s 8 Restrictions on surrender of persons to foreign States
8.—(1) Subject to section 41(2) and any limitation, condition, exception or qualification mentioned in section 4(2), a person is not liable to be surrendered to a foreign State if the offence to which the request for his or her surrender relates —(a) is an offence of a political character; or (b) is, by reason of the circumstances in which it is alleged to have been committed or was committed, an offence of a political character. (2) A person is not liable to be surrendered to a foreign State unless provision is made —(a) by a law of that State; or (b) by an extradition treaty in force between Singapore and that State, by virtue of which the person will not, unless he or she has been returned, or has had an opportunity of returning, to Singapore — (c) be detained or tried in that foreign State for any offence that is alleged to have been committed, or was committed, before his or her surrender other than —(i) the offence to which the request for his or her surrender relates; or (ii) any other offence of which he or she could be convicted upon proof of the facts on which that request was based; or (d) be detained in that foreign State for the purpose of his or her being surrendered to another country for trial or punishment for any offence that is alleged to have been committed, or was committed, before his or her surrender to that foreign State other than an offence of which he or she could be convicted upon proof of the facts on which the request for his or her surrender was based. (3) A person who —(a) is held in custody, or has been released on bail, in Singapore in respect of an offence that is alleged to have been committed in Singapore; or (b) is undergoing a sentence for a conviction in Singapore, is not liable to be surrendered to a foreign State until he or she has been discharged from custody, or the bonds upon which he or she was released on bail have been discharged (as the case may be), whether as a result of his or her acquittal, on the expiry of his or her sentence, or otherwise. (4) A person is not liable to be surrendered to a foreign State in respect of an offence if he or she —(a) has been acquitted or pardoned by a competent tribunal or authority in any state or territory; or (b) has undergone the punishment provided by the law of, or of a part of, any state or territory, in respect of that offence or of another offence constituted by the same act or omission as that offence. (5) A person is not liable to be surrendered to a foreign State in respect of an offence if he or she has been convicted of that offence in the foreign State in his or her absence, unless —(a) the person had deliberately absented himself or herself from his or her trial in the foreign State; or (b) the person would, if surrendered, be entitled to a retrial in his or her presence, during which he or she would have —(i) the right to defend himself or herself, whether in person or through legal counsel; and (ii) the right to examine witnesses and to call and examine witnesses in his or her defence. (6) A person is not liable to be surrendered to a foreign State if prosecution for the offence to which the request for his or her surrender relates is, according to the law of, or of a part of, the foreign State, barred by the passage of time. (7) A person is not liable to be surrendered to a foreign State if the request for his or her surrender relates to an act or omission that, if it had occurred in Singapore, would have constituted an offence under the military law applicable in Singapore but not also under the ordinary criminal law of Singapore. (8) Where a request for a surrender is made by a foreign State in relation to the enforcement of a sentence of imprisonment or other deprivation of liberty on a person who is a convicted fugitive, the Minister, at the point in time of deciding whether to give a notice under section 11 or to cancel an issued warrant under section 12(4), may determine that the person is not to be surrendered to the foreign State, if the remaining period of imprisonment or other deprivation of liberty, as the case may be —(a) is shorter than the period specified as being a minimal period in the provisions of any existing extradition treaty between Singapore and the foreign State; or (b) is less than 6 months, if no period mentioned in paragraph (a) is specified.[Act 17 of 2022 wef 01/07/2022]