Singapore legislation
Section 23
Section 23
Permit required for sale and distribution in Singapore of offshore newspapers
(1)
A person must not sell or distribute, or import for or possess for sale or distribution any offshore newspaper in Singapore unless there is in force a permit granted by the Minister to the proprietor of the newspaper or the proprietor’s agent authorising the sale or distribution of that newspaper in Singapore.
(2)
The Minister may grant the permit subject to conditions or may refuse to grant or revoke the permit without giving any reason.
(3)
Without limiting subsection (2), the Minister may in imposing conditions under that subsection —
specify that the maximum number of copies for each issue of the newspaper which may be sold or distributed in Singapore is to be determined from time to time by the Minister;
require the proprietor of the newspaper to appoint a person within Singapore authorised to accept service of any notice or legal process on the proprietor’s behalf and on behalf of the publisher and to provide the Registrar with the name and address of the person so appointed; and
require the proprietor of the newspaper to provide to the Registrar a deposit or some other form of security of any amount that the Minister may determine for the purpose of meeting any liability or costs arising out of any legal proceedings in connection with the publication of the newspaper.
(4)
Every permit has effect only in respect of the proprietor to whom it was granted and unless sooner revoked is ordinarily for one year from the date of its issue, and may be renewed for further periods not exceeding 12 months in respect of each renewal.
(5)
Notice of the grant or revocation of a permit to sell or distribute an offshore newspaper must be published in the Gazette.
(6)
In any proceedings under this section, it is presumed, until the contrary is proved, that any person found in possession of more than 5 copies of the same issue of an offshore newspaper had possession of them for sale or distribution.
(7)
In this section —
“offshore newspaper” means a newspaper published outside Singapore at intervals not exceeding one week which contains news, intelligence, reports of occurrences, or any remarks, observations or comments, relating to the politics and current affairs of any country in Southeast Asia, except where the circulation of every issue of the newspaper in Singapore is less than 300 copies;
for the purposes of paragraph (a), a newspaper is published outside Singapore if, and only if, its contents and editorial policy are determined outside Singapore.
(8)
This section does not apply to any newspaper in respect of which there is in force a permit granted under section 22 or to any copy of a newspaper reproduced with the Minister’s approval under section 25.