Singapore legislation
Section 46
Section 46
Power to enter upon lands to conduct archaeological investigation
(1)
Subject to this section, any person specifically authorised in writing by the Board, after giving not less than 24 hours’ notice in writing to the occupier of the land of his intention to enter the land and on production of his authority, if so required by or on behalf of the occupier, may enter for the purposes of archaeological investigation or examination at all reasonable times upon any land which the Board has reason to believe contains any ancient monument and may make excavations in the land.
(2)
No person shall, under any power conferred by subsection (1), enter any dwelling-house or any building, park, garden, pleasure ground or other land used for the amenity or convenience of a dwelling-house except with the consent of the occupier.
(3)
No excavation shall be made under the power conferred by subsection (1) except with the consent of every person whose consent to the making of the excavation would, apart from that subsection, be required.
(4)
Any power of entry under this section shall be construed as including power for any person entering any land in exercise of the power of entry to take with him any assistance or equipment reasonably required for the purpose to which his entry relates and to do there anything reasonably necessary for carrying out that purpose.
(5)
Without prejudice to subsection (4), where a person enters any land in exercise of any power of entry under this section for the purpose of carrying out any archaeological investigation or examination of the land, he may take and remove such samples of any description as appear to him to be reasonably required for the purpose of archaeological analysis.
(6)
Where a person enters any land in exercise of any power of entry under this section for the purpose of carrying out any archaeological investigation or examination of the land, he may take temporary custody of any object of archaeological or historical interest discovered during the course of the excavations carried out for that purpose, and remove it from its site for the purpose of examining, testing, treating, recording or preserving it.
(7)
The Board or other person by or on whose behalf the power of entry was exercised may not retain the object without the consent of the owner beyond such period as may be reasonably required for the purpose of examining and recording it and carrying out any test or treatment which appears to the Board or to that person to be desirable for the purpose of archaeological investigation or analysis or with a view to restoring or preserving the object.
(8)
Nothing in this section shall affect any right of the Government in relation to treasure trove.
(9)
Any person who wilfully obstructs or hinders any person in the exercise of the powers conferred by this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both.
(10)
For the purposes of this section —
Definition
“ancient monument” means any monument which, in the opinion of the Board, is of public interest by reason of the historic, architectural, traditional, artistic or archaeological interest attaching to it;
Definition
“monument” means —
any building, structure or work, whether above or below the surface of the land, and any cave or excavation;
any site comprising the remains of any such building, structure or work or of any cave or excavation; and
any site comprising, or comprising the remains of, any vehicle, vessel, aircraft or other movable structure or part thereof which neither constitutes nor forms part of any work which is a monument within paragraph (a),and any machinery attached to a monument shall be regarded as part of the monument if it could not be detached without being dismantled.
(11)
For the purposes of this section, “archaeological investigation” means any investigation of any land, objects or other material for the purpose of obtaining and recording any information of archaeological or historical interest and includes in the case of an archaeological investigation of any land —
any investigation for the purpose of discovering and revealing and (where appropriate) recovering and removing any objects or other material of archaeological or historical interest situated in, on or under the land; and
examining, testing, treating, recording and preserving any such objects or material discovered during the course of any excavation or inspection carried out for the purposes of any such investigation.
(12)
For the purposes of this section, an archaeological examination of any land means any examination or inspection of the land (including any buildings or other structures thereon) for the purpose of obtaining and recording any information of archaeological or historical interest.