PROSECUTORS IN THE HEARTLANDS: MARK TAY

How AGC is helping to review criminal cases faster and mete out justice more swiftly.

BY ASHUTOSH RAVIKRISHNAN

Before we start our interview, I casually peer into the display cabinet opposite Mr Mark Tay’s desk. Judging by its contents, I surmise that the Senior Director of AGC’s Crime Division is a man of nostalgia: photographs of his various work appointments jostle for space with memorabilia from his stints as a district judge, as a Director in AGC’s then Criminal Justice Division deployed to the Traffic Police and now, Senior Director in AGC’s Crime Division.

“Seems like a colourful life,” I observe.

“Oh, the stories I could tell you,” he teases in his usual jolly fashion.

A few years ago, these belongings sat in Mark’s office at AGC’s headquarters on Upper Pickering Street. But now, it’s in the heart of Clementi, at the precinct’s police division.

You might ask what a senior prosecutor like Mark is doing at a police division in the heartlands: he’s been deployed here to oversee a team of prosecutors working out of Clementi Police Division to help review cases faster.

He isn’t the only one: since last July, some 30 prosecutors, including supervisors like Mark, have been deployed to Singapore’s seven police land divisions and the Traffic Police under the Office of the Public Prosecutor (OPP) initiative.

This scheme has borne fruit, according to AGC. DPPs now take a shorter time to review an investigation paper and respond to the investigation officers (IOs). In most cases, the efficiency has improved by more than 50%. Its benefits are multi-fold: the expeditious clearance of cases provides early closure and redress for involved parties, especially victims.

Beyond clearing files, the work at the OPP also goes into dealing with real-life issues, which can be very meaningful for DPPs. In one case, an offender had made an imminent threat to harm a group of vulnerable victims. Mark’s team worked closely with the IOs to ensure that the intended victims were protected. Upon charging the offender, the OPP DPP applied to Court for the offender to be remanded and at the same time referred him to the Institute of Mental Health to treat his mental illnesses. To protect the victims from the trauma of unwanted public scrutiny, a gag order was also applied for.

All this was achieved without compromising prosecutorial independence: safeguards are in place to ensure that prosecutors and investigators do not interfere with one another. For one, prosecutors do not attend investigation meetings. Neither are they involved in police operations in any way. “The separation even extends to our physical offices,” he adds.

Prosecutors deployed to the various police divisions have also been able to conduct training sessions for IOs on key legal topics and their application to cases (e.g., mutual legal assistance and extradition matters, property offences and new Penal Code offences, and learning points from recent reported Court judgments), thus providing IOs with greater legal knowledge.

I wonder what it's like working away from the bustle of the city. To Mark, it's meaningful being in the thick of the ground action. In fact, a few days before our interview, a man was shot in the arm during a confrontation with police officers just outside the police division. Violent cases like that may be handled by Mark’s team, depending on the seriousness of the case. They also support investigators looking into theft, molest and even money mule cases. “Our close involvement allows legal considerations to be adhered to during the fact-finding process,” he says. However, cases to be tried in the High Court, financial crime, complex commercial crime and cybercrime cases, or those with substantial or complex audio-visual or documentary evidence will still be reviewed by prosecutors at the AGC.

Being physically away from AGC’s headquarters has not dampened the team spirit and camaraderie of officers deployed to police divisions. As we prepare to film the video interview, a few officers deployed at Clementi Police Division enter his office to wish Mark all the best. When asked why, they share that they are here to give moral support to Mark as they see the OPP initiative as a meaningful one.