Can one get bail?

In deciding whether to grant bail to the fugitive, the Court has to apply this two-step framework:

(a) whether the fugitive falls within the letter of any of the exceptions set out in r 6(1) of the Criminal Procedural Rules:

• where the person is a juvenile
• where he is sick or infirm
• where the requesting country undertakes not to oppose bail and certain further conditions are met

Only if one or more exceptions are applicable should the court turn to the second step of the framework.

(b) Second, even if the fugitive falls within an exception, the court retains a residual discretion to determine whether bail should be granted after balancing all the relevant considerations.

If none of the three applies, the court has no power to grant bail.

This is the exception families most often hope to rely on, and it is regularly misunderstood. It does not mean any illness, nor even a serious pre-existing condition. In Tannos, the Chief Justice held that it refers to the exceptional situation of a sickness or infirmity that cannot reasonably be managed safely by the Singapore Prison Service.

Medical evidence therefore has to be prepared to answer that particular question, which is not the same as describing how serious the illness is. We can advise on what is needed.

Where an exception applies, the court still has a discretion, and bail will ordinarily be granted only if the person poses no real risk of flight. The burden is on one throughout.

The practical consequence is that families should plan on the basis that one will remain in custody while the proceedings run. That is also why the length of the case, and the decision whether to consent to surrender, are not abstract questions.