PRISONERs' RIGHTS

Notwithstanding personal anecdotes and prison practices that are found elsewhere in this website, the following is a non-exhaustive list of rights that prisoners are entitled to under Singapore law.

1. Every prisoner must be provided with regular meals that are nutritious enough for the basic health of the prisoner. For more information about the type of food prisoners receive, see Cell Conditions.

2. For prisoners who are sick, they should be set apart in a proper room, or infirmary.

3. All prisoners will be able to exercise in the open air to the extent necessary for their health. However, such exercise will be carried out in a way that prevents communication between prisoners. In practical terms, this usually means that every prisoner is entitled to 1 hour of yard time / day room daily.

4. Prisoners cannot be made to work more than 8 hours in a day.

5. Prisoners are not required to work after 9.45 am on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday.

6. A prisoner's lawyer may visit him during working days (and working hours). A prisoner can also write letters to and receive letters from his lawyer.

7. Every prisoner who has a complaint may make one to the Chief Rehabilitation Officer (CRO), who is the chief resident discipline officer in the prison. The CRO should then take steps to address the complaint, or refer the complaint to the Superintendent.

8. A prisoner can be confined in a cell for breaching prison regulations. However, he should not be confined for more than 90 days in a year. If a prisoner is sentence to two periods of confinement, one after another, there must be a break between the two sentences. The duration of the break must be equal to, or longer than, the longer sentence period.

9. A prison officer cannot use a restraint on a prisoner unless it is necessary to prevent the inmate from causing self‑injury, injuring others, or escaping. The use of the restraint must be removed once it is no longer necessary. The type of restraint and the manner that the restraint is used, must be approved under the Prison Standing Orders.

10. A prisoner cannot be punished until he has been given a chance to hear the charges and evidence against him, and to defend himself. 

11. If the Superintendent has ordered a prisoner to undergo corporal punishment for an aggravated prison offence, an Institutional Discipline Advisory Committee must decide whether the punishment imposed on the prisoner is excessive. A list of "aggravated prison offences" are found here.