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S/N
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Current
situation
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Proposed
amendment
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Rationale
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Expansion and modification of the
scope of existing offences
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Section 30 (“Valuable security”)
A “valuable security” is defined as
a document which places a legal right or liability on a person.
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The definition of “valuable
security” will be expanded
to include credit cards, charge
cards, stored value cards, automated teller machine cards, and
such other cards which have financial rights attached.
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This amendment will make it clear
that the definition of “valuable security” includes credit
cards, charge cards, stored value cards, automated teller
machine cards, and such other cards which have money or money’s
worth or other financial rights or privileges attached. The
amendment will remove any doubt that a credit card is a valuable
security, thereby facilitating enforcement against credit-card
fraud. Such an amendment is necessary due to the increasing
use of electronic transactions in Singapore. Reward cards and
discount cards do not, however, fall within the scope of the
expanded definition.
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Section 79 (Act done by a person
justified, or by mistake of fact believing himself justified by
law)
Section 81 (Act likely to cause harm
but done without a criminal intent, and to prevent other harm)
An act which is criminal under the
Penal Code is deemed not be an offence if:
the person committing the act is
justified by law;
the person committing the act makes
a mistake of fact in good faith and believes himself to be
justified by law;
the act is done without criminal
intention to cause harm, and in good faith for the purpose of
preventing or avoiding harm to another person or property;
among other such circumstances.
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Additional illustrations will be
included, which pertain to potential suicide bombers, a hostile
vessel ramming against another vessel, and an apparently
hijacked vessel that may be used on a “suicide mission” to cause
harm to innocent human lives in other boats or on a wharf.
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The intention of including these
additional illustrations is to provide greater clarity on the
legitimacy of the actions of our security forces in the
prevailing security environment. These illustrations do not
accord additional powers to the security forces, but will give
them more certainty and greater operational confidence to take
necessary action against security threats. The illustrations are
not meant to be exhaustive nor are they intended to restrict the
power of the Courts to determine whether the general defence
under section 79 or 81 is made out. Much would still depend on
the assessment of the Courts as to whether, based on the facts
of any given case, any of the defences is made out.
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Section 141 (Unlawful assembly)
An assembly of 5 or more persons is
deemed to be an “unlawful assembly” if the objective of the
persons is to:
exert criminal force on the
Government, or any public servant;
resist the execution of any law, or
legal process;
commit any mischief or criminal
trespass, or other offence;
use criminal force to deprive a
person of any rights; or
use criminal force to force any
person to do what he is not legally obligated to do, or to omit
to do what he is legally obligated to do.
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The scope of “unlawful assembly”
will be clarified such that an assembly of 5 or more persons
with the objective of committing any offence punishable with
imprisonment of 6 months or more will amount to an unlawful
assembly.
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The scope of “unlawful assembly” has
not been expanded. Instead, this amendment is meant to make
clear the Courts’ interpretation of the section, i.e. there is
no need for an act to affect the public tranquillity before an
offence of unlawful assembly is made out. The danger of an
unlawful assembly lies in the congregating of persons with the
common object of committing a criminal offence, where members of
the assembly mutually reinforce their criminal intentions.
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Section 293 (Sale, etc., of obscene
objects to young person)
Selling, lending, distributing,
exhibiting or circulating obscene objects to any person under
the age of 20 is an offence.
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The age of restriction will be
increased to 21, and the maximum imprisonment term for such an
offence will be increased from six months to one year.
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Increasing the age of restriction
from 20 to 21 is in line with the intention to protect young
persons, who may be more vulnerable due to their
immaturity. This will also be consistent with the Restricted 21
(R21) classification for films. An exemption for the
distribution etc of materials authorised under other written law
will also be introduced. This would address the situation in
which video retailers could sell and distribute M18 VCDs and
DVDs under the Films Act to a person between 18 and 21 years of
age, which might otherwise be arguably prohibited under this
section.
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Section 298 (Uttering words, etc.,
with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any
person)
It is an offence if a person insults
someone else with the intention of wounding the religious
feelings of that person.
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The scope of the offence will be
expanded to include racial insults and insults over the
electronic media, e.g. the internet.
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Arising from the case of the racist
bloggers who were charged under the Sedition Act, this amendment
will provide another legislative option to deal with such
offenders in future. As religious and racial harmony is integral
to preserving the social fabric of our country, the intention is
to penalise persons who deliberately wound the religious or
racial feelings of others.
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Section 375 (Rape)
A man is deemed to have committed
rape if he has sexual intercourse with a woman under the
following circumstances:
against her will;
without her consent;
with her consent, but where the
consent is obtained through threat of death or hurt;
with her consent, but where the
consent is obtained through deception; or
with or without her consent, if the
woman is under 14 years of age.
Nevertheless, a man cannot be
charged with the offence of rape if the act is done against his
own wife (i.e. marital immunity).
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The scope of the offence will be
expanded to include a person who has undergone a sex
reassignment procedure, as well as a surgically constructed
penis or vagina which is integrated into the body of a
person. In addition, the section will be amended such that a man
can be charged for raping his wife i.e. marital immunity will be
withdrawn, under any of the following circumstances:
the wife is living apart from her
husband under an interim judgment of divorce/nullity not made
final;
the wife is living apart from her
husband under a judgment of judicial separation or a written
separation agreement;
the wife is living apart from her
husband and proceedings have been commenced (and not terminated
or concluded) for divorce, nullity or judicial separation;
A court injunction to the effect of
restraining the husband from having sexual intercourse with his
wife is in force;
A protection order or expedited
order against the husband for the benefit of his wife is in
force; or
The wife is living apart from her
husband, and proceedings have commenced (and not terminated or
concluded) for a protection order or expedited order for the
benefit of the wife.
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A calibrated approach has been taken
on the issue of marital immunity. Total abolition of marital
immunity would be too radical a step, as there is still a need
to strike a balance between the needs of women who require
protection and the general concerns about conjugal rights and
the expression of intimacy in a marriage. Abolishing marital
immunity may change the whole complexion of marriage in our
society. The proposed calibrated approach provides the necessary
protection for women whose marriages are, in practical terms, on
the verge of a breakdown or have broken down, clearly signaling
that her consent to conjugal relations has been withdrawn. These
exceptions are applicable to spouses in both Muslim and
non-Muslim marriages. In addition, the reference to matrimonial
proceedings in the exceptions refers to both local and foreign
matrimonial proceedings.
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Section 376G (Incest)
The offence of incest is committed
if a man has sexual intercourse with his grand-daughter,
daughter, sister, half-sister or mother; or if any woman (at
least 16 years of age) allows her grandfather, father, brother,
half-brother or son to have sexual intercourse with her.
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The scope of the offence will be
expanded beyond sexual intercourse (i.e. penile-vaginal
penetration) to include penetrative sexual acts such as oral and
anal sex. Sexual relations between a grandmother and her
grandson will also be criminalised. In addition, an amendment
will be made such that a man under the age of 16 cannot be
prosecuted for incest.
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Expanding the scope of the offence
beyond sexual intercourse will address the gap resulting from
the decriminalization of oral and anal sex (arising from the
repeal of section 377 of the Penal Code) where consensual oral
or anal sex between family members of the opposite sex would no
longer be covered. Any sexual act between family members is
abhorrent, an affront to the family as an institution and should
be criminalised. The scope of the offence of incest has also
been expanded to include a grandmother and grandson, for
consistency with the existing inclusion of a grandfather and
grand-daughter. This principle of consistency is similarly
applied for the amendment to exempt a male under the age of 16
from prosecution under this section, as such persons are
immature and are also likely to be victims themselves.
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Minors are considered to be a
vulnerable group as they may be immature and thus more
susceptible to exploitation and abuse. Hence, there are
provisions in our laws to protect minors against sexual
exploitation, e.g. Women’s Charter provides that the age of
consent for sexual intercourse is 16 years.
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Amendments will be made to various
sections in the Penal Code in order to enhance the protection of
minors. These amendments include:
Tougher penalties will be prescribed
for outraging the modesty of a minor under the age of 14;
It will continue to be an offence of
statutory rape for a person to have sexual intercourse with a
woman under the age of 14, with or without her consent;
The age of consent for sexual
intercourse is retained at 16 years and applied to other sexual
activities such as oral and anal sex;
It will be made an offence to engage
in penetrative acts such as oral and anal sex with a minor under
the age of 16, with or without the consent of the minor;
It will be made an offence to obtain
commercial sex from a minor under the age of 18, or communicate
with any person for such a purpose; and
A new offence of sexual grooming of
minors under the age of 16 will be introduced.
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These amendments will enhance the
protection of minors.
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Introduction of new offences
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-
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A new section (section 4 –
Jurisdiction over public servants for offences committed outside
Singapore) will be introduced which provides for the prosecution
of public servants who commit offences abroad when they act or
are claiming to act in the course of their employment. The
section will apply only to public servants who are Singapore
citizens or permanent residents.
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Public servants acting in the course
of their duties are seen as representatives of the Government
and the Government has an interest in ensuring that the public
servants do not commit crimes in the course of their duties,
wherever they may be. For example, they may be employed in the
Sinngapore embassy or overseas trade office. The enactment of
this new offence is justifiable under international law, as a
state may assert its jursidiction over matters which produce a
deleterious effect on the state (“effects doctrine”). Moreover
the jurisdiction is exercised over her own nationals.
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-
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A new section (section 74 – Enhanced
penalties for racially or religiously aggravated offences) will
be introduced which prescribes enhanced penalties of 1.5 times
for racially or religiously aggravated offences. This will be
based on a pre-determined list of offences, including rioting,
voluntarily causing hurt etc.
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This approach is similar to that
taken for enhanced penalties of 1.5 times for certain offences
which are committed against domestic maids under section 73 of
the Penal Code. Together with the amended section 298 and the
new section 298A on “Promoting enmity between different groups
on grounds of religion, race etc., and doing acts prejudicial to
maintenance of harmony”, this new section will help to preserve
the social harmony which our country enjoys and send a strong
message to any person who may try to disrupt our social harmony.
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-
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A new section (section 108B –
Abetment outside Singapore of an offence in Singapore) will be
introduced such that a person who abets an offence committed in
Singapore, even if any or all of the acts of abetment were done
outside Singapore, can be tried for an offence in Singapore.
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Such a person, if arrested in
Singapore, should be liable to be tried for the offence as he by
abetting the offence has directly caused an offence which takes
place within the nation. It would not be justifiable to exempt
such persons from prosecution simply because the acts of
abetment were done outside the country. This also takes into
consideration advances in modern communications technology,
which has made it much easier to abet offences in Singapore,
while being physically in another country.
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-
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New sections (section 130D –
Genocide and section 130E – Punishment for genocide) to make the
commission of genocide an offence will be introduced.
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The new offence of genocide will
give greater effect to the Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide to which Singapore had
acceded in 1995.
The commission of genocide will be
an offence punishable with death where genocide consists of the
killing of any person; or in any other case, e.g. causing
serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group or
imposing measures to prevent births, it is punishable with
imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment for up to 20 years.
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-
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New sections (section 204A –
Obstructing, preventing, perverting or defeating the course of
justice and section 24B – Bribery of witness) will be introduced
to make it an offence to pervert the course of justice before a
trial.
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Section 204A makes it an offence to
intentionally obstruct, prevent, pervert or defeat the course of
justice. Examples of such an offence are deliberately assisting
a person to evade lawful arrest, or destroying, falsifying or
concealing potential evidence. Section 204B is a specific
offence which deals with persons who bribe others not to report
an offence or who try to induce witnesses from giving evidence,
as well as to deal with witnesses who accept bribes to abstain
from giving true testimony.
The penalty for both offences under
new sections 204A and 204B is a maximum term of imprisonment of
7 years, or fine, or both.
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-
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A new section (section 298A –
Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion
or race and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony)
will be introduced to criminalise an act that is likely to cause
religious or racial disharmony, or the promotion of enmity
between different groups on the grounds of religion and/or race
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The main difference between sections
298 and 298A is that they cover insults to individuals and
groups respectively. A mens rea element, i.e. blameworthy state
of mind, has been included in the section, such that it only
criminalises a person who knowingly commits such an act.
Punishment for the offence is
imprisonment of up to 3 years, or fine, or both.
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-
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A new section (section 363A –
Punishment for abduction) will be enacted to introduce
punishment for the offence of abduction.
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Unlike for kidnapping, there is no
existing punishment for abduction per se, e.g. where a loan
shark coerces his debtor to follow him to a coffee shop for the
purpose of settlement talks. This new section specifically
prescribes the punishment for such an offence.
Abduction will be punishable with
imprisonment of up to 7 years, or fine, or caning, or with any
combination of such punishments.
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-
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A new section (section 364A –
Kidnapping or abducting in order to compel the Government, etc.)
to make kidnapping or abducting for
the purpose
of compelling the Government or any
person to
do or abstain from doing any act,
will be introduced.
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The act of kidnapping or abducting
for the purpose of compelling the Government or any other person
to do or abstain from doing any act is currently not covered
under any law. A new section is necessary as the likelihood of
such a problem is real, e.g. terrorists may use this tactic to
hold the Government to ransom. The introduction of a specific
offence will enable the Government to deal more effectively with
such problems.
The penalties for kidnapping or
abducting in order to compel the Government to do or abstain
from doing any act, is death, or life imprisonment, and shall
also be liable to fine or to caning if the death sentence is not
meted out. For kidnapping or abducting in order to compel other
persons to do or abstain from doing any act, the offender will
be punishable with imprisonment of up to 15 years, and shall
also be liable to fine or to caning.
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-
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A new section (section 376 – Sexual
assault by penetration) will be introduced to cover
non-consensual penetrative acts, other than penile-vaginal
intercourse, which is covered under the provision of rape.
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With the decriminalisation of oral
and anal sex with the repeal of section 377, a new offence of
sexual assault by penetration will be introduced to cover
non-consensual penetrative acts, other than penile-vaginal
intercourse, which is covered under the provision of rape. These
penetrative acts include penile penetration into the anus or
mouth and non-penile penetration into the anus or vagina using
any body part or object. The offence will also cover scenarios
where the victim is forced to perform penetrative sexual acts on
himself/herself or on another person or the perpetrator.
The penalty for an offence under
this section is a maximum imprisonment term of 20 years, and
fine or caning; and for aggravated forms of sexual penetration
by assault, the enhanced penalty is a mandatory term of
imprisonment of not less than 8 years and not more than 20
years, and mandatory caning of not less than 12 strokes.
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-
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A new section (section 376A – Sexual
penetration of minor under 16) will be introduced to criminalise
consensual oral and anal sex with minors under 16 years of age.
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This new section is introduced in
view of the decriminalization of oral and anal sex with the
repeal of section 377. Although these acts could be covered
under section 7 of the Children and Young Persons Act, section 7
is too general in nature and the prescribed penalties are too
low to reflect the severity of the offence.
The new offence will cover penile
penetration of the mouth, vagina, or anus, as well as non-penile
sexual penetration by any body part (other than the penis) or
object into the vagina or anus. It would also cover the act of
causing a minor under 16 years of age to engage in penetrative
sexual activities with himself/herself, or with another person
or the perpetrator.
In line with the objective of
protecting minors, both male and female perpetrators can be
prosecuted for penile penetrative and non-penile penetrative
acts.
The penalty is a maximum term of
imprisonment of 10 years, or fine or both, and if the offence is
committed against a minor under 14 years of age, the enhanced
penalty is a mandatory term of imprisonment which may extend to
20 years, and fine or caning.
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A new section (section 376B –
Commercial sex with minor under 18) will be introduced to make
it an offence for a person (male or female) to purchase, procure
or solicit commercial sexual services from a minor under 18
years of age.
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This new offence enhances the
protection for young persons to include 16 and 17 year olds.
The intention is to protect young
persons of both sexes from providing commercial sexual services,
as their consent could be impaired due to their immaturity and
vulnerability. They may also be subject to undue influence as
they are more vulnerable to being trafficked, controlled and
exploited by syndicates. The penalty for this offence is a
maximum term of imprisonment of 7 years, or fine or both.
The section also makes it an offence
for any person to communicate with another person (including the
minor) for the purpose of obtaining for consideration such
sexual services. The penalty for this offence is a maximum term
of imprisonment of 2 years, or fine or both.
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Related to the new section 376B (see
above), a new section (section 376C – Commercial sex with minor
under 18 outside Singapore) will also be introduced to make it
an offence for a person (male or female) to purchase, procure or
solicit commercial sexual services from a minor under 18 years
of age outside Singapore.
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With regard to the new section 376B,
it would not be sufficient to limit the new section to our
country. There is increasing expectation that countries must do
more, as part of a global community, to deal with the problem of
child sex tourism.
Enacting laws with extra-territorial
effect to make it an offence for our nationals to sexually
exploit minors overseas will signal that Singapore does not
condone such acts.
The provision is scoped such that
the extra-territorial laws would apply to Singapore Citizens or
Permanent Residents for the offence of purchasing or soliciting
sexual services from a minor under 18 years of age in another
country.
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A new section (section 376E – Sexual
grooming of minor under 16) will be introduced to make it an
offence to meet or travel to meet a minor under 16 years of age
after sexual grooming.
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This amendment is introduced with
the objective of protecting minors under 16. For an offence to
be made out under the new provision, there must have been (a)
prior meeting/communication (which can take place in or outside
Singapore) on at least 2 occasions as an indication of the
offender’s (at least 21 years of age) intent of grooming the
minor for sexual activities; and (b) the offender must travel to
meet or intentionally meet the victim in Singapore, with the
intent to commit a sexual offence with the minor. The penalty
is a maximum imprisonment term of 3 years, or fine or both. This
offence will deter sexual predators who prowl the Internet for
the purpose of sexual grooming of minors under 16.
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Repealing of offences
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Section 243A (Forfeiture of
counterfeit coin)
Police has the powers to enter,
search and seize any place (with or without warrant) where
counterfeit coin or any related die, instrument or material is
kept, if satisfied that such items are in a person’s possession.
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This section will be repealed and
re-enacted in the Criminal Procedure Code.
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The section deals with criminal
procedure and would thus be more appropriately dealt with in the
Criminal Procedure Code.
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Section 376D (Sanction)
No prosecution for an offence of
incest can commence without the sanction of the Attorney-General
or the Solicitor-General.
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This section will be repealed and
re-enacted in the Criminal Procedure Code.
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The section deals with criminal
procedure and would thus be more appropriately dealt with in the
Criminal Procedure Code.
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Section 377 (Unnatural offences)
All forms of carnal intercourse
against the order of nature (other than vaginal intercourse)
between a man, woman, or an animal, are criminalised; regardless
of whether consent was obtained or if the act was performed in a
private or public place.
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Any sexual act, e.g. oral and anal
sex, between a consenting heterosexual couple who are 16 years
of age and above (done in private) will no longer be
criminalised, i.e. oral and anal sex will therefore no longer be
criminalised. Consensual commercial sex with minor under 18
will however be criminalized under the new section 376B. Section
377 will be repealed and re-scoped by the introduction of new
sections to clearly define unnatural sexual acts that will be
criminalised, i.e. bestiality and necrophilia. As part of the
re-scoping, the phrase “carnal intercourse against the order of
nature” will also be removed.
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This amendment updates the Penal
Code to ensure it remains relevant in today’s context.
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Section 489E (Forfeiture of
counterfeit currency)
Police has the powers to enter,
search and seize any place (with or without warrant) where
counterfeit currency or any related machinery, instrument or
material is kept, if satisfied that such items are in a person’s
possession.
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This section will be repealed and
re-enacted in the Criminal Procedure Code.
|
The section deals with criminal
procedure and would thus be more appropriately dealt with in the
Criminal Procedure Code.
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Section 498 (Enticing or taking away
or detaining with a criminal intent a married woman)
It is an offence to entice, take
away or detain a married woman with the intention of having
illicit intercourse with her.
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This section will be repealed.
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It is an archaic offence which is no
longer relevant in today’s context.
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Retention of offences
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Section 377A (Outrages on decency)
It is an offence for any male
person, who in public or private, commits an act of gross
indecency with another male person.
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Status quo will be maintained for
this section.
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Public feedback on this issue has
been emotional, divided and strongly expressed with the majority
calling for its retention. MHA recognizes that we are generally
conservative society and that we should let the situation
evolve.
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Definitions, Explanations and
Expressions
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Section 29 (“Document”)
A document is defined as any matter
which is expressed or described using letters, figures or marks.
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The definition of “document” will be
amended, including the insertion of new definitions of “writing”
and “electronic record”. The new definition of document (Section
29) will include the following:
(a) any map, plan, graph or drawing;
(b) any photograph;
(c) any label, marking or other
writing which identifies or describes anything of which it forms
a part, or to which it is attached by any means whatsoever;
(d) any disc, tape, sound-track or
other device in which sounds or other data (not being visual
images) are embodied so as to
be capable (with or without the aid
of some other equipment) of being reproduced;
(e) any film (including microfilm),
negative, tape, disc or other device in which one or more visual
images are embodied so
as to be capable (with or without
the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced; and
(f) any paper or other material on
which there are marks, impressions, figures, letters, symbols or
perforations having
a meaning for persons qualified to
interpret them.
18 sections will also be
updated such that the references to document in these sections
are extended to include electronic records.[2]
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The definition of “document” has
been updated to incorporate elements of the definition of
“document” contained in the Criminal Procedure Code. At the same
time, certain offences in the Penal Code are to cover electronic
records so as to cover these Penal Code offences committed
through electronic means such as through the Internet.
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Section 230 (Coin)
“Current coin” is defined as coin
which is lawfully current in Singapore or in any other part of
the Commonwealth or in any foreign country.
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“Current coin” will be defined as
coin which is legal tender in Singapore or in any foreign
currency.
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The definition of “Current coin” is
updated to indicate that it is “legal tender”, for consistency
with the Currency Act.
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-
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A new section (section 377C –
Interpretation of sections 375 to 377B (sexual offences)) which
covers the interpretation of the words “penetration”, “sexual”
and “vagina”. In relation to a person who have undergone sex
change surgery, the section sets out provisions for interpreting
references to a part of the body of and identifying the sex of
such a person.
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This section will provide greater
clarity on the scope of the new sexual offences, as well as the
circumstances under which they would apply.
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Penalties
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-
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A summary of the changes to the
penalties of existing offences in the Penal Code is as follows
(out of a total of approximately 360 offences which were
reviewed):
|
Amendment
|
Number of offences
|
|
Increase in penalties
|
|
Increase in fines
|
56
|
|
Introduction of life
imprisonment
|
2
|
|
Increase in maximum imprisonment
|
110
|
|
Introduction of imprisonment
|
1
|
|
Introduction of caning
|
5
|
|
Reduction in penalties
|
|
Removal of life imprisonment
|
13
|
|
Reduction in maximum
imprisonment
|
5
|
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Removal of minimum imprisonment
|
4
|
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Removal of mandatory minimum
disqualification period
|
1
|
|
Status quo
|
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Status quo
|
208
(approximately 58%)
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The guiding principles for the
review of penalties in the Penal Code are as follows:
the type and quantum of punishment
should provide sufficient flexibility to our Courts to mete out
an appropriate sentence in a particular case, rather than amend
the law to adjust penalties every now and then;
to consider developments in the
crime scene between 1984, when the Penal Code was last amended
substantially, till 2006, when deciding whether to increase
penalties;
to abolish mandatory minimum
penalties where there is no longer any need to retain them;
to reduce the gap between alternate
imprisonment term or life imprisonment, for double-limb penalty
provisions;
to consider the proportionality of a
penalty to an offence;
to consider the relativity of
offences, i.e. similar offences to be compared and an assessment
made as to whether the penalties for such offences should be
changed, but with some regard to the need to differentiate
similar offences placed in different statutes and enable greater
flexibility in prosecution;
to avoid increasing imprisonment
terms unnecessarily;
to restore fines to today’s value,
using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and adjusting fines in the
Penal Code by a factor of 3, to take into account changes in the
purchasing power of money. Where there is a need for deterrence
due to prevalence and/or to provide greater sentencing
discretion to the Courts in lieu of imprisonment, the fines have
been increased by a factor of 5; and
allow Courts greater discretion to
mete out any combination of penalties for greater flexibility.
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Examples (penalties for existing
offences):
(A) Removal of life imprisonment
sections 232, 238 and 255 on
counterfeiting coins and government stamps;
section 413 (Habitually dealing in
stolen property); and
sections 467, 472, 474, 475, 477,
489A, 489B, 489D on forgery.
(B) Removal of minimum imprisonment
sections 379A on theft of motor
vehicle or components, 411 on dishonestly receiving stolen
property, and 414 on assisting in concealment of stolen property
(where it involves motor vehicle or components); and
section 454 (Lurking house-trespass
or house-breaking in order to commit an offence punishable with
imprisonment).
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Life imprisonment will be removed
for offences concerning counterfeiting of coins and Government
stamps, as these are not prevalent offences and not so serious
as to warrant life imprisonment. Life imprisonment will also be
removed for habitually dealing in stolen property, as the
maximum for the mandatory imprisonment is increased from 10
years to 20 years. Similarly, life imprisonment will also be
removed for forgery offences, as these are not so serious as to
warrant life imprisonment. The maximum imprisonment term will be
increased for offences where life imprisonment is removed.
In order to give the Courts more
flexibility in sentencing, a review of mandatory minimum
sentences in the Penal Code had been undertaken. Minimum
imprisonment terms will be removed, where possible.
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Examples (penalties for new
offences):
(A) Death penalty/Life imprisonment
section 130E (Punishment for
genocide); and
section 364A (Kidnapping or
abducting in order to compel the Government, etc.).
(B) Caning
section 363A (Punishment for
abduction); and
section 364A (Kidnapping or
abducting in order to compel the Government, etc.).
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The penalties for the new offences
have been proposed according to the same principles as for the
review of the penalties of existing offences.
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Examples (penalties for new sexual
offences)
Section 376A (Sexual penetration of
a minor under 16)
Imprisonment for a term which may
extend to 10 years, or with fine, or with both.
Section 376B (Commercial sex with
minor under 18)
Imprisonment for a term which may
extend to 7 years, or with fine, or with both (for a completed
act of commercial sex with minor).
Imprisonment for a term which may
extend to 2 years, or with fine, or with both (for communicating
for purpose of obtaining commercial sex with minor).
Section 376D (Tour outside Singapore
for commercial sex with minor under 18)
Imprisonment for a term which may
extend to 10 years, or with fine, or with both.
Section 376F (Procurement of sexual
activity with person with mental disability)
Imprisonment for a term which may
extend to 2 years, or with fine, or with both, for
non-penetrative offences.
Imprisonment for a term which may
extend to 10 years, or with fine, or with both, for penetrative
sexual offences.
Section 376 (Sexual assault by
penetration)
Imprisonment for a term which may
extend to 20 years, and liable to fine or caning.
Imprisonment for not less than 8
years and not more than 20 years, and with caning of not less
than 12 strokes, under aggravated circumstances (such as
voluntarily causing hurt to a person, or if such an act is
committed against a person who is under 14 years of age).
Section 377 (Sexual penetration of a
corpse)
Imprisonment for a term which may
extend to 5 years.
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Stiffer penalties have been enacted
for section 376A compared to the offence of sexual exploitation
under the Children and Young Person’s Act (which carries a
maximum imprisonment term of 2 years), and the offence of carnal
connection under the Women’s Charter (which carries a maximum
imprisonment term of 5 years), so as to reflect the seriousness
of such an offence.
The penalties for a completed act of
commercial sex with minor is set lower than that of sexual
penetration of someone under 16 to reflect the relative severity
between these three offences.
For an act of communicating for the
purpose of obtaining commercial sex with minor, which is less
serious than a completed act of commercial sex with minor, the
penalty is set lower at imprisonment of up to 2 years, or fine,
or both.
Compared to the previous offence of
an individual client having commercial sex with a prostitute
under 18, this offence attracts a higher penalty because of the
profit element and exploitation involved, as well as the wider
impact of facilitating or organising of sex tours for the sexual
exploitation of minors in other countries.
The penalties for non-penetrative
offences with a person with mental disabilities will be at par
with the penalties relating to outrage of modesty and section 7
(sexual exploitation of children and young persons) under the
Children and Young Persons Act. As for penetrative sexual acts,
the prescribed penalties will be comparable to the new offence
of sexual penetration of a minor under 16.
Since offences such as
non-consensual oral and anal sex could be as traumatic as rape,
the penalties for the new offence of sexual assault by
penetration are aligned with those of rape.
For the new offence of necrophilia
(sexual penetration of a corpse), a penalty of up to 2 years (as
in the case of bestiality) is too low to reflect the abhorrent
nature of the act and the insult done to the corpse and its
family. The penalty of 5 years reflects the abhorrence of
society towards this perverted violation of a human corpse.
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