Singapore legislation

Section 24

of Passports Act 2007

Section 24

Reasons relating to potential for harmful conduct

(1)

If a competent authority believes on reasonable grounds that —

(a)

if a Singapore passport or a Singapore travel document were issued to a person, the person would be likely to engage in conduct that —

(i)

might prejudice the security of Singapore or any other country;

(ii)

might endanger the health or physical safety of other persons (whether in Singapore or another country);

(iii)

might constitute an offence under this Act; or

(iv)

might constitute an arrestable offence against any written law which is prescribed; and

(b)

the person should be refused a Singapore passport or a Singapore travel document in order to prevent the person from engaging in the conduct,the competent authority may make a written request to the Controller —

(c)

to cancel any Singapore passport or Singapore travel document that has been issued to the person; or

(d)

to refuse to issue any Singapore passport or Singapore travel document to the person.

(2)

A competent authority may make a written request to the Controller under subsection (1) —

(a)

whether or not the person has applied for a Singapore passport or a Singapore travel document;

(b)

whether or not a Singapore passport or a Singapore travel document has been issued to the person; and

(c)

whether or not that person is a citizen of Singapore.

(3)

If a competent authority makes a written request to the Controller under subsection (1) in relation to any person, the Controller may, as the case may be —

(a)

cancel the Singapore passport or Singapore travel document of the person; or

(b)

refuse to issue a Singapore passport or a Singapore travel document to the person.

(4)

Despite subsection (3), where a competent authority makes a written request to the Controller under subsection (1) in relation to any person, the Controller must not —

(a)

cancel the Singapore passport or Singapore travel document of the person; or

(b)

refuse to issue a Singapore passport or a Singapore travel document to the person,if that request relating to the person has been withdrawn by the competent authority or is no longer considered by the Controller to be current.

(5)

Without affecting subsection (1), the Controller may cancel any Singapore passport or Singapore travel document issued to a person, or refuse to issue any Singapore passport or Singapore travel document to a person, if the Controller believes on reasonable grounds that —

(a)

if a Singapore passport or a Singapore travel document were issued to the person, the person would be likely to engage in conduct that —

(i)

might prejudice the security of Singapore or any other country;

(ii)

might endanger the health or physical safety of other persons (whether in Singapore or another country);

(iii)

might constitute an offence under this Act; or

(iv)

might constitute an arrestable offence mentioned in subsection (1)(a)(iv); and

(b)

the person should be refused a Singapore passport or a Singapore travel document in order to prevent the person from engaging in the conduct.

(6)

In this section, “competent authority”, in relation to a circumstance mentioned in subsection (1) or (5) that relates to Singapore, means any public authority or public officer prescribed by the regulations to be a competent authority in relation to that circumstance.

Read in full context — Passports Act 2007 →