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WHEN Parliament meets today, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng is expected to give an update on disciplinary action in the wake of the Mas Selamat escape.
The House heard on April 21 how a confluence of security breaches and weaknesses at the Whitley Road Detention Centre allowed the terrorist to escape. He had been held there under the Internal Security Act since March 2006.
The breaches included a ventilation window that was not secured properly, and guards who let him out of their line of sight.
After considering Criminal Investigation Department findings which showed no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, the Attorney-General's Chambers decided not to lay criminal charges against any individual. Instead, it was decided that disciplinary action be taken against the guards, detention centre staff, and any others found culpable.
'There is a proper process for disciplinary action under Civil Service or Police Force rules and this must take its course,' Mr Wong told Parliament last month.
Contacted by The Straits Times, the Public Service Commission (PSC) said it has authority over the discipline and dismissal of civil servants, as vested under Article 103 of the Constitution and the Public Service (Disciplinary Proceedings) Regulations.
However, certain categories of officers, such as junior police officers, will be disciplined by the police under the Police Force Act.
According to the PSC's 2007 annual report, it handled 30 disciplinary cases last year under the Public Service Regulations. Sexual offences and cases of immoral behaviour made up over a third of these disciplinary cases. This was followed by cases of indebtedness as well as cases of dishonesty, embezzlement and criminal breach of trust.
Another 23 disciplinary cases involving minor offences by junior civil servants were handled by the permanent secretaries of various ministries and the Director of Prisons. The PSC delegates authority to them to oversee such cases.
PSC figures since 2000 show it investigated relatively few cases of negligence - arguably the charge facing those culpable for Mas Selamat's escape. However, half of these 26 cases handled by the PSC from 2000 to 2007 resulted in the dismissal of the offender.
Dismissal is the most serious form of punishment that can be imposed under the Public Service Regulations, said Mrs Choo Lee See, director of the PSC Secretariat. The PSC declined to provide more details of any of the cases, on the grounds that these were confidential staff proceedings.
Other punishments are retirement in the public interest, reprimands and penalties such as fines or stopping pay increments.
Retirement in the public interest, explained Mrs Choo, occurs 'when it is undesirable to retain a public officer but too harsh to dismiss him due to extenuating circumstances. For example, if the officer has contributed many years of good service'.
In all disciplinary cases, the officer will get an opportunity to be heard first. If he denies the charges, a panel comprising two civil servants and a Justice of Peace will be formed to investigate.
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