Singapore legislation
Section 73
Section 73
Examination orders
(1)
A law enforcement officer may, for the purpose of any proceeding or proposed proceeding under Part 3, 4, 5 or 9, apply to the General Division of the High Court for an order under subsection (2) in relation to particular information, or information of a particular description.
(2)
The General Division of the High Court may, if on such an application it is satisfied that all of the conditions in subsection (3) are fulfilled, make an order that a person who appears to the General Division of the High Court to be in possession of the information to which the application relates must do one or more of the following by the time specified in the order:
attend before an authorised officer;
answer questions with respect to any matter that the authorised officer has reason to believe may be relevant to the proceeding or proposed proceeding;
supply any information specified in the order or produce for inspection any document specified in the order.
(3)
The conditions mentioned in subsection (2) are that —
there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that —
in relation to a proceeding or proposed proceeding under Part 3, 4 or 5 — a person has been involved in any Part 2 offence (as defined under section 14(5)) or any serious offence associated with an organised criminal group (as defined under section 14(2)); or
in relation to a proceeding or proposed proceeding under Part 9 — a person has carried out organised crime activity (as defined under section 48);
there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that a specified person is able to do one or both of the following:
answer any question on any matter that is likely to be of substantial value (whether by itself or together with other material) to the proceeding or proposed proceeding;
supply any information with respect to any matter that is likely to be of substantial value (whether by itself or together with other material) to the proceeding or proposed proceeding; and
there are reasonable grounds for believing that it is in the public interest that the question is answered or the information is supplied (as the case may be), having regard to —
the benefit likely to accrue to the proceeding or proposed proceeding if the information is supplied; and
the circumstances under which the person learns of the information.
(4)
In an application for an order under this section, any defence that is available to a person who is prosecuted for an offence relating to the involvement mentioned in subsection (3)(a)(i), or an offence constituting the organised crime activity in subsection (3)(a)(ii) (as the case may be), is also available to a person against whom the order is sought.
(5)
A person required to attend before an authorised officer under subsection (2) must be given a reasonable opportunity to arrange for an advocate and solicitor to accompany the person.
(6)
If any document is produced pursuant to an order under this section, an authorised officer may do any one or more of the following:
retain the original document produced for as long as is necessary for the purposes of the proceeding or proposed proceeding;
take copies of the document, or of extracts from the document;
require the person producing the document to provide an explanation of the history, subject matter, and contents of the document and to answer any other questions that arise from that explanation and that the authorised officer has reason to believe may be relevant to the proceeding or proposed proceeding;
if necessary, require the person producing the document to reproduce, or assist an authorised officer to reproduce, in a usable form, any information recorded or stored in the document.
(7)
An order under subsection (2) or a requirement under subsection (6) —
does not confer any right to require a person to supply items subject to legal privilege; but(b)has effect despite any obligation as to secrecy or other restriction upon the disclosure of information imposed by written law or otherwise.
(8)
A person is not excused from complying with an order under subsection (2) or a requirement under subsection (6) on the ground that —
the supply of any information might tend to incriminate the person or make the person liable to a penalty; or
the supply of any information would be in breach of an obligation (whether imposed by written law or otherwise) of the person not to disclose the existence or contents of the material.
(9)
Where a person complies with an order under subsection (2) or a requirement under subsection (6), any information so supplied is not admissible against the person in any criminal proceedings except a proceeding for an offence under subsection (12).
(10)
A person who complies with an order under subsection (2) or a requirement under subsection (6) is not to be treated as being in breach of any restriction upon the disclosure of information imposed by written law or otherwise.
(11)
No action lies against a person who in good faith supplies information in compliance with an order under subsection (2) or a requirement under subsection (6).
(12)
A person shall be guilty of an offence if the person —
contravenes or fails to comply with an order under subsection (2) or a requirement under subsection (6) without reasonable excuse; or
in purported compliance with the order or requirement, supplies information known to the person to be false or misleading in a material particular.
(13)
A person guilty of an offence under subsection (12) shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.
(14)
An authorised officer may exercise the powers conferred on him or her by this section despite any provision in any other written law relating to the supply of information or information of a particular description.
(15)
An appeal lies from any order made under subsection (2), or the refusal to make such an order, by the General Division of the High Court to the Court of Appeal.
(16)
Rules of Court may provide for —
the manner in which an appeal under subsection (15) may be made;
the discharge and variation of orders under this section; and
proceedings relating to such orders.
(17)
In this Part, “authorised officer” means such law enforcement officer, or class of law enforcement officers, as may be prescribed.