted.

To find out more, you might want to seek advice from our write-up on law enforcement custody in Singapore.

Should you have dedicated a non-arrestable offence
During this scenario, even When you have turned your self in for the law enforcement, you won't be taken into custody straight Criminal defence lawyer away.

Instead, the police will Acquire witness stories and report any functions involved. Any doable sufferer(s) of your respective offence are going to be recommended to file a Magistrate’s Grievance for more action to be taken.

Once the Complaint continues to be obtained, the Magistrate will then decide just what the best suited training course of action will probably be. It's only at this point that a warrant is usually issued to choose you into law enforcement custody, If your Magistrate directs the law enforcement to carry out an investigation in to the Criticism.

Is Generating a Voluntary Surrender a Mitigating Issue?
Voluntarily surrendering to your law enforcement demonstrates a willingness to cooperate and signifies likely regret and repentance. Your surrender would also allow the law enforcement to take a position their time and resources into other investigations.

This could Enjoy an element while in the judge’s decision and you may well be supplied a lighter sentence for the diploma of cooperation.

Scenario research: No jail term after voluntary surrender
In 2018, then 24-12 months-outdated Ekawit Tangtrakarn, been given a $six,000 fantastic for defaulting on his Nationwide Service (NS) obligations.

Despite the fact that Ekawit largely lived in Thailand, he was registered being a Singapore Citizen – building him liable for NS. In Oct 2015, he dropped his Singaporean citizenship just after failing to go ahead and take Oath of Renunciation, Allegiance and Loyalty inside 12 months of his 21st birthday.

However, dropping his Singaporean citizenship did not minimize him of his NS obligations, and Ekawit later on voluntarily returned to Singapore to deal with his prices for defaulting on them. His voluntary return thus held weight like a mitigating aspect.

That's why, following the court docket took other mitigating components into consideration, what might have been a optimum three-calendar year imprisonment term and also a $ten,000 fine, staying the most penalties under the Enlistment Act, turned a feasible 9-week jail term which was finally lessened to a $six,000 fine.

Getting your charges taken into consideration for your purposes of sentencing

With regards to your conviction and you also are facing numerous prices, voluntarily admitting to your offences also prevents the problem with the prosecution proceeding with Each individual demand towards you individually. This allows for the potential of you acquiring this kind of fees taken into account for sentencing in its place.

Consequently, you might experience much less fees or even a decreased sentence in comparison to if you had been to deny or dispute the fees.

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Voluntarily surrendering to your police may perhaps confirm for being helpful afterwards within your case. Your admission on your crime may very well be effectively-been given and operate inside your favour, lowering your punishment significantly.

For anyone who is still Uncertain on how to carry on, you can engage a criminal defence law firm to seek suggestions on your position, and also clarify your rights. A seasoned attorney can best put together you on What to anticipate if you turn by yourself in and the way to manage any investigations performed against you.