Kranji Detention Barracks

When Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) personnel commit an offence while in service, they can be subjected to a court martial.

In such instances, the case is brought before a military court (located at Kranji Camp) instead of a civilian court. The Subordinate Military Court, which is equivalent to Singapore's subordinate criminal courts, conducts proceedings using similar legal rules and procedures.

The most common offences heard in the court are absence without official leave, drug-related offences, disobedience and misconduct. Penalties under the SAF Act include reprimands, fines, detentionand discharge from service.

A serviceman may choose to be represented by a lawyer or an SAF defending officer at the court martial.

While a defending officer is available at no charge to the serviceman, he has to bear the cost of engaging a lawyer.

Only those guilty of the most severe offences are sentenced to detention.

The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) say that at anyone time, there were about 150 detainees at the SAF Detention Barracks in Kranji. These included SAF regulars and national servicemen.

Servicemen convicted at a court martial can file appeals, but only one or two doso each year. According to the Mindef website, the Military Court of Appeal is the SAF's highest court and its decision on a case is final.

It consists of a president and four other members appointed by the Armed Forces Council. Its president must be a judge of the Supreme Court, or a person qualified to be one.

Two of the members are either lawyers in private practice or senior legal officers from the Singapore Legal Service, while the other two members are senior SAF officers.