Composition of offences
Open ↗68.—(1) The Chief Executive, or an employee of the Agency authorised in writing by the Agency, 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.
Offences by corporations
Open ↗69.—(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)
the Evidence Act 1893 or any other 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 within the meaning of section 2(1) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005;
“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;
“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.
Offences by unincorporated associations or partnerships
Open ↗70.—(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)
the Evidence Act 1893 or any other 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;
“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.
Service of documents
Open ↗71.—(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 given by the individual as the fax number for the service of documents; or
(f)
by sending it by email to the individual’s 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 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 email address.
(4) A document permitted or required by this Act to be served on a body corporate (including a limited liability partnership) or 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 manager of the limited liability partnership;
(b)
by leaving it at, or by sending it by prepaid registered post to, the body corporate’s or unincorporated association’s registered office or principal office in Singapore;
(c)
by sending it by fax to the fax number used at the body corporate’s or unincorporated association’s registered office or principal office in Singapore; or
(d)
by sending it by email to the body corporate’s or unincorporated association’s email address.
(5) Service of a document under this section 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; and
(c)
if the document is sent by prepaid registered post, 2 days after the day the document was posted (even if it is returned undelivered).
(6) However, this section does not apply to documents to be served in proceedings in court.
(7) 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;
“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.
Exclusion of public authority
Open ↗72. The Minister may, by written notice to the Agency and a public authority, exclude that public authority from the application of any provision of this Act where the application of that provision to that public authority is inappropriate.
Regulations
Open ↗73. The Agency 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.
