Singapore Armed Forces (Committee of Inquiry) Regulations

Singapore Armed Forces Act

(Chapter 295, Section 205)

Singapore Armed Forces (Committee of Inquiry) Regulations

Rg 13

G.N. No. S 309/1991

REVISED EDITION 2001

(31st January 2001)

[1st August 1991]

Citation

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Singapore Armed Forces (Committee of Inquiry) Regulations.

Definitions

2.  In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires —

“affected person” means a person who is subject to military law and who, as a result of the findings of the committee, may be subject to disciplinary action or proceedings before a Senior Disciplinary Committee, a subordinate military court or a disciplinary officer or may suffer a deduction from pay or be liable to be censured;

“chairman” means the chairman of a committee or any member appointed to preside in his absence;

“civilian witness” means a person who gives evidence before a committee and is —

(a) a person to whom section 3(c) or (d) of the Act applies; or

(b) a person who is not subject to military law or the service law, within the meaning of Part I of the Visiting Forces Act (Cap. 344), of a visiting force;

“committee” means a committee of inquiry appointed under section 8C of the Act;

“record of proceedings”, in relation to a committee, includes the report of the committee and any opinion expressed by the committee in accordance with any directions given by the Armed Forces Council;

“represented” means represented by an officer of the Singapore Armed Forces or by an advocate and solicitor and “representative” shall be construed accordingly.

Duties of committee

3.  It shall be the duty of the committee to investigate and report on the facts relating to any matter referred to the committee under section 8C of the Act and, if directed to do so, to express its opinion on any question arising out of any such matter.

Assembly and procedure

4.—(1)  A committee shall meet at the time and place specified by the Armed Forces Council in the order convening the committee.

(2)  A committee shall proceed to conduct the inquiry in accordance with the terms of reference set out in the convening order and hear and record the evidence in accordance with these Regulations.

Adjournment

5.  The chairman may from time to time adjourn the meetings of the committee which shall meet on such occasions and in such places as he may from time to time direct.

Witnesses

6.—(1)  A committee shall have the power to call any witness it considers fit and may hear the evidence of such witness.

(2)  A civilian witness shall be entitled to be paid the reasonable expenses incurred by his attendance including a reasonable allowance in respect of loss of time.

Person who may be affected by findings

7.—(1)  Where it appears to the committee that a witness who is subject to military law may be affected by its findings of the committee, it shall take such steps as are in its view reasonable and necessary to ensure that such witness has notice of the proceedings and be given a reasonable opportunity to be present and represented at its meetings or such part thereof as the chairman may specify.

(2)  Where an affected person is a witness or will give evidence at the inquiry and he has not applied to be present or represented, the chairman shall, before the committee begins to hear evidence or as soon as it becomes apparent that he is an affected person, explain to him his right to be present and be represented.

(3)  Where an affected person is not present at the meeting of the committee, the chairman shall inquire into the steps taken to ensure that the person was notified of the date, time and place of the meeting of the committee and the nature of the matter under inquiry.

(4)  If the chairman is not satisfied that reasonable steps were taken to notify the affected person, he shall adjourn the meeting of the committee and ensure that such steps are taken to give the affected person a reasonable opportunity to be present and represented at the meetings of the committee.

(5)  Where an affected person states that he does not wish to be present at the meetings of the committee or to be represented, as the case may be, the chairman shall make a note of that fact in the record of proceedings.

(6)  The chairman may, in the interests of the security of Singapore or the Singapore Armed Forces, direct that an affected person shall only be present at such times as he may specify, or that the affected person’s representative shall not be allowed to attend the meetings of the committee for such period of time as the chairman may specify.

(7)  An affected person may give evidence, question witnesses or produce any witness to give evidence on matters which may affect him and, if he is represented, his representative may question such witnesses, but a representative shall not address the committee except with the permission of the chairman.

(8)  Where an affected person has not been given notice of any meeting of a committee or a reasonable opportunity of being present and represented thereat or any part thereof under paragraph (1), the committee shall —

(a) allow such person or his representative to read the written record of the evidence or part thereof given by such witness as the chairman may specify; and

(b) inform such person that he may give any evidence to the committee, examine any witness who has given evidence before the committee, or produce such other witness as the committee may allow to give evidence before the committee on any matter inquired into by it which may affect such person.

(9)  Where a committee has pursuant to paragraph (8) allowed an affected person or his representative to read the written record of the evidence or part thereof given by a witness before the committee, the committee shall, if the affected person so desires —

(a) allow him to give evidence to the committee on any matter inquired into by it which may affect that person;

(b) allow him to examine any witness who has given evidence before the committee and to produce such other witness, as the committee may allow, to give evidence before it on such matter; and

(c) allow his representative to question witnesses before the committee; but the representative shall not address the committee except with the permission of the chairman.

Evidence

8.—(1)  A committee may receive any evidence which it considers relevant to the matter referred to the committee, whether oral or written, and whether or not it would be admissible in civil or criminal proceedings in court.

(2)  A committee shall not be bound by the rules of evidence and shall, subject to these Regulations, regulate its own procedure and conduct its meetings in such manner as it thinks fit.

(3)  No statement made in the course of any inquiry and no report of a committee shall be admissible as evidence in proceedings before a Senior Disciplinary Committee, a subordinate military court or a disciplinary officer other than proceedings for an offence of giving false evidence under section 49 of the Act.

Oaths and affirmations

9.—(1)  Subject to paragraphs (2) and (4), every witness before a committee shall be examined on oath or affirmation.

(2)  Where any child of tender years called as a witness does not in the opinion of the committee understand the nature of an oath or affirmation, his evidence may be received, though not given on oath or affirmation, if in the opinion of the committee he possesses sufficient understanding to justify the reception of the evidence and understands the duty of speaking the truth.

(3)  An oath or affirmation shall be administered to any person in attendance as interpreter before a committee.

(4)  An oath shall be administered, or an affirmation made, before a committee in the form and manner set out in the First Schedule.

Exhibits

10.—(1)  Subject to paragraph (2), any document or thing produced to a committee by a witness when giving his evidence shall be made an exhibit.

(2)  When an original document or thing is produced to a committee by a witness, the committee may at the request of the witness compare a copy of it or an extract from any relevant part thereof with the original.

(3)  After the committee has satisfied itself that such copy or extract is correct and the chairman has certified thereon that the committee has compared it with the original and found it correct, the committee may return the document or thing to the witness and attach the copy or extract to the record of proceedings as an exhibit.

(4)  Every exhibit shall —

(a) bear a mark of identification and the signature of the chairman or be affixed with a label bearing a mark of identification and the signature of the chairman; and

(b) be attached to or kept with the record of proceedings unless in the opinion of the chairman it is not expedient to do so.

(5)  When an exhibit is not attached to or kept with the record of proceedings, the chairman shall ensure that proper steps are taken for its safe custody.

Progress reports

11.  The committee shall submit progress reports to the Armed Forces Council and the first progress report shall be submitted not later than 6 weeks after the date of the order convening the committee and subsequent reports shall be submitted at monthly intervals thereafter.

Findings

12.—(1)  A committee shall in its record of proceedings set out facts which were found to be proved, and the finding shall be so framed as to include a clear and concise summary of the matter under inquiry in easily readable form.

(2)  When a committee finds that injury or death to a person subject to military law has been caused by the wrongful act or negligence of a specified person or persons, it may express an opinion as to the specific person or persons responsible for the injury or death and may, wherever possible or necessary, apportion the degree of responsibility.

(3)  A committee may record what steps have been taken since the injury or death to prevent a recurrence and may make any recommendation it thinks fit for the purpose of preventing the recurrence, but it shall not recommend any disciplinary action.

Record of proceedings

13.—(1)  The chairman shall record, or cause to be recorded, the proceedings of the committee in writing and in sufficient detail to enable the Armed Forces Council to comprehend the course of the proceedings.

(2)  The evidence shall be recorded in narrative form as closely as possible to the actual words used except that, if the committee considers it necessary, any particular question and answer shall be taken down verbatim.

(3)  The evidence of each witness shall, as soon as it has been recorded in accordance with paragraph (2), be read to him and signed by him.

(4)  The record of proceedings shall be signed by the chairman and all other members of the committee and submitted to the Armed Forces Council.

(5)  No witness or affected person shall be entitled to a copy of the record of proceedings of any committee.

(6)  No person shall disclose the record of proceedings or any part thereof or any information relating thereto to any person or body, other than the Armed Forces Council or the members of the committee, without the written permission of the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence.

Form of summons to give evidence

14.  A summons to give evidence on oath or by affirmation or to produce any document or material necessary for the purposes of an inquiry by a committee shall be in the form set out in the Second Schedule.