Shortening Average Processing Time for Lawyer-Inmate Correspondence

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) in the past three years, what is the average processing time for (i) hardcopy correspondences from lawyers and (ii) e-Letters, to be delivered to prison inmates respectively; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider introducing a separate e-Letters system with a shorter processing time that lawyers can use to correspond with prison inmates.

Mr K Shanmugam: On average, the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) takes five working days to process hardcopy correspondences from lawyers, well within the service standard of ten working days. SPS facilitates urgent requests on a best effort basis.

The average processing time for incoming e-letters is two days. The system was designed for families and friends to correspond with inmates, but SPS is considering whether enhancements can be made to also offer this as a mode of communication between lawyers and their inmate clients.