SINGAPORE — In the face of evolving threats, including that of terrorism, the ongoing review of the bail framework will take into account the experiences of other countries, including how they handle terror suspects, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam.

Addressing about 200 local and foreign lawyers at the 3rd Criminal Law Conference on Thursday (July 14), Mr Shanmugam cited how British terror suspect Siddhartha Dhar had been arrested six times for terror-related offences, yet was granted bail in September 2014. Two days later, he and his family of five left London on a coach, and he later resurfaced in Syria.

Dhar was named in January as the narrator in an ISIS film showing the execution of suspected spies against the terror organisation.

“We have not faced such situations but in the context of evolving threats, we’ve decided that we need to relook our framework relating to bail,” said Mr Shanmugam, who had announced a review of the bail framework in December 2014 in the wake of the deadly Sydney siege.

“We have a system on bail which can be quite robust. People get bail when they ought to. When there is potential for them to abscond or interfere with witnesses, of course, the courts generally deny bail,” he added.

Mr Shanmugam called for the review amid revelations that the gunman behind the Sydney siege, Man Haron Monis, was granted bail despite facing charges of being an accessory to the murder of his former wife.

The Ministry of Law had added the review is “to ensure that the regime remains robust and protects public safety, without detaining the accused unnecessarily in remand before trial”.

The last update of the bail framework was made in January 2012 such that a suspect facing charges punishable with life imprisonment or death will be denied bail.

In May this year, a High Court judge revoked former BSI wealth planner Yeo Jiawei’s bail of S$600,000, ruling that he was likely to interfere with investigations and destroy evidence. Yeo, who is currently in remand, is accused of receiving ill-gotten gains linked to scandal-hit Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB.

Details of the current review of the bail framework will be announced later.

The Law Society of Singapore’s criminal practice committee co-chair Wendell Wong hopes the upcoming bail framework reform can be sufficiently targeted and adaptive, given the constant changes to the legal landscape, and take into account new crime trends such as the rise in cybercrime and the threat of terrorism.

Defence lawyer Shashi Nathan said he hoped the review would consider a suspect’s financial standing, when the courts decide on his bail amount.

“We want to avoid those situations where foreign workers are arrested and have to stay inside because they can’t afford to pay bail,” he said.

During his speech, Mr Shanmugam also spoke about other changes to the criminal justice system that are being studied, including to court procedures and the introduction of video recording of interrogations.

He said: “(It’s) timely to review these processes. How many of them are relevant? Do they help in efficiency? And in the context of introducing video recording, what changes do we need to make?”