Criminal Reference: What is It and How to File One in Singapore

Last updated on April 25, 2025

If you have ever come across the term “criminal reference”, you may be wondering what it means. Or, perhaps, you or a loved one may need help filing a criminal reference. This article explains:

What is a Criminal Reference?

A criminal reference is an application to the Court of Appeal to answer a question of law of public interest arising from a criminal appeal or criminal revision heard before the High Court. The purpose of a criminal reference is to provide the Court of Appeal with an opportunity to set precedents for the applicable legal principles for future cases.

What is the Difference Between a Criminal Reference, a Criminal Appeal and a Criminal Revision?

A criminal appeal is filed to reverse a judgment, sentence or court order if you are dissatisfied with the trial court’s ruling.

A criminal revision, on the other hand, is an application to review criminal proceedings heard before the State Courts and correct any irregularities it finds. This could include cases where a lower court imposes an excessive sentence, when the lower court should have rejected a plea of guilt but proceeded to sentence the accused, or when the proceedings of the lower court did not adhere to the Criminal Procedure Code.

A criminal reference arises from a criminal appeal or criminal revision heard by the High Court.

Criminal appeal application

One example of a criminal appeal is the City Harvest Church criminal breach of trust case. In 2015, leaders of the City Harvest Church were convicted of misusing church funds as they were used to support the music career of the church founder’s wife and to cover up misappropriation. Upon a criminal appeal, the founders were cleared of a more serious form of criminal breach of trust as agents under the Penal Code, and their initial sentences were reduced. The prosecution then filed a criminal reference to seek a ruling on questions of law on public interest and reinstate the original convictions. The Court of Appeal dismissed the prosecution’s bid, overruling a 1976 High Court decision, and held that company directors, and governing board members or key officers of charities who commit a criminal breach of trust are only liable to be punished under a less harsh section of the Penal Code.

You may wish to read our other article for more information on filing a criminal appeal.

Criminal revision application

One example of a criminal revision is the case of Vang Shuiming, a foreigner convicted in a highly-publicised money-laundering case. In 2023, Vang submitted a criminal revision application to the High Court to rescind the State Court’s ruling to deny him bail. In his application, he claimed that he met the conditions that would ensure his attendance for his trial; of note, he argued he could be placed under surveillance and was not considered a flight risk. His application, however, was unsuccessful as the court noted that he had obtained passports from numerous other countries by making donations, which made him more of a flight risk.

You may wish to read our other article for more information on filing a criminal revision.

When Will the Court Hear a Criminal Reference?

The Court of Appeal will only grant permission for a criminal reference to be heard if four conditions are met:

The High Court has made a decision on the criminal appeal or criminal revision.
The reference relates to a question of law of public interest.
The question of law arose from a case heard before the High Court.
The High Court’s decision on this question of law affected the outcome of the case.

It should be noted that in Singapore, criminal cases can only be appealed once. As such, criminal references are not frequently used applications. When made, they rarely succeed in obtaining the court’s permission to order that the questions of law of public interest be heard. Importantly, they are not intended to be an alternative channel for a “second appeal”.

What is a question of law of public interest?

Whether there is a question of law of public interest depends on the facts and circumstances of each case. Such questions of law:

Usually concern difficult or controversial points of law that directly or substantially affect the parties’ rights.
Cannot, however, just be personally important to the convicted person alone.
Cannot just involve the interpretation of a statute which is likely to apply to other members of the public.
Cannot just arise because the offence or punishment is severe.
Cannot be settled questions of law or new questions that involve the application of settled law. Even if they are new points of law, they may not necessarily concern public interest.

Public interest can arise in various situations and its definition can change over time. Examples of questions of law of public interest are questions:

For which there are conflicting judicial rulings;
Related to constitutional rights; or
Pertains to the administration of justice.

The Public Prosecutor may refer any question of law of public interest without the permission of the Court of Appeal, but the Court of Appeal does not necessarily have to answer such a question of law put before it.

In addition, the Court of Appeal retains the discretion to reframe the questions put before it for clarity or to better reflect the relevant issue of law of public interest. This can include framing the question more broadly, or refining the question, to enable the parties to comprehensively address all key issues when the Court hears the matter.

Case studies

In September 2024, former transport minister S Iswaran sought to get the conditioned statements of the prosecution’s witnesses (i.e., evidence by written statement, rather than oral testimony). Iswaran had initially failed to get the prosecution to produce the conditioned statements and sought a criminal reference, posing two questions to the Court of Appeal: (a) whether witness statements should be included as part of the prosecution’s disclosure obligations, and (b) whether the court should have the power to order the prosecution to do so. The Court of Appeal dismissed the two questions as they were not questions of law of public interest. For the first question, the scope of the prosecution’s disclosure obligations was clear under the Criminal Procedure Code; the prosecution has to disclose witness statements that they plan to admit at the trial. For the second question, the Court of Appeal said it did not have the power to invalidate a rule or law established by the Parliament.

In Takaaki Masui and another v Public Prosecutor (2021), two senior employees of a Japanese company collaborated with a local Singapore distributor to share profits from industrial flour sales and pocketed over $2 million in bribes. The case involved interpreting a provision under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), which imposes a penalty on a person convicted of accepting a bribe. The offender would have to pay a penalty equivalent to the sum of the bribes. The two Japanese employees appealed to the court to deduct various sums from the total bribe amount and thus reduce the penalty they would have to ultimately pay. They argued that they had already paid out these sums and were no longer enjoying the benefit of using the sums. The prosecution filed a criminal reference to interpret the PCA provision; the Court of Appeal said that the intent of the provision was not to add on punishment, but for the recipient of the bribe to pay back the money he had earned so that he would not profit from his offences. The convicted succeeded only partially in their criminal reference; the Court of Appeal decided to deduct only a sum of money they had repaid to settle a judgment sum imposed by a Japanese civil court against them, as the court did not have evidence of the benefit the two of them had enjoyed with this sum.

When Can a Criminal Reference be Filed?

A criminal reference should be filed within one month of the decision of the High Court.

Who Can File a Criminal Reference?

The accused person or the Public Prosecutor involved in the criminal appeal or criminal revision may file a criminal reference.

What is the Process For Filing a Criminal Reference?

The accused person or Public Prosecutor must first file a criminal motion to the Court of Appeal for permission to refer the question of law of public interest. This involves submitting two documents:

A notice of motion form which includes information on the original case (case number, date, parties involved) and what you are applying for; and
A supporting affidavit which is a signed statement made under oath that explains why you are making this application.

What is the Outcome of a Criminal Reference?

The Court of Appeal will decide on the question of law of public interest and make the necessary orders if the law has been applied correctly. These could include dismissing the appeal and reversing or adjusting the sentence.

Meanwhile, the High Court can order a stay of execution pending:

Decision on a criminal reference; or
Application for permission to bring the criminal reference.

A stay of execution is an order to temporarily suspend the enforcement of a judgment or order. During the period of the stay, the judgment or order cannot be enforced against the party it was made. It may apply to any judgment or order that has been made against one party, from a writ of seizure and sale to the death penalty.

If a Party is Unable to File a Criminal Reference (i.e. It Does Not Apply to Them), are There Other Mechanisms Available?

A party can apply for the trial court to state a question of law to a higher court to resolve a legal issue that arose during trial. If the original trial was in the State Courts, this question of law may be heard by the High Court. If the original trial was in the High Court, this question of law may be heard by the Court of Appeal. Once the legal issue has been resolved, the trial can then resume.

If the question of law concerns:

Interpretation of the Constitution, the trial court must set out the question of law in a form that allows the answer to be given as a “yes” or “no”, as far as possible.
A non-constitutional point of law, the trial court must set out the proven facts and the question of law for the opinion of the higher court.

The trial judge or any party to the proceedings (accused person or the Public Prosecutor) can make such an application. It has to be made within 10 days of the judgment, sentence or order in question.

For constitutional questions of law, such an application can be made at any time during the trial.
All other questions of law (i.e., non-constitutional) require a final judgment, sentence or order of the trial court, before such an application can be made.

The trial court may refuse to state a case on the accused person’s question of law if it considers it to be pointless or without basis. However, it must state a case if the application is made by the Public Prosecutor.

Even if the trial court refuses to state a case on the accused person’s question of law, the accused person may apply to the higher court to direct the trial court to state the case. If the question of law concerns the interpretation of the Constitution, the trial court then has the power to stay proceedings, pending a decision on the question of law.

After the High Court or Court of Appeal decides on the question of law, they must agree with, amend or reverse the decision, or make any other suitable order. If the opinion of the High Court or Court of Appeal is available before the trial has ended, the trial court must resume with reference to the decision or order made by the High Court or Court of Appeal.

One example of proceedings being stayed for the party to state a question of law to a higher court is the case of Pannir Selvam Pranthaman. He was arrested in 2014 for possession of heroin and was sentenced to death in 2017. However, just before his scheduled execution in May 2019, Pannir was granted a stay of execution from the Court of Appeal to challenge the outcome of his clemency petition to the president. In January 2025, the president issued an order for Pannir’s execution in February 2025. Pannir was once again granted a stay of execution from the Court of Appeal. One of the grounds was that there was an ongoing constitutional challenge regarding the presumptions in certain sections of the Misuse of Drugs Act and there would be a significant change to his conviction depending on the outcome of the challenge.

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To summarise, you may file a criminal reference for the Court of Appeal to answer a question of law of public interest. Such questions are usually related to constitutional rights, the administration of justice or where there are conflicting rulings. The accused person or Public Prosecutor may file for a criminal reference within one month of the High Court’s decision.

It bears noting, however, that criminal references are exceptional in the context of criminal proceedings, due to the conditions that need to be met. They are still used, however, as shown in Iswaran’s case. Ultimately, the Court of Appeal decides whether or not to hear them and make a decision on the question of law. If heard, the Court of Appeal may decide to dismiss the appeal, reverse or adjust the sentence or make any other order as appropriate.

If the requirements for filing a criminal reference are not met, you may apply for the High Court or Court of Appeal to state the case on a question of law. This may concern the interpretation of the Constitution or other topics, and depending on which, different processes would apply (including whether the application can be made during the trial or only after a final judgment, sentence or order has been given).

An experienced criminal lawyer may help you better understand the merits of your case and advise on whether you should proceed to file a criminal reference. You may wish to seek further guidance or advice from a criminal lawyer if you or your loved ones have questions about filing a criminal reference.