Program Overview

Graduate Certificate in Criminal Justice

Overview

The Graduate Certificate in Criminal Justice is a bespoke 84-hour course designed specifically for investigation officers. The content of the course is built on the four legal pillars of the Singapore criminal justice system – criminal law, criminal procedure law, evidence law, and sentencing law. The course is taught by staff from NUS Law and the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

The main course objectives are:

• To provide participants with a solid foundation in the key doctrines, principles and policies of criminal law, criminal procedure, evidence law and sentencing law, building on their knowledge gained from past work experience and related courses attended at the Home Team Academy.
• To enable participants to further increase their proficiency in and standard of their investigation officer-related work.
• To foster participants’ interest in legal skills and knowledge, and act as a potential stepping stone towards higher law-related certification (e.g. LLB/JD).
• To improve participants’ intellectual rigour, especially when faced with new and unfamiliar situations.
• To further hone participants’ ability to understand and communicate with prosecutors, lawyers, judges and policy-makers

The course covers the following topics:

• Fundamentals of Legal Reasoning
• Criminal Law
• Sentencing Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Criminal Evidence

The Course Director is Assistant Professor Benny Tan.

Modes of Instruction & Course Duration

The course comprises seminars which are run over 9 months and conducted once a week in the evening for 3 hours. Teaching will commence in early August and will conclude by the end of May the following year.

Admission Requirements

The admission criteria for the Graduate Certificate is at least a Bachelor’s degree. Relevant work experience may be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Assessments

Assessments will include class participation and take-home assignments.

Programme Details

• Programme Type: Part-time
• Duration: 9 months
• Application Period: Not Applicable
• Next Intake: August 2025

Participation Restriction

Participation is restricted to senior investigation officers nominated by the Home Team School of Criminal Investigation, Ministry of Home Affairs (Singapore).