Singapore legislation
Section 44
Section 44
Inquiry Committee
(1)
The Commissioner may constitute an Inquiry Committee and refer a complaint or information to the Committee to investigate —
if the Commissioner receives any written complaint against or any written information about the conduct of a fire safety engineer as a peer reviewer or otherwise, or the discharge of his or her duties as a fire safety engineer or peer reviewer; or
on his or her own motion, if the Commissioner reasonably suspects that there may be grounds for disciplinary action against the fire safety engineer.
(2)
An Inquiry Committee must consist of —
a chairperson;
2 fire safety engineers who are not members of the Force; and
2 other members who are members of the Force,all of whom must be appointed by the Commissioner from the Fire Safety Engineers Inquiry Panel constituted under section 45.
(3)
An Inquiry Committee must —
within a reasonable time of its constitution, commence its inquiry into the complaint against or information referred to it by the Commissioner under subsection (1); and
submit to the Commissioner a written report of its findings and its recommendations not later than 6 months after its constitution, or such later date as the Commissioner may, in any special case, permit.
(4)
The Commissioner may, for the purposes of exercising the Commissioner’s powers under section 43(1) in respect of a fire safety engineer, consider the findings and recommendations of any Inquiry Committee constituted to investigate any complaint against or information about that fire safety engineer.
(5)
Where the complainant withdraws the complaint before the Inquiry Committee is constituted or before the inquiry by the Committee is concluded, the Commissioner may, despite such withdrawal, constitute an Inquiry Committee and direct it to investigate, or may direct the Inquiry Committee to continue with its inquiry, into the matter, and the Inquiry Committee must comply with that direction.
(6)
Where an Inquiry Committee is of the opinion that a fire safety engineer should be called upon to answer any allegation made against him or her, the Inquiry Committee must —
post or deliver to the fire safety engineer concerned —
copies of any complaint or information touching upon his or her conduct, including any statutory declaration or affidavit that may be made in support of the complaint or information; and
a notice inviting him or her to give, within such period (being at least 14 days) as may be specified in the notice, to the Inquiry Committee any written explanation he or she may wish to offer and to advise the Committee if he or she wishes to be heard by the Committee;
allow the time specified in the notice to elapse;
give the fire safety engineer concerned a reasonable opportunity to be heard if he or she so desires; and
give due consideration to any explanation (if any) given by the fire safety engineer concerned.
(7)
For the purposes of any inquiry into any complaint or information referred to it under subsection (1), an Inquiry Committee may —
require evidence to be given on oath and for that purpose, the chairperson of the Inquiry Committee may administer an oath;
require any person to attend and give evidence before it, and to produce all plans, books, documents or papers in the possession of, or under the control of, that person relating to the subject matter of the inquiry; or
appoint any person to make or assist in the making of such preliminary inquiries as the Inquiry Committee thinks fit.
(8)
Any person who, without lawful excuse, refuses or fails to —
attend and give evidence before an Inquiry Committee when required to do so by the Committee;
answer truly and fully any question put to the person by a member of the Inquiry Committee; or
produce to an Inquiry Committee any plan, book, document or paper required by the Committee to be produced by him,shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000.
(9)
An Inquiry Committee may meet from time to time and, subject to the provisions of this Act, may regulate its own procedure and the manner in which questions are decided before the Inquiry Committee.
(10)
References in this Act or any other written law to an Inquiry Committee constituted under this section include references to an Investigation Committee constituted under this section before 1 September 2013.[22D