Powers of entry and enforcement
27.—(1) The Director or a Monument Inspector may, at any reasonable time without warrant and without using force, enter upon any land or site for the purpose of —(a)
inspecting any national monument or proposed national monument thereon;
(b)
investigating into any contravention or suspected contravention of this Act;
(c)
ascertaining whether any of the functions or powers conferred by or under this Act on the Board should or may be exercised; and
(d)
taking any action or carrying out any work authorised or required by or under this Act.[36/2021]
(1A) The power conferred on the Director or a Monument Inspector under subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c) includes the following powers:(a)
to examine any thing or observe any activity conducted in or on the land or site in question without involving any search of any premises, thing or person, or any seizure of any thing, in or on that land or site;
(b)
to make a sketch, photograph or still or moving image, or an audio or a video recording, of the land or site in question and any thing in or on that land or site;
(c)
to make measurements of the land in question and any thing in or on that land;
(d)
to take samples of water, soil, vegetation or other similar substances from the land or site in question and any thing in or on that land or site for the purposes of analysis.[36/2021]
(1B) The Director or a Monument Inspector entering any land or site for any purpose in subsection (1)(a), (b), (c) or (d) may be accompanied by a number of other persons reasonably necessary for that purpose.[36/2021]
(2) In addition to the powers conferred on him or her by this Act, the Director or a Monument Inspector may, in relation to any offence under this Act —(a)
require any person whom the Director or Monument Inspector reasonably believes to have committed that offence to furnish evidence of the person’s identity;
(b)
require any person to furnish any information or produce any book, document or copy thereof in the possession of that person, and may, without fee or reward, inspect, copy or make extracts from such book or document; or
(c)
require, by written order, the attendance at such time and place as may be specified in the order of any person within the limits of Singapore who, from any information given or otherwise obtained by the Director or Monument Inspector, appears to be acquainted with the circumstances of the case.
(2A) However, where the Director or a Monument Inspector —(a)
suspects on reasonable grounds that an offence under section 13(7), 15(4), 20(1)(a) or 22(1) has been or is being committed in relation to any land or site; and
(b)
is unable to enter, or is refused entry to, the land or site under subsection (1),
the Director or Monument Inspector may forcibly enter the land or site without warrant for any purpose in subsection (1)(a), (b), (c) or (d), including by breaking open any outer or inner door or window leading to the land or site and removing by force any obstruction to the entry.
[36/2021]
(2B) If the owner or occupier of the land or site is present when the Director or a Monument Inspector seeks to enter the land or site under subsection (1) or (2A), the Director or Monument Inspector (as the case may be) must, before entering —(a)
declare his or her office to the owner or occupier; and
(b)
show to the owner or occupier the identification card that the chief executive officer of the Board directs to be carried by the Director or Monument Inspector as proof of identity.[36/2021]
(2C) If the owner or occupier of the land or site is not present when entry under subsection (1) or (2A) to the land or site is sought, but some other person who appears to be in charge of the land or site is present, then subsections (1) and (2A) respectively, apply to that other person as if he or she were the owner or occupier of the land or site.[36/2021]
(2D) However, subsections (2B) and (2C) do not apply if the land or site in question is unoccupied at the time of entry.[36/2021]
(3) Any person who —(a)
refuses to give access to, or assaults, obstructs, hinders or delays, the Director or a Monument Inspector in the discharge of the Director’s or Monument Inspector’s duties under this Act;
(b)
wilfully misstates or without lawful excuse refuses to give any information or produce any book, document or copy thereof required of him or her by the Director or a Monument Inspector under subsection (2); or
(c)
fails to comply with a lawful demand of the Director or a Monument Inspector in the discharge of the Director’s or Monument Inspector’s duties under this Act,
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 6 months or to both.
Powers of arrest
28.—(1) The Director, a Monument Inspector or a police officer may arrest any person whom he or she has reason to believe to be committing or to have committed an offence punishable under this Act if —(a)
the name and address of the person are unknown to him or her;
(b)
the person declines to give the person’s name and address; or
(c)
there is reason to doubt the accuracy of the name and address given.
(2) A person arrested under this section may be detained until his or her name and address are correctly ascertained.
(3) A person arrested under this section must not be detained longer than is necessary for bringing the person before a court unless the order of a court for his or her continued detention is obtained.
Offences by bodies corporate, etc.
29.—(1) Where an offence under this Act committed by a body corporate is proved —(a)
to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer; or
(b)
to be attributable to any neglect on the officer’s part,
the officer as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with the member’s functions of management as if he or she were a director of the body corporate.
(3) Where an offence under this Act committed by a partnership is proved —(a)
to have been committed with the consent or connivance of a partner; or
(b)
to be attributable to any neglect on the partner’s part,
the partner as well as the partnership shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(4) Where an offence under this Act committed by an unincorporated association (other than a partnership) is proved —(a)
to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer of the unincorporated association or a member of its governing body; or
(b)
to be attributable to any neglect on the part of the officer or member,
the officer or member as well as the unincorporated association shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(5) In this section —“body corporate” includes a limited liability partnership within the meaning of section 4(1) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005;
“officer” —(a)
in relation to a body corporate, means any director, partner, member of the committee of management, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity; or
(b)
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, or any person holding a position analogous to that of president, secretary or member of such a committee and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity;
“partner” includes a person purporting to act as a partner.
(6) The Minister may make regulations to provide for the application of any provision of this section, with any modifications that the Minister considers appropriate, to any body corporate or unincorporated association formed or recognised under the law of a territory outside Singapore.
Jurisdiction of court
30. Despite any provision to the contrary in the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, a District Court has jurisdiction to try any offence under this Act and has power to impose the full penalty or punishment in respect of the offence.
Composition of offences
31.—(1) The Director or any officer of the Board authorised by the Director may compound any offence under this Act which is prescribed as a compoundable offence by collecting from a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding —(a)
one half of the amount of the maximum fine that is prescribed for the offence; or
(b)
$5,000,
whichever is the lower.
(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.[36/2021]
General exemption
32. The Board may, with the approval of the Minister, by order in the Gazette, either permanently or for such period as the Board may think fit, exempt any monument or person or any class of monuments or persons from all or any of the provisions of this Act.
Authentication of documents
33.—(1) Where any notice, order or other document required or authorised by this Act to be served on any person requires authentication, the signature of the Director, a Monument Inspector or any other duly authorised officer or employee of the Board or an official facsimile of such signature appended to the notice, order or document is sufficient authentication.
(2) In any proceedings under this Act, the contents of any such notice, order or document are presumed to be correct until the contrary is proved.
Service of documents
34.—(1) Any notice, order or document required or authorised by this Act to be served on any person may be served on the person —(a)
by delivering it to the person or to some adult member or employee of his or her family or household at his or her last known place of residence;
(b)
by leaving it at his or her usual or last known place of residence or place of business in an envelope addressed to the person;
(c)
by sending it by registered post addressed to the person at his or her usual or last known place of residence or place of business; or
(d)
in the case of an incorporated company, a partnership or a body of persons —(i)
by delivering it to the secretary or other like officer of the company, partnership or body of persons at its registered office or principal place of business; or
(ii)
by sending it by registered post addressed to the company, partnership or body of persons at its registered office or principal place of business.
(2) Any notice, order or document sent by registered post to any person in accordance with subsection (1) is deemed to be duly served on the person at the time when the notice, order or document (as the case may be) would in the ordinary course of post be delivered and, in proving service of the notice, order or document, it is sufficient to prove that the envelope containing the same was properly addressed, stamped and posted by registered post.
(3) Any notice, order or document required or authorised by this Act to be served on the owner or occupier of any premises may be served by delivering it or a true copy thereof to some adult person on the premises or, if there is no such person on the premises to whom it can with reasonable diligence be delivered, by affixing the notice, order or document to some conspicuous part of the premises.
(4) Any notice, order or document required or authorised by this Act to be served on the owner or occupier of any premises is deemed to be properly addressed if addressed by the description of the owner or occupier of the premises without further name or description.
Regulations
35.—(1) The Board may, with the approval of the Minister, make regulations for carrying out the purposes of this Act and for any matter which is required under this Act to be prescribed.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the purposes for which regulations may be made under this section include the following:(a)
to prohibit or to control and regulate the carrying out of any work on or in relation to a national monument or proposed national monument;
(b)
to prohibit or to control and regulate the use of a national monument or proposed national monument for any particular purpose;
(c)
to prohibit or to control and regulate the doing of any particular act in relation to a national monument or proposed national monument (including the placement or display of signs, banners, posters, buntings, flags or any other advertising material on a national monument or proposed national monument);
(d)
to provide for the preservation and protection of any fitting, fixture, artefact or other movable object that is found in, is attached to or forms part of a national monument or proposed national monument;
(e)
to prescribe additional duties to be imposed on the owner or occupier of a national monument or proposed national monument in relation to the preservation, protection and use of the national monument or proposed national monument.[36/2021]
(3) Regulations made under this section —(a)
may provide that any contravention of, or failure or neglect to comply with, any provision of such regulations shall be an offence;
(b)
may prescribe the fine with which the offence shall be punishable, except that no such fine shall exceed for any one offence, the sum of $5,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, the sum of $100 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction; and
(c)
may prescribe the offences which may be compounded under section 31.
(4) All regulations made under this Act must be presented to Parliament as soon as possible after publication in the Gazette.
Saving and transitional provisions
36.—(1) To avoid doubt —(a)
every preservation order made under section 8 of the repealed Preservation of Monuments Act (Cap. 239, 1985 Revised Edition) is deemed to have been made under section 11 of this Act;
(b)
any permission, approval, decision, notice, order (not being a preservation order) or other document prepared, made, granted, issued and any act or thing done under or pursuant to the repealed Preservation of Monuments Act (Cap. 239, 1985 Revised Edition) and valid immediately before 1 July 2009 is deemed to have been prepared, made, granted, issued or done under or pursuant to the corresponding provision of this Act and continues to have effect accordingly;
(c)
any application, request, objection or appeal made to the Preservation of Monuments Board or the Minister under any provision of the repealed Preservation of Monuments Act (Cap. 239, 1985 Revised Edition) on which the decision of that Board or the Minister has not been made immediately before 1 July 2009 is deemed to have been made and is to be dealt with under the corresponding provision of this Act;
(d)
the powers conferred on the National Heritage Board, the Director or a Monument Inspector by this Act may be exercised in respect of any breach, contravention or non‑compliance of or under the repealed Preservation of Monuments Act (Cap. 239, 1985 Revised Edition) as if it were a breach, contravention or non-compliance of or under the corresponding provision of this Act, except any offence committed under the repealed Preservation of Monuments Act (Cap. 239, 1985 Revised Edition) before 1 July 2009 is to be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of that Act as if this Act had not been enacted; and
(e)
any enforcement process or proceedings commenced, pending or existing immediately before 1 July 2009 in connection with any breach, contravention or non‑compliance of or under the repealed Preservation of Monuments Act (Cap. 239, 1985 Revised Edition) may be continued and disposed of under the provisions of that Act as if this Act had not been enacted.
(2) Insofar as it is necessary for preserving the effect of any written law or document, any reference in the written law or document to the repealed Preservation of Monuments Act (Cap. 239, 1985 Revised Edition) is to, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as a reference to this Act.
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
