Composition of offences
43.—(1) The Chief Executive, or an employee of the Authority authorised in writing by the Authority, may compound any offence under this Act that is prescribed as a compoundable offence by collecting from a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding the lower of the following:(a)
one half of the amount of the maximum fine that is prescribed for the offence;
(b)
$2,000.
(2) On payment of the sum of money, no further proceedings are to be taken against that person in respect of the offence.
(3) All sums collected under this section must be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
Offences by corporations
44.—(1) Where, in a proceeding for an offence under this Act, it is necessary to prove the state of mind of a corporation in relation to a particular conduct, evidence that —(a)
an officer, employee or agent of the corporation engaged in that conduct within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority; and
(b)
the officer, employee or agent had that state of mind,
is evidence that the corporation had that state of mind.
(2) Where a corporation commits an offence under this Act, a person —(a)
who is —(i)
an officer of the corporation; or
(ii)
an individual involved in the management of the corporation and in a position to influence the conduct of the corporation in relation to the commission of the offence; and
(b)
who —(i)
consented or connived, or conspired with others, to effect the commission of the offence;
(ii)
is in any other way, whether by act or omission, knowingly concerned in, or is party to, the commission of the offence by the corporation; or
(iii)
knew or ought reasonably to have known that the offence by the corporation (or an offence of the same type) would be or is being committed, and failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent or stop the commission of that offence,
shall be guilty of that same offence as is the corporation, and shall be liable on conviction to be punished accordingly.
(3) A person mentioned in subsection (2) may rely on a defence that would be available to the corporation if it were charged with the offence with which the person is charged and, in doing so, the person bears the same burden of proof that the corporation would bear.
(4) To avoid doubt, this section does not affect the application of —(a)
Chapters 5 and 5A of the Penal Code 1871; or
(b)
any written law or practice regarding the admissibility of evidence.
(5) To avoid doubt, subsection (2) also does not affect the liability of the corporation for an offence under this Act, and applies whether or not the corporation is convicted of the offence.
(6) In this section —“corporation” includes a limited liability partnership;
“officer”, in relation to a corporation, means any director, partner, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the corporation, and includes —(a)
any person purporting to act in any such capacity; and
(b)
for a corporation whose affairs are managed by its members, any of those members as if the member were a director of the corporation;
“reasonable steps”, in relation to the commission of an offence, includes, but is not limited to, such action (if any) of the following kinds as is reasonable in all the circumstances:(a)
action towards —(i)
assessing the corporation’s compliance with the provision creating the offence; and
(ii)
ensuring that the corporation arranged regular professional assessments of its compliance with the provision;
(b)
action towards ensuring that the corporation’s employees, agents and contractors are provided with information, training, instruction and supervision appropriate to them to enable them to comply with the provision creating the offence so far as the provision is relevant to them;
(c)
action towards ensuring that —(i)
the equipment and other resources; and
(ii)
the structures, work systems and other processes,
relevant to compliance with the provision creating the offence are appropriate in all the circumstances;
(d)
action towards creating and maintaining a corporate culture that does not direct, encourage, tolerate or lead to non‑compliance with the provision creating the offence;
“state of mind” of a person includes —(a)
the knowledge, intention, opinion, belief or purpose of the person; and
(b)
the person’s reasons for the intention, opinion, belief or purpose.
(7) The Minister may make rules to provide for the application of any provision of this section, with such modifications as the Minister considers appropriate, to any corporation formed or recognised under the law of a territory outside Singapore.
Offences by unincorporated associations or partnerships
45.—(1) Where, in a proceeding for an offence under this Act, it is necessary to prove the state of mind of an unincorporated association or a partnership in relation to a particular conduct, evidence that —(a)
an employee or agent of the unincorporated association or partnership engaged in that conduct within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority; and
(b)
the employee or agent had that state of mind,
is evidence that the unincorporated association or partnership had that state of mind.
(2) Where an unincorporated association or a partnership commits an offence under this Act, a person —(a)
who is —(i)
an officer of the unincorporated association or a member of its governing body;
(ii)
a partner in the partnership; or
(iii)
an individual involved in the management of the unincorporated association or partnership and in a position to influence the conduct of the unincorporated association or partnership (as the case may be) in relation to the commission of the offence; and
(b)
who —(i)
consented or connived, or conspired with others, to effect the commission of the offence;
(ii)
is in any other way, whether by act or omission, knowingly concerned in, or is party to, the commission of the offence by the unincorporated association or partnership; or
(iii)
knew or ought reasonably to have known that the offence by the unincorporated association or partnership (or an offence of the same type) would be or is being committed, and failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent or stop the commission of that offence,
shall be guilty of the same offence as is the unincorporated association or partnership (as the case may be), and shall be liable on conviction to be punished accordingly.
(3) A person mentioned in subsection (2) may rely on a defence that would be available to the unincorporated association or partnership if it were charged with the offence with which the person is charged and, in doing so, the person bears the same burden of proof that the unincorporated association or partnership would bear.
(4) To avoid doubt, this section does not affect the application of —(a)
Chapters 5 and 5A of the Penal Code 1871; or
(b)
any written law or practice regarding the admissibility of evidence.
(5) To avoid doubt, subsection (2) also does not affect the liability of an unincorporated association or a partnership for an offence under this Act, and applies whether or not the unincorporated association or partnership is convicted of the offence.
(6) In this section —“officer”, in relation to an unincorporated association (other than a partnership), means the president, the secretary, or any member of the committee of the unincorporated association, and includes —(a)
any person holding a position analogous to that of president, secretary or member of a committee of the unincorporated association; and
(b)
any person purporting to act in any such capacity;
“partner” includes a person purporting to act as a partner;
“reasonable steps” has the meaning given by section 44;
“state of mind” has the meaning given by section 44.
Service of documents
46.—(1) A document that is permitted or required by this Act to be served on a person may be served as described in this section.
(2) A document permitted or required by this Act to be served on an individual may be served —(a)
by giving it to the individual personally;
(b)
by sending it by prepaid registered post to the address specified by the individual for the service of documents or, if no address is so specified, the individual’s residential address or business address;
(c)
by leaving it at the individual’s residential address with an adult apparently resident there, or at the individual’s business address with an adult apparently employed there;
(d)
by affixing a copy of the document in a conspicuous place at the individual’s residential address or business address;
(e)
by sending it by fax to the fax number last known to the person giving or serving the document as the fax number for the service of documents on the individual; or
(f)
by sending it by email to the individual’s last email address.
(3) A document permitted or required by this Act to be served on a partnership (other than a limited liability partnership) may be served —(a)
by giving it to any partner, secretary or other similar officer of the partnership;
(b)
by leaving it at, or by sending it by prepaid registered post to, the partnership’s business address;
(c)
by sending it by fax to the fax number used at the partnership’s business address; or
(d)
by sending it by email to the partnership’s last email address.
(4) A document permitted or required by this Act to be served on a body corporate (including a limited liability partnership) or an unincorporated association may be served —(a)
by giving it to the secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or unincorporated association, or the limited liability partnership’s manager;
(b)
by leaving it at, or by sending it by post to, the registered office or principal office in Singapore of the body corporate or unincorporated association;
(c)
by sending it by fax to the fax number used at the registered office or principal office in Singapore of the body corporate or unincorporated association; or
(d)
by sending it by email to the last email address of the body corporate or unincorporated association.
(5) In addition, a document (other than a summons) permitted or required by this Act to be served on an individual, a partnership, a body corporate or an unincorporated association may be served —(a)
by giving an electronic notice to the individual, partnership, body corporate or unincorporated association (called in this section an addressee) by the addressee’s chosen means of notification, stating that the document is available and how the addressee may use the addressee’s chosen means of access to access the document’s contents; or
(b)
by any other method authorised by regulations made under section 47 for the service of documents of that kind provided the addressee consents (expressly or impliedly) to service of a document of that kind in that way.
(6) Service of a document takes effect —(a)
if the document is sent by fax and a notification of successful transmission is received, on the day of transmission;
(b)
if the document is sent by email, at the time that the email becomes capable of being retrieved by the person to whom it is sent; or
(c)
if the document is sent by post, 2 days after the day the document was posted (even if it is returned undelivered).
(7) However, service of any document under this Act on a person by email or by an electronic notice at the person’s chosen means of notification, may be effected only with the person’s prior consent (express or implied) to service in that way.
(8) This section does not apply to documents to be served in proceedings in court.
(9) In this section —“business address” means —(a)
in the case of an individual, the individual’s usual or last known place of business in Singapore; or
(b)
in the case of a partnership (other than a limited liability partnership), the partnership’s principal or last known place of business in Singapore;
“chosen means of access”, for an addressee on whom is or is to be served a document permitted or required by this Act, means an electronic means the addressee agrees with the person giving or serving the document as the means by which the addressee may access that document’s contents;
“chosen means of notification”, for an addressee on whom is or is to be served a document permitted or required by this Act, means an electronic means that the addressee nominates to the person giving or serving the document as the means by which the addressee may be notified that such a document has been served on the addressee;
“document” includes a notice or an order permitted or required by this Act to be served;
“last email address” means the last email address given by the addressee concerned to the person giving or serving the document as the email address for the service of documents under this Act;
“residential address” means an individual’s usual or last known place of residence in Singapore.
Regulations
47. The Authority may, with the approval of the Minister, make regulations prescribing matters required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
