Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act 2021/Part 9

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PART 9
ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT

Competent authorities

105.—(1) The Minister may appoint—

(a) a public sector officer to be the competent authority for the administration of this Act and the Regulations generally; or

(b) one or more public sector officers to be each a competent authority responsible for the administration of a particular Part or provision of this Act or the Regulations generally or for a particular period.

(2) A competent authority is, subject to any general or special directions of the Minister, responsible for the administration of this Act and may perform such duties as are imposed and may exercise such powers as are conferred upon the competent authority by this Act.

(3) The Minister may from time to time give a competent authority directions of a general character, and not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as to the exercise of the powers and discretions conferred on the competent authority by, and the duties required to be discharged by the competent authority, under Part 4, 5, 6 or 7 and any Regulations made for the purposes of any of those Parts; and the competent authority must give effect to all these directions given.

(4) A competent authority must act in the discharge of its functions under this Act impartially, with integrity and professionalism and in a manner that facilitates effective democracy.

(5) A competent authority must not exercise any power under this Act for the purpose of furthering or harming the interests of any particular political party.

Alternate arrangements during election period, etc.

106.—(1) The powers of the Minister under Part 3 cease to be exercisable by the Minister during any of the following periods:

(a) an election period;

(b) between the day a writ of election is issued under section 24 of the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954 for the purposes of a by-election and ending with the close of polling day at that by-election;

(c) between the day a writ of election is issued under section 6 of the Presidential Elections Act 1991 for the purposes of a presidential election and ending with the close of polling day at that presidential election;

(d) between the day an order requiring the conduct for a national referendum is issued under any written law and ending with the close of polling day at that national referendum.

(2) The powers of the Minister under Part 3 may, during the election period in subsection (1)(a) and the period in subsection (1)(b), (c) or (d), respectively, be exercised by an alternate authority appointed by the Minister before the start of that period.

(3) At the end of the election period in subsection (1)(a) and the period in subsection (1)(b), (c) or (d), respectively, the alternate authority appointed under subsection (2) by the Minister for that period ceases to have exercisable any powers of the Minister under Part 3.

(4) In this section, “election period” means the period—

(a) starting the day a writ of election is issued under section 24 of the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954 for the purposes of a general election of Members of Parliament; and

(b) ending with the close of polling day at that general election.

Authorised officers

107.—(1) A competent authority may, in relation to any provision of this Act or the Regulations that the competent authority is responsible to administer, appoint as authorised officers for the purposes of that provision—

(a) from among public officers; or

(b) from among employees of a public authority (except a Town Council) or individuals performing duties in such a public authority.

(2) A competent authority may, for any reason that appears to it to be sufficient, at any time revoke an individual’s appointment as an authorised officer.

(3) A competent authority may delegate the exercise of all or any of the powers conferred or duties imposed upon the competent authority by any provision of this Act or the Regulations (except the power of delegation conferred by this subsection) to an authorised officer; and any reference in the provision of this Act or the Regulations to the competent authority includes a reference to such an authorised officer.

(4) Any delegation under subsection (3) by a competent authority may be general or in a particular case and may be subject to such conditions or limitations as set out in this Act or as the competent authority may specify.

(5) A reference in subsection (1) to an individual performing duties in a public authority is a reference to—

(a) an employee of the public authority; or

(b) a public officer performing duties in the public authority under a secondment arrangement making available temporarily to the public authority the services of public officers.

Power to obtain information

108.—(1) A competent authority may by written notice require any person (whether in or outside Singapore) to provide, within a period or at intervals specified in the notice, and in such form and manner as may be specified in the notice, all documents or all information or material (or both), for the purposes in subsection (2), such as documents or information or material about all or any of the following:

(a) the membership of the person by individuals who are not citizens of Singapore;

(b) relations with foreign principals;

(c) the provision of voluntary labour, or voluntary professional services, to or for the benefit of the person by individuals who are not citizens of Singapore;

(d) recurrent and capital expenditure for the administration and management of activities undertaken by the person which are directed towards a political end in Singapore.

(2) The power in subsection (1) may be exercised only in relation—

(a) to any matter which the competent authority considers necessary for any of the following purposes:

(i) to determine whether any information or material provided to a competent authority under a provision of this Act or the Regulations is correct;

(ii) to determine whether there are grounds for any directive to be given under this Act against any person;

(iii) to determine whether or not to exercise any power under section Part 4, 5 or 6; and

(b) to documents or information or material that is—

(i) within the knowledge of the person; or

(ii) in the custody or under the control of that person.

(3) The power to require a person to provide any document or any information or material under subsection (1) includes the power—

(a) to require the person, or any individual who is or was a responsible officer or an agent or a member of a politically significant person (as the case may be), to provide an explanation of the document or the information or material;

(b) if the document or the information or material is not provided, to require that person or individual to state, to the best of the knowledge and belief of that person or individual (as the case may be), where it is; or

(c) if the information or material is recorded otherwise than in legible form, to require the information to be made available to the competent authority in legible form.

(4) A competent authority is entitled without payment to keep any document or any information or material, or any copy or extract thereof, provided to the competent authority under subsection (1).

(5) Subject to subsection (7), a person commits an offence if—

(a) the person is required by a notice given to the person under this section to provide documents or information or material to a competent authority; and

(b) the person—

(i) fails to provide the document or the information or material to the competent authority; or

(ii) alters, suppresses or destroys any document or any information or material which the person has been required by the notice to provide.

(6) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (5) shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $500 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction.

(7) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (5), it is a defence for the accused to prove, on a balance of probabilities that—

(a) the person does not possess the document or the information or material required; or

(b) the person has taken all reasonable steps available to the person to obtain the document or the information or material required and has been unable to obtain it.

(8) To avoid doubt, for the purposes of subsection (5), it is not a defence for a person to refuse or fail to provide any document or any information or material if doing so might tend to incriminate that person.

(9) Where a person claims, before producing any document or giving any information or material that the person is required by this section to produce or give, that the production of the document or the giving of the information or material might tend to incriminate the person—

(a) that document or information or material;

(b) the production of the document or the provision of the information or material; or

(c) any information, document or thing obtained as a direct or indirect consequence of the production of the document or giving of the information or material,

is not admissible in evidence against the person in any criminal proceedings other than proceedings for an offence under this Act or any written law in respect of the falsity of the document or the information or material.

(10) An offence under subsection (5) is a strict liability offence.

False or misleading information, etc.

109.—(1) A person commits an offence if—

(a) the person gives information or material or produces a document to a competent authority;

(b) the person does so in response to a notice given to the person under section 108;

(c) either—

(i) the information or material or the document is false or misleading in a material particular; or

(ii) the information or material omits any matter or thing without which the information or material is misleading in a material particular; and

(d) the person knew that—

(i) the information or document is false or misleading in a material particular; or

(ii) the information omits any matter or thing without which the information is misleading in a material particular.

(2) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1) shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both and, in the case of a second or subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.

(3) A person commits an offence if—

(a) the person gives information or material or produces a document to a competent authority;

(b) the person does so in response to a notice given to the person under section 108; and

(c) either—

(i) the information or material or the document is false or misleading in a material particular; or

(ii) the information or material omits any matter or thing without which the information or material is misleading in a material particular.

(4) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (3) shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000.

(5) In proceedings for an offence under subsection (3) in relation to any information or material which is required by a notice under section 108 to be given, it is a defence to the charge for the accused to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that the accused took all reasonable steps, and exercised all due diligence, to ensure that—

(a) the information or material was not false or misleading in a material particular; or

(b) the information or material did not contain any omission which would have made the information or material misleading in a material particular.

(6) An offence under subsection (3) is a strict liability offence.

Offences by corporations

110.—(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 also does not affect the application of—

(a) Chapters 5 and 5A of the Penal Code 1871; or

(b) any other written law or practice regarding the admissibility of evidence.

(5) To avoid doubt, subsection (2) 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 plant, 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) Subsections (2) and (3) do not apply to any offence in Division 3 or 4 of Part 3.

Offences by unincorporated associations or partnerships

111.—(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 of the 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;

(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 also does not affect the application of—

(a) Chapters 5 and 5A of the Penal Code 1871; or

(b) any other law or practice regarding the admissibility of evidence.

(5) To avoid doubt, subsection (2) 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 an executive 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 110;

“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) Subsections (2) and (3) do not apply to any offence in Division 3 or 4 of Part 3.

Arrestable and non-bailable offences

112.—(1) Every offence as follows is arrestable and is non-bailable for the purposes of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010:

(a) an offence in Part 2 or 3;

(b) an abetment, or a conspiracy or an attempt to commit an offence mentioned in paragraph (a).

(2) Every offence as follows is arrestable for the purposes of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010:

(a) an offence in Part 5, 6 or 7;

(b) an abetment, or a conspiracy or an attempt to commit an offence mentioned in paragraph (a).

Jurisdiction of courts

113. Despite the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, a District Court or a Magistrate’s Court has jurisdiction to try any offence under this Act and has power to impose the full punishment for any such offence.

Composition of offences

114.—(1) The competent authority may compound any offence under this Act or the Regulations prescribed as being 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) $5,000.

(2) On payment of the composition amount under subsection (1), 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.

Extra-territorial application of offences

115.—(1) Sections 17(1), 18(1), 19(1), 45, 108(5) and 109(1) and (3) each extend to a person who undertakes electronic communications activity or engages in any conduct that constitutes an offence described in the respective section—

(a) wholly or partly in Singapore;

(b) wholly or partly on a Singapore aircraft or Singapore vessel, whether the aircraft or vessel is in or outside Singapore at the time of the alleged offence; or

(c) wholly outside Singapore and a result of that electronic communications activity or conduct (as the case may be) occurs wholly or partly in Singapore or on board a Singapore aircraft or Singapore vessel.

(2) For the purpose of subsection (1), where a person sends a thing or causes a thing to be sent (whether or not electronically)—

(a) from a point outside Singapore to a point in Singapore; or

(b) from a point in Singapore to a point outside Singapore, that conduct is taken to have occurred partly in Singapore.

Public notice of Part 5 or 6 directives, etc.

116. Without limiting sections 49 and 71(2), the competent authority must prepare a notice informing about every Part 3 direction (except a technical assistance direction) given, every designation made under Part 4, or every directive given under Part 5 or 6, with respect to any person, and publish the notice—

(a) on the official website of the competent authority; and

(b) in such other manner as will secure adequate publicity for the fact of the giving of the Part 3 direction, the making of the designation or giving of the directive.