DETAINED ABROAD

Which offences carry the death penalty in Singapore?

At least 28 provisions across Singapore’s legislation carry the death penalty. The principal legislative texts are the Penal Code 1871 (Cap 224), the Misuse of Drugs Act 1973 (Cap 185), the Arms Offences Act 1973 (Cap 14), the Internal Security Act 1960, the Singapore Armed Forces Act 1972, and additional special acts. The main categories of capital offences are:

• Drug trafficking: MDA, s. 5 read with the Second Schedule — mandatory death penalty at or above specified quantity thresholds, subject to the discretionary regime in s. 33B.
• Murder: Penal Code, s. 302(1) — mandatory for s 300(a) (intentional killing); discretionary under s. 302(2) for ss. 300(b)–(d).
• Arms offences: Arms Offences Act, s. 4(1) — mandatory for use or attempted use of unauthorised firearms.
• Waging war, piracy involving murder, genocide involving killing, kidnapping to murder, gang-robbery with murder: Penal Code, ss. 121, 130B(2), 130E(a), 364, 396.
• Military offences: Singapore Armed Forces Act 1972, ss. 11, 12, 15, 39 — misconduct in action, assisting the enemy, mutiny in the face of the enemy.
• Security area firearms offences: Internal Security Act 1960, s. 58.

Singapore has not ratified the ICCPR and does not accept that its drug trafficking offences fall outside the international “most serious crimes” standard under Article 6(2) ICCPR.  As of November 2025, Singapore has carried out 14 executions since the start of the year, with 12 related to drug offences.^{[13]ECPM, The Death Penalty in Law and in Practice: Republic of Singapore (ECPM, October 2025) https://www.ecpm.org/app/uploads/2025/10/Brochure_Singapour_2024_EN.pdf; Penal Code 1871 (Singapore) https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/PC1871; Criminal Procedure Code 2010 (Singapore) https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/CPC2010; Misuse of Drugs Act 1973 (Singapore) https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/MDA1973; Arms Offences Act 1973 (Singapore) https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/AOA1973; Kidnapping Act 1961 (Singapore) https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/KA1961; Internal Security Act 1960 (Singapore) https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/ISA1960.}

What additional protections apply to a foreign national facing a capital charge?

There are no specific protections based on foreign nationality. The following protections apply to all capital accused regardless of nationality:

• LASCO counsel is automatically assigned (see Q5).
• Discretionary sentencing for drug couriers: Under s. 33B of the Misuse of Drugs Act, a person convicted of a drug trafficking offence may avoid the mandatory death penalty if they prove on the balance of probabilities that their role was limited to that of a courier, and either: (a) the Public Prosecutor certifies that they have provided substantive assistance to the Central Narcotics Bureau, in which case the court has discretion to impose life imprisonment and caning of not less than 15 strokes; or (b) the court finds they were suffering from an abnormality of mind that substantially impaired their mental responsibility, in which case life imprisonment is mandatory.
• Persons of unsound mind may not be sentenced to death.
• Pregnant women are automatically sentenced to life imprisonment rather than death upon conviction of a capital offence.
• Persons under 18 at the time of the offence cannot be sentenced to death.
• Appeals lie to the Court of Appeal; in exceptional cases, the Court of Appeal may review concluded criminal appeals to correct a miscarriage of justice.

Foreign nationality is not a mitigating factor in sentencing and Singapore expressly applies the death penalty without leniency to foreign nationals.^{[14]Misuse of Drugs Act 1973 (2021 Rev Ed) s 33B; Penal Code 1871 (2020 Rev Ed) s 84; Criminal Procedure Code 2010 (re: exemption for pregnant women); Yong Vui Kong v Attorney-General [2011] SGCA 9 https://www.elitigation.sg/gd/s/2011_SGCA_9; Permanent Mission of Singapore to the United Nations, ‘Singapore’s Submission on the Death Penalty’ (OHCHR, June 2022) https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2022-06/DP-HRC51-Singapore.pdf; ECPM, The Death Penalty in Law and in Practice: Republic of Singapore (ECPM, October 2025) https://www.ecpm.org/app/uploads/2025/10/Brochure_Singapour_2024_EN.pdf.}

Can evidence or documentation from a foreign national’s home country be submitted in proceedings?

Evidence and documentation from a foreign national’s home country are admissible in Singapore court proceedings, provided they adhere to the requirements of the Evidence Act 1893 (Cap 97). Section 88 creates a presumption of authenticity for certified copies of foreign judicial records, and section 84 addresses documents admissible without proof of seal or signature. Documents not in English must be accompanied by certified translations. 

In practice, foreign character references, medical records, and psychiatric evidence are frequently submitted and considered, particularly in applications under s. 33B of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1973. These documents are vital for establishing ‘courier’ status or an ‘abnormality of mind’ (diminished responsibility), which are the only grounds for avoiding a mandatory death sentence in drug trafficking cases.^{[15]Evidence Act 1893 (Singapore) https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/EA1893; Roszaidi bin Osman v Public Prosecutor [2022] SGCA 75 https://www.elitigation.sg/gd/s/2022_SGCA_75; Ilechukwu v Public Prosecutor [2020] SGCA 90 (re: psychiatric report on PTSD reversing conviction) https://www.elitigation.sg/gd/s/2020_SGCA_90.}

What pardon or clemency mechanisms are available?

Clemency is governed by Article 22P of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore. The President acts exclusively on the advice of the Cabinet and has no personal discretion.

Process

The Cabinet is mandated to consider the possibility of commuting every death sentence confirmed by the Court of Appeal. In practice, the process unfolds as follows:

• After exhausting all judicial appeals, a prisoner may submit a written petition through the Singapore Prison Service. By custom, this is done within three months of the Court of Appeal judgment, though this is not a statutory requirement.
• The Attorney-General reviews the trial judge’s report, the leading appellate judge’s report, and the trial evidence notes, and provides a written recommendation to Cabinet. 
• Cabinet considers the petition and the Attorney-General’s report, then advises the President. The President is bound by Cabinet’s advice.

Possible outcomes are commutation to life imprisonment, a conditional or unconditional pardon, or a reprieve.

In practice

Clemency is exceptionally rare. Prior to August 2025, it had been granted only six times since independence in 1965. In 2025, President Tharman granted clemency to Tristan Tan Yi Rui — the first pardon to a death row prisoner in 27 years. Foreign nationality carries no formal weight in the assessment. The small number of cases where clemency has been granted suggest that relevant factors have included terminal illness, young age, a first offence, provocation, and accomplice status. Singapore’s near-total rejection of clemency petitions is consistent with its position that executive intervention after a judicial conviction risks undermining the rule of law.^{[16]Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (2020 Rev Ed) art 22P https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/CONS1963; Daniel Pascoe, Last Chance for Life: Clemency in Southeast Asian Death Penalty Cases (Oxford University Press 2019); ADPAN, ‘Clemency Procedures in East and Southeast Asia’ (2021) https://adpan.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Clemency-Process-in-East-and-Southeast-Asia-Rev1.0.pdf; ECPM, The Death Penalty in Law and in Practice: Republic of Singapore (ECPM, October 2025) https://www.ecpm.org/app/uploads/2025/10/Brochure_Singapour_2024_EN.pdf; ‘Drug Trafficker Tristan Tan’s Death Sentence Granted Clemency by President’ Channel NewsAsia (2025) https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/drug-trafficker-tristan-tan-death-sentence-granted-clemency-president-5296156.}