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Criminal Law Reform Bill

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Criminal Law Reform Bill Criminal Law Reform Bill Bill No. 6/2019. Read the first time on 11 February 2019. A BILL intituled An Act to amend the Penal Code (Chapter 224 of the 2008 Revised Edition) and certain other Acts, to update the criminal offences, keep up with technological changes and emerging crime trends, enhance protection for minors and vulnerable victims, harmonise the criminal laws and update the sentencing framework. Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows: 2 Short title and commencement 1. This Act is the Criminal Law Reform Act 2019 and comes into operation on a date that the Minister appoints by notification in the Gazette. 5 PART 1 AMENDMENTS TO PENAL CODE New sections 4A and 4B 2. The Penal Code is amended by inserting, immediately after section 4, the following sections: 10 “Offences against State and genocide committed outside Singapore by citizen or permanent resident 4A. Every person who, being a citizen or permanent resident of Singapore, commits an act or omission outside Singapore that if committed in Singapore would constitute an offence under 15 Chapter VI (Offences against the State) or VIB (Genocide), is deemed to have committed that act or omission in Singapore. Punishment of specified offences with elements occurring in Singapore but others occurring outside Singapore 4B.—(1) A specified offence is deemed to have been 20 committed in Singapore where — (a) a relevant act of the specified offence occurs in Singapore and any other relevant act of that specified offence occurs outside Singapore; (b) a relevant act of the specified offence occurs partly in 25 Singapore and partly outside Singapore, whether or not other relevant acts of that specified offence occur in Singapore; or (c) the specified offence involved an intention to make a gain or cause a loss or exposure to a risk of loss or to 30 cause harm to any person in body, mind, reputation or property, and that gain, loss or harm occurs in Singapore. 3 (2) In this section — “relevant act”, in relation to a specified offence, means an act or omission (whether occurring wholly or partly in or outside Singapore) which is a physical element of the specified offence; 5 “specified offence” means an offence specified in the Schedule and includes an attempt to commit the offence, an abetment of the offence and a criminal conspiracy to commit the offence. (3) The Minister may, by order in the Gazette, amend the 10 Schedule.”. Amendment of section 6 3. Section 6 of the Penal Code is amended — (a) by deleting the words “Chapter entitled “General Exceptions””and substituting the words “Chapters 15 entitled “General Exceptions” and “Right of Private Defence””; and (b) by deleting the words “7 years” wherever they appear in illustration (a) and substituting in each case the words “10 years”. 20 New section 6A 4. The Penal Code is amended by inserting, immediately after section 6, the following section: “Definitions to apply to this Code and other written law 6A. Every definition of a word or expression which is 25 explained in sections 22A to 26H (except the definitions of “dishonestly” and “fraudulently” in sections 24 and 25, respectively) applies to any offence in this Code or in any other written law unless that written law expressly provides for a definition or explanation of that same word or expression.”. 30 4 Amendment of section 21 5. Section 21(1) of the Penal Code is amended — (a) by deleting paragraph (g) and substituting the following paragraph: 5 “(g) every officer of the Government and every officer or employee of a body corporate established by a public Act for the purposes of a public function whose duty, as such officer or employee, is any of the 10 following: (i) maintaining law and order; (ii) preserving the public peace; (iii) preventing and detecting offences; (iv) apprehending offenders or otherwise 15 bringing offenders to justice; (v) executing summonses, subpoenas, warrants, commitments and other legal processes issued by a court or Justice of the Peace; 20 (vi) maintaining order in the premises of the courts of justice; (vii) escorting and guarding prisoners and accused persons in remand; (viii) protecting the public health or safety 25 or prevention of public inconvenience;”; and (b) by deleting the full-stop at the end of paragraph (i) and substituting a semi-colon, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following paragraph: 30 “(j) every person (other than a person mentioned in paragraph (g)) who is employed to carry out any of the duties, mentioned in paragraph (g)(i) to (vii), on 5 behalf of the Government or a body corporate established by a public Act for the purposes of a public function, when that person is performing such duties.”. Repeal and re-enactment of section 22 and new section 22A 5 6. Section 22 of the Penal Code is repealed and the following sections substituted therefor: ““Property” 22. In this Code — “immovable property” means land, benefits to arise out of 10 land and things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth; “movable property” includes property of every description, except immovable property; “property” means money and all other property, movable or 15 immovable, including things in action, other intangible or incorporeal property and virtual currency; “virtual currency” means a digital representation of value in money or money’s worth that can be digitally traded and functions as a medium of exchange, a unit of 20 account or store of value, regardless of whether it is legal tender in any country or territory including Singapore. Illustration Writings, relating to real or personal property or rights, are movable 25 property. “Fault element” and “physical element” 22A.—(1) A fault element of an offence refers to any state of mind, proof of which is needed to establish liability under that offence, including but not limited to intention, wilfulness, 30 knowledge, rashness and negligence. 6 (2) A physical element of an offence refers to any fact, proof of which is needed to establish liability under that offence, and that is not a fault element of that offence.”. Repeal and re-enactment of sections 23, 24 and 25 5 7. Sections 23, 24 and 25 of the Penal Code are repealed and the following sections substituted therefor: ““Wrongful gain” and “wrongful loss” 23.—(1) A “wrongful gain” is gain by unlawful means of property to which the person gaining it is not legally entitled or 10 avoidance by unlawful means of a loss of property to which the person avoiding it is not legally entitled to avoid. (2) A “wrongful loss” is loss or exposure of risk to a loss by unlawful means of property to which the person losing it or exposed to the risk of losing it is legally entitled. 15 Explanation 1.—A person is said to gain wrongfully when the person retains wrongfully, as well as when the person acquires wrongfully. A person is said to lose wrongfully when the person is wrongfully kept out of any property, as well as when the person is wrongfully deprived of property. Explanation 2.—The word “gain” includes a gain by keeping what one 20 has, as well as a gain by getting what one does not have. Explanation 3.—The word “loss” includes a loss by not getting what one might get, as well as a loss by parting with what one has. “Dishonestly” 24. A person (A) is said to do an act dishonestly if — 25 (a) A does that act with the intention of causing wrongful gain to A or another person, or wrongful loss to another person, regardless of whether such gain or loss is temporary or permanent; or (b) that act done by A is dishonest by the ordinary 30 standards of reasonable and honest persons and A knows that that act is dishonest by such standards. 7 “Fraudulently” 25. A person (A) is said to do an act fraudulently if A does that act with intent to deceive another person (B) and by means of such deception, that an advantage should accrue to A or another person or detriment should befall B or another person (other than 5 A), regardless of whether such advantage or detriment is temporary or permanent. Explanation 1.—Where the advantage or the detriment A intended by means of the act done is so slight that no reasonable person of ordinary sense or temper would complain of it, the act is not done fraudulently. 10 Explanation 2.—It is sufficient in any charge for an offence under this Code involving doing an act fraudulently to allege a general intent to act fraudulently without naming any particular person intended to be deceived.”. New sections 26A to 26H 8. The Penal Code is amended by inserting, immediately after 15 section 26, the following sections: ““Voluntarily” 26A. A person is said to cause an effect “voluntarily” when he causes it by means whereby he intended to cause it, or by means which, at the time of employing those means, he knew or had 20 reason to believe to be likely to cause it. Illustration A sets fire, by night, to an inhabited house in a large town, for the purpose of facilitating a robbery, and thus causes the death of a person. Here A may not have intended to cause death, and may even be sorry that death has been caused 25 by this act; yet, if he knew that he was likely to cause death, he has caused death voluntarily. “Good faith” 26B. Nothing is said to be done or believed in good faith which is done or believed without due care and attention.
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