Obstruction of search
Open ↗26. Any person who —(a)
refuses the Director or any officer authorised to enter or search, access to any place;
(b)
assaults, obstructs, hinders or delays him in effecting any entrance which he is entitled to effect under this Act, or in the execution of any duty imposed or power conferred by this Act;
(c)
fails to comply with any lawful demands of the Director or any officer in the execution of his duty under this Act; or
(d)
refuses or neglects to give any information which may reasonably be required of him and which he has it in his power to give,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both.
Legal obligation to give information
Open ↗27. Every person required by the Director or any officer to give any information on any subject which it is the duty of the Director or that officer to inquire into under this Act and which it is in his power to give, shall be legally bound to give that information.
False statements, information, etc.
Open ↗28. Any person who knowingly —(a)
gives or causes to be given any false or misleading information relating to the commission of any offence under this Act or under section 165, 213, 214, or 215 of the Penal Code 1871;
(b)
gives or causes to be given to the Director or a special investigator any other false or misleading information,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both.
Abetment of offences
Open ↗29. Whoever abets, within the meaning of the Penal Code 1871 —(a)
the commission of an offence under this Act; or
(b)
the commission outside Singapore of any act, in relation to the affairs or business or on behalf of a principal residing in Singapore, which if committed in Singapore would be an offence under this Act,
shall be deemed to have committed the offence and shall be liable on conviction to be punished with the punishment provided for that offence.
Attempts
Open ↗30. Whoever attempts to commit an offence punishable under this Act shall be deemed to have committed the offence and shall be liable on conviction to be punished with the punishment provided for that offence.
Conspiracy
Open ↗31. Whoever is a party to a criminal conspiracy, within the meaning of the Penal Code 1871, to commit an offence under this Act shall be deemed to have committed the offence and shall be liable on conviction to be punished with the punishment provided for that offence.
Offences to be arrestable
Open ↗32.—(1) Every offence under this Act shall be deemed to be an arrestable offence for the purposes of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010.
(2) A public officer to whom any gratification is corruptly given or offered shall arrest the person who gives or offers the gratification to him and make over the person so arrested to the nearest police station and if he fails to do so without reasonable excuse he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.
Prosecutions to be instituted with consent of Public Prosecutor
Open ↗33. A prosecution under this Act shall not be instituted except by or with the consent of the Public Prosecutor.
District Court to have jurisdiction to try offences under this Act
Open ↗34. Notwithstanding the provisions of any written law to the contrary, a District Court shall have jurisdiction to try any offence under this Act and to award the full punishment for that offence.
Examination of offenders
Open ↗35.—(1) Whenever 2 or more persons are charged with any offence under this Act or under sections 161 to 165 or 213 to 215 of the Penal Code 1871 or with a conspiracy to commit, or an attempt to commit, or an abetment of any such offence, the court may require one or more of them to give evidence as a witness or witnesses for the prosecution.
(2) Any such person who refuses to be sworn or to answer any lawful question shall be dealt with in the same manner as witnesses so refusing may by law be dealt with by a Magistrate’s Court or District Court, as the case may be.
(3) Every person so required to give evidence, who in the opinion of the court makes true and full discovery of all things as to which he is lawfully examined, shall be entitled to receive a certificate of indemnity under the hand of the Magistrate or Judge, as the case may be, stating that he has made a true and full discovery of all things as to which he was examined, and that certificate shall be a bar to all legal proceedings against him in respect of all those things.
Protection of informers
Open ↗36.—(1) Except as hereinafter provided, no complaints as to an offence under this Act shall be admitted in evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding whatsoever, and no witness shall be obliged or permitted to disclose the name or address of any informer, or state any matter which might lead to his discovery.
(2) If any books, documents or papers which are in evidence or liable to inspection in any civil or criminal proceeding whatsoever contain any entry in which any informer is named or described or which might lead to his discovery, the court before which the proceeding is had shall cause all such passages to be concealed from view or to be obliterated so far as is necessary to protect the informer from discovery, but no further.
(3) If on a trial for any offence under this Act the court, after full inquiry into the case, is of the opinion that the informer wilfully made in his complaint a material statement which he knew or believed to be false or did not believe to be true, or if in any other proceeding the court is of the opinion that justice cannot be fully done between the parties thereto without the discovery of the informer, the court may require the production of the original complaint, if in writing, and permit inquiry and require full disclosure concerning the informer.
Liability of citizens of Singapore for offences committed outside Singapore
Open ↗37.—(1) The provisions of this Act have effect, in relation to citizens of Singapore, outside as well as within Singapore; and where an offence under this Act is committed by a citizen of Singapore in any place outside Singapore, he may be dealt with in respect of that offence as if it had been committed within Singapore.
(2) Any proceedings against any person under this section which would be a bar to subsequent proceedings against that person for the same offence, if the offence had been committed in Singapore, shall be a bar to further proceedings against him, under any written law for the time being in force relating to the extradition of persons, in respect of the same offence outside Singapore.
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
