Section 2

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“authorised service organisation” means a body organised for the benefit of or to serve the welfare of a force or civilian component or dependant;

“civilian component” means the civilian personnel accompanying a force, who are employed in the service of a force or by an authorised service organisation accompanying a force, and who are not stateless persons nor citizens of, nor ordinarily resident in Singapore;

“court” includes a service court;

“court of Singapore” means any court in Singapore other than a service court;

“dependant”, in relation to a member of a force or civilian component, means a person who is not ordinarily resident in Singapore and who is —

“forces”, in relation to a country, means any of the naval, military or air forces of that country;

“law of Singapore” means any written law for the time being in force in Singapore or any part thereof, and includes the Constitution;

“member”, in relation to a visiting force, means a member of the force of a sending country, being one of the members of the force for the time being appointed to serve with that visiting force, and includes any person in Singapore for the time being voluntarily enlisted in that force;

“Minister” means the Minister for the time being charged with the responsibility for defence;

“sending country”, in relation to a visiting force, means the country of whose forces the visiting force forms part;

“service authorities” means the authorities of a force who are empowered by the law of the country of whose forces the visiting force forms part to exercise command or jurisdiction over members of a force;

“service court” means a court established under service law and includes any authority of a country who under the law of that country is empowered to review the proceedings of such a court or to try or investigate charges brought against persons subject to the service law of that country; and references to trial by, or to sentences passed by, service courts of a country shall be construed respectively as including references to trial by, and to punishment imposed by, such an authority in the exercise of such power;

“service law”, in relation to a country, means the law governing all or any of the forces of that country;

“Singapore authorities” means the authority or authorities from time to time authorised or designated by the Government for the purpose of exercising the powers in relation to which the expression is used;

“Singapore forces” means any of the Singapore Armed Forces for the time being serving in Singapore, and includes any police force, and other body which by virtue of any law of Singapore is or is deemed to form part of the Singapore Armed Forces;

“visiting force”, for the purposes of any provision of this Act, means any body, contingent or detachment of the forces of a country to which that provision applies, being a body, contingent or detachment for the time being lawfully present in Singapore pursuant to any treaty, agreement or arrangement to which the Government is a party.

For the purposes of this Act, a member of a force of any country which (by whatever name called) is in the nature of a reserve or auxiliary force shall be deemed to be a member of that country’s forces so long as, but only so long as, he is called into actual service (by whatever expression described) or is called out for training; and any reference in this Act to a person’s becoming a member of a country’s forces shall be construed accordingly.

References in any provision of this Act to the appropriate authority of a country are references to such authority as may be appointed by the government of that country for the purposes of that provision.

References in this Act to the presence of any forces in Singapore at any time shall be construed as including references to their being at that time in transit to Singapore.

In determining for the purposes of any provision of this Act whether a person is or was at any time ordinarily resident in Singapore, no account shall be taken of any period during which he has been or intends to be present in Singapore while being a member of a visiting force or of a civilian component of such a force, or while being a dependant of a member of a visiting force or of such a civilian component.