CRIMINAL THREATS TO SINGAPORE: THE EVOLUTION OF THE CRIMINAL LAW (TEMPORARY PROVISIONS) ACT, 1955-2018

Abstract

My thesis is centred upon studying how the CLTPA changed over time, uncovering how the Singapore government identifies and changes primary target(s) from 1955-2018. I argue that on top of its preventive nature, the CLTPA was used as a failsafe to capture what the government deemed as criminal elements that fall through the cracks of current legislation. The government swiftly amended existing laws or passed new legislation to curtail new criminal threats that emerged. My thesis is structured across three broad periods. Chapter One covers the inception of the CLTPA in 1955 and the circumstances which allowed its passing in legislation. This chapter will examine the ability of the government to handle criminal threats to Singapore from 1955-1973, where preventive detention and detention without trial, Police Supervision Orders, maximum detention term limits were removed, and when strikes and lockouts in essential services were deemed illegal. Chapter Two accentuates developments in the CLTPA between 1974-2000. Pertinent in this were how where drug traffickers and foreign organised crime syndicates came under the CLTPA’s purview. Also, greater powers of rehabilitation were introduced for detainees. Secret societies too saw a shift towards ‘street gangs’ rather than traditional groups. Chapter Three discusses the CLTPA from 2001-2018, when the most recent amendment was made. It highlights how unlicensed moneylenders became distinct from secret societies; and that match-fixing syndicates were subject to detention under the CLTPA. Finally, discussion on the most recent amendment in 2018 will be made, including the finality clause and the insertion of the Fourth Schedule detailing a list of detainable offences. Keywords: Criminal Law, secret societies, drugs, organised crime, Singapore, preventive detention, detention without trial, authoritarianism, match-fixing.