It has been made very clear what happened. As I pointed out, the
police officer at the scene was not a doctor and failed to
recognize a fracture. The law in this matter is very clear as I
have also mentioned previously:
"I REFER to the letters by Dr Vincent Chia Wei Meng ('When does an
assault become a criminal case?') and Mr Daniel Chan Wai Piew
('Implications on public security troubling') in The Straits Times
on Aug 17.
The offence of voluntarily causing hurt under Section 323 of the
Penal Code is a non-seizable offence.
The key difference between a seizable and a non-seizable offence is
that for seizable offences (such as murder, rape, voluntarily
causing grievous hurt or causing hurt with weapons), police
officers are legally empowered to arrest without a warrant. For
non-seizable offences (such as misappropriation of property and
mischief), police require a warrant of arrest or an order from a
magistrate to make an arrest.
Section 323 cases can range from a parent disciplining his child by
slapping him, to family disputes, to scuffles between quarrelling
persons, to bullying cases arising from road rage or a staring
incident.
Many of the cases reported under Section 323 arose between adults
in situations of dispute which get out of hand and the parties get
into a fight. Most family-related cases are resolved amicably
without police intervention. These parties often do not necessarily
want to seek redress through the legal system.
Dr Chia expressed concern over the safety of his family and friends
following the assault on Dr Liew. He also asked if members of the
public should call the police if they witnessed assaults.
Police investigation showed that Dr Liew was assaulted by two
persons at a deserted back lane near a coffee shop. When he
returned to the coffee shop and members of the public noticed he
was injured, they called the police, not realising that he had
already done so. Police investigators pursued the information given
by Dr Liew but he was not able to identify the alleged
assailants.
The public should continue to report such incidents. When alerted,
police will respond and step in to prevent an incident from
escalating in the public place, and ensure that public peace is
restored.
When a report of voluntarily causing hurt that has occurred and
stopped is received, police officers respond and go down to the
scene to establish the preliminary facts of the case by gathering
evidence or speaking to witnesses, if any.
If any party is injured, police will advise them to seek medical
treatment. The medical report can then serve as useful evidence in
any subsequent court proceedings.
If the alleged perpetrators are still at the scene, police will
ascertain their identities. If police assess that the circumstances
of the case exceed Section 323 and is a seizable offence, such as
voluntarily causing grievous hurt or where a weapon was used (as
defined under Section 325 or 324 of the Penal Code), they will
arrest the suspects in question.
Even if the offence remains only one of voluntarily causing hurt
under Section 323 but police assess that the circumstances of the
case make it one of clear public concern, the investigating officer
would apply for an order to fully investigate the matter on behalf
of the aggrieved party.
These would include cases where the assailant is a bully taking
undue physical advantage of the vulnerable, especially young
children, infirm persons, senior citizens, the disabled or
intellectually-challenged persons.
For other situations of voluntarily causing hurt under Section 323,
police will advise the aggrieved party to lay a Magistrate's
Complaint if he would like to take the other party to court. The
magistrate, after considering the facts presented, may then empower
police to investigate the case.
This process enables the magistrate to decide on the veracity of
the complaint. This is important as the indiscriminate use of
process may encourage mischievous or even malicious complaints,
resulting in harassment to the defendant of a dispute and a waste
of public time and resources.
Police actions need to be properly calibrated after careful
assessment of the circumstances of each case. Police would like to
assure the public that in cases where there is clear harm to public
interests and vulnerable victims, even where the offence may turn
out to be a non-seizable one, police will seek powers to lawfully
investigate and prosecute the offender.
Audrey Ang (Ms)
Assistant Director
(Media Relations)
Singapore Police Force
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POLICE'S ASSURANCE TO PUBLIC
Police would like to assure the public that in cases where there is
clear harm to public interests and vulnerable victims, even where
the offence may turn out to be a non-seizable one, police will seek
powers to lawfully investigate and prosecute the offender."
(Straits Times, 23 Aug)
