Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on the Disclosure of Traffic Accident Footage, by Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law

Question:

Ms Sylvia Lim: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) under what pre-conditions or circumstances will the Traffic Police show traffic accident footage from CCTV cameras to victims, their next-of-kin, potential claimants or potential offenders; and (b) at which stage of investigations or proceedings will requests to view such footage be considered or acceded to.

Answer:

1. CCTV footages of traffic accidents are part of the evidence of investigations and criminal proceedings.

2. Police therefore do not generally share such footages with victims, their next-of-kin, potential claimants or alleged offenders while investigations are ongoing. A witness may tailor his evidence after seeing what is captured in the footages, resulting in inaccurate gathering of information regarding the accident.

3. Should the alleged offender be charged in court, the defence will generally be able to view such footages on request. The footages, however, are generally not shared with victims, their next-of-kin, and potential claimants while criminal proceedings are ongoing.

4. Upon conclusion of the criminal proceedings, evidence tendered in court will generally be on public record and a person who needs to have access to them may apply to the Court.