Written by Cheryl Ng, Advocate & Solicitor
The rule
Specialty is the principle that a person who has been surrendered may be dealt with in the requesting country only for the offence for which one was surrendered, or for an offence provable on the same facts. It also prevents one being held for onward surrender to a third country.
The protection ends once one has returned, or has had the opportunity to return, to Singapore.
Why it matters
Without it, a country could request someone for a single offence and then, once one had arrived, try one for everything else. Specialty prevents that — which means the scope of what one faces on arrival is largely determined by what happens in Singapore.
It is a precondition of surrender
This surprises people. Specialty is not merely something the requesting country offers. Under Singapore law a person is not liable to be surrendered at all unless the protection exists, either under the requesting country’s law or under the treaty. Its absence is therefore a bar, and one both the court and the Minister must consider.
The principle was examined in detail in Public Prosecutor v Tan Cheng Yew [2012] SGHC 241, which remains the leading Singapore authority.
It works in both directions
The Act imposes the same obligation on Singapore. A person surrendered to Singapore must not be tried here for offences committed before surrender other than the surrender offence, or one provable on the same facts. That is a real constraint on how charges are framed after someone is brought back.
Waiving it
Where a person consents to surrender, the requesting country must still give a specialty undertaking unless one waives the protection. That is a separate and significant decision, and one that should not be taken without input from counsel in the requesting country. See Consenting to surrender.
If someone close to you has been arrested in Singapore on another country’s request, the steps taken in the first days can make a real difference. Contact us to arrange a discussion about your situation.
The information on this page is general in nature and may not reflect the latest developments. Extradition arrangements change, and the law develops over time. Nothing on this page constitutes legal advice, and reading it does not create a solicitor–client relationship. For advice on your own situation, please contact us.