Law Minister Edwin Tong tabled the Cross-Border Railways (Border Control Co-Location) Bill on Tuesday, May 5 [1], to define legal jurisdiction on the RTS Link.
The legislation establishes a framework for handling criminal offences on trains traveling between Singapore and Malaysia, ensuring there are no legal gaps as the two nations share a border. This clarity is essential for law enforcement to coordinate arrests and prosecutions across the international boundary.
Tong said that the country where a journey ends will have primary jurisdiction over offences committed on board the RTS Link when it begins operations [1]. This means that if a train is heading toward Johor Bahru, Malaysia would hold the primary authority to handle crimes occurring during that trip.
However, the legal framework also allows for shared authority. Tong said that both Singapore and Malaysia will have concurrent criminal jurisdiction over criminal offences that occur on board trains in transit, as well as over the stretch of railway tracks [2]. This ensures that officers from either nation can respond to incidents regardless of the train's immediate position.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Law said that both Singapore and Malaysia can respond to cross-border incidents, such as those on RTS Link trains traveling between the two countries [3]. The RTS Link connects Woodlands North in Singapore and Johor Bahru in Malaysia [4].
The bill comes as the region prepares for the operational phase of the transit system. The RTS Link had a projected completion date of Aug. 5, 2025 [1]. By establishing these rules now, the governments aim to prevent diplomatic or legal disputes regarding which country has the right to prosecute individuals for crimes committed during the short transit across the border.
“The country where the journey ends will have primary jurisdiction over offences committed on board the RTS Link”
The establishment of concurrent and primary jurisdiction prevents a 'legal vacuum' where a criminal could potentially evade prosecution by claiming the crime occurred in a jurisdictional gray zone between two countries. By codifying these powers in the Cross-Border Railways (Border Control Co-Location) Bill, Singapore and Malaysia are creating a legal precedent for co-location and shared security oversight that may serve as a model for other cross-border transit projects.
