Debated in Parliament on 16 Feb 2024.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether there are other factors that the Commissioner of Police will take into consideration when determining whether conviction records under the repealed section 377A of the Penal Code should be rendered spent, in addition to whether it was a private activity and whether it was between consenting adults.
Mr Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) previously informed the House that those whose records under section 377A have not been automatically rendered spent, may apply to the Commissioner of Police to have their records treated as spent.
Apart from whether the case was a private activity and whether it was between consenting adults, the other factors that the Commissioner of Police will consider will not be different from how he would have to assess other applications to render criminal records spent. These factors include the severity of the offence and the applicant's conduct subsequent to the conviction.
Mr Louis Ng.
Sir, could I ask exactly how many individuals have criminal records of conviction under section 377A that have not been considered spent? Second, if these people do apply for these records to be considered spent and are rejected, can I confirm whether the Police will provide reasons for the rejection?
I thank the Member for the question. In total, there have been 302 individuals convicted under section 377A. It is important to note that the large majority of these cases involved acts committed in public, committed against non-consenting victims or committed against a minor. Such conduct remains criminalised today through other offences.
We have not prosecuted anyone for private, consensual homosexual conduct between adults since 2007. We have also previously stated in response to media queries that based on our records, there are 17 persons who were convicted between 1988 and 2007 for consensual, private homosexual acts between adults who are still alive today, and five of these 17 individuals have already had their conviction records automatically spent after the five-year crime-free period.
The Police have not received any application from the public to have their section 377A record rendered spent, but the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will consider how the records of these persons can be rendered spent proactively.
Mr Louis Ng.
Sorry, Sir. I have a second question on whether MHA will provide reasons for rejection as well if these applications are rejected.
I would have to check on the specificity of this. But based on my recollection, MHA does not provide the reasons. But I will check and come back later on this.
PAPERCUTS