Singapore legislation
Section 48
Section 48
Offences by bodies corporate, etc.
(1)
Where an offence under this Act has been committed by a body corporate, an officer of the body corporate shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly unless the officer proves that —
the offence was committed without his or her consent or connivance; and
he or she had exercised all such diligence to prevent the commission of the offence as he or she ought to have exercised having regard to the nature of his or her functions in that capacity and to all the circumstances.
(2)
Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with the member’s functions of management as if the member were a director of the body corporate.
(3)
Where an offence under this Act is committed by a partnership of individuals or bodies corporate, any partner of the partnership or any officer of the body corporate shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly unless he or she proves that —
the offence was committed without his or her consent or connivance; and
he or she had exercised all such diligence to prevent the commission of the offence as he or she ought to have exercised having regard to the nature of his or her functions in that capacity and to all the circumstances.
(4)
Where an offence under this Act is committed by an unincorporated association (other than a partnership), any officer of the unincorporated association or member of its governing body shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly unless he or she proves that —
the offence was committed without his or her consent or connivance; and
he or she had exercised all such diligence to prevent the commission of the offence as he or she ought to have exercised having regard to the nature of his or her functions in that capacity and to all the circumstances.
(5)
In this section —
Definition
“body corporate” includes a limited liability partnership;
Definition
“officer” —
in relation to a body corporate, means any director, partner, member of the committee of management, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity; and
in relation to an unincorporated association (other than a partnership), means the president, the secretary, or any member of the committee of the unincorporated association, or any person holding a position analogous to that of the president, secretary or member of the committee and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity;
Definition
“partner” includes a person purporting to act as a partner.
(6)
Regulations may provide for the application of any provision of this section, with such modifications as the Minister considers appropriate, to any body corporate or unincorporated association formed or recognised under the law of a territory outside Singapore.