Administration of Justice(Protection) Act 2016

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“court” means —

“Employment Claims Tribunal” means an Employment Claims Tribunal constituted under section 4 of the State Courts Act 1970;

“judge” means —

“publish” means to disseminate, distribute, exhibit, provide or communicate by oral, visual, written, electronic or other means (for example, by way of newspaper, radio, television or through the use of the Internet, subscription TV or other online communications system) to the public at large or a member of the public, and includes cause to be published, and “publication” is to be construed accordingly;

“Small Claims Tribunal” means a Small Claims Tribunal constituted under section 4 of the State Courts Act 1970;

“State Court” means a State Court constituted under section 4 of the State Courts Act 1970.

In this Act —

Any person who —

Where any person publishes any matter or does any act referred to in subsection (1)(a), that person is guilty of contempt of court even if he or she did not intend to scandalise the court.

Where any person publishes any matter referred to in subsection (1)(b), that person is guilty of contempt of court even if he or she did not intend to cause the consequences referred to in subsection (1)(b)(i) or (ii).

A statement made by a person on behalf of the Government about the subject matter of or an issue in a court proceeding that is pending is not contempt of court under subsection (1)(b) if the Government believes that the statement is necessary in the public interest.Illustration 1A statement made by a person on behalf of the Government factually describing the events and circumstances relating to and leading up to the death of a person (such as the acts of public officials when a coroner’s inquiry into that person’s death is pending) which the Government believes is necessary to address inaccurate or incorrect public allegations, is not contempt of court by virtue of subsection (4).Illustration 2A statement made by a person on behalf of the Government factually describing the circumstances of a riot, when criminal proceedings against a person charged with participation in that riot are pending, which the Government believes is necessary in order to inform the public of the riot, is not contempt of court by virtue of subsection (4).

For the purposes of subsection (4), “necessary in the public interest” includes but is not limited to matters that are necessary in the interests of the security of Singapore or any part of Singapore, public order, public health or public finances.

Where contempt of court is committed by the doing of any act mentioned in subsection (1)(c) or (d), a person is guilty of contempt of court if that person knows or ought to have known that the act would prejudice or interfere with or obstruct or pose a real risk of prejudice to or interference with or obstruction of the course of the court proceeding.

Any person who —

For the purposes of subsection (1), intentional disposal by a garnishee, otherwise than in accordance with law or by leave of the court, of any property attached in his or her hands or under his or her control, is contempt of court.

Without limiting subsection (1), a person commits a contempt of court if the person —

Subject to subsections (5), (6) and (7), any contempt of court referred to in subsection (1) or (2) may be waived by the aggrieved party and such waiver relieves from liability the person who commits the contempt.

The court may, in its discretion, disallow the waiver of any contempt of court mentioned in subsection (1) or (2) in any of the following circumstances:

The court may, in granting any waiver of contempt of court under subsection (4), impose such conditions as it thinks fit.

To avoid doubt, contempt of court referred to in subsection (3) may not be waived.

A person who is not a party to an action commits contempt if he or she causes or abets the breach of any judgment, decree, direction, order, writ or other process of a court, with the intention of causing such breach or knowing that it would cause such breach.

In this section —

“aggrieved party” means a party to the relevant proceedings for whose benefit any judgment, decree, direction, order, writ or other process of a court is given, made or issued, or any undertaking to a court is given, in proceedings other than a proceeding against a person in respect of any offence;

“undertaking given to a court” includes an implied undertaking given to a court.

Subject to subsection (4), it is a contempt of court —

Leave under subsection (1)(a) may be granted or refused at the discretion of the court, and if granted may be granted subject to any conditions that the court thinks proper with respect to the use of any recording made pursuant to the leave; and where leave has been granted, the court may at its discretion withdraw or amend it either generally or in relation to any particular part of the proceedings.

Without prejudice to any other power to deal with an act under subsection (1)(a), the court may order the audio recorder, electronic device or other instrument, or any recording made with it, or both, to be forfeited; and any object so forfeited must (unless the court otherwise determines on application by a person appearing to be the owner) be sold or otherwise disposed of in the manner directed by the court.

This section does not apply to the making or use of audio or visual recordings or both for purposes of official transcripts of proceedings or any other purpose authorised by the court.

Where, in a proceeding for contempt of court under this Act, it is necessary to prove the state of mind of a corporation in relation to a particular conduct, evidence that —

Where a corporation commits contempt of court under this Act, a person —

A person mentioned in subsection (2) may rely on a defence that would be available to the corporation if it were charged with the contempt of court with which the person is charged and, in doing so, the person bears the same burden of proof that the corporation would bear.

To avoid doubt, this section does not affect the application of —

To avoid doubt, subsection (2) also does not affect the liability of the corporation for contempt of court under this Act, and applies whether or not the corporation is found guilty of contempt of court.

This section applies to an offence under this Act as if it were contempt of court under this Act and to a conviction as if it were a finding of guilt of contempt of court.

In this section —

“corporation” includes a limited liability partnership within the meaning of section 2(1) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005;

“officer”, in relation to a corporation, means any director, partner, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the corporation, and includes —

“state of mind” of a person includes —

Where, in a proceeding for contempt of court under this Act, it is necessary to prove the state of mind of an unincorporated association or a partnership in relation to a particular conduct, evidence that —

Where an unincorporated association or a partnership commits contempt of court under this Act, a person —

A person mentioned in subsection (2) may rely on a defence that would be available to the unincorporated association or partnership if it were charged with the contempt of court with which the person is charged and, in doing so, the person bears the same burden of proof that the unincorporated association or partnership would bear.

To avoid doubt, this section does not affect the application of —

To avoid doubt, subsection (2) also does not affect the liability of an unincorporated association or a partnership for contempt of court under this Act, and applies whether or not the unincorporated association or partnership is found guilty of the contempt of court.

This section applies to an offence under this Act as if it were contempt of court under this Act and to a conviction as if it were a finding of guilt of contempt of court.

In this section —

“officer”, 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, and includes —

“partner” includes a person purporting to act as a partner;

“state of mind” of a person includes —

This Act prevails over any common law rule on contempt of court to the extent that the rule is inconsistent with any of the provisions of this Act.

All defences at common law to contempt of court under this Act, not contained in this Act, are repealed.

To avoid doubt, the common law rules on contempt of court continue in force except so far as they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act.

To avoid doubt, the common law rules in this section refer to both the substantive and procedural common law rules on contempt.

The General Division of the High Court, the Appellate Division of the High Court and the Court of Appeal have jurisdiction to try and power to punish for contempt of court.

The General Division of the High Court has and exercises the same jurisdiction, powers and authority in accordance with the same procedure and practice in respect of contempt committed in connection with proceedings in the Court of Appeal, contempt committed in connection with proceedings in the Appellate Division of the High Court and contempt of courts subordinate to it as it has and exercises in respect of contempt of itself.

The State Court, Family Court and Youth Court have jurisdiction to try and power to punish for contempt of court where the contempt is committed —

Despite subsection (3), the General Division of the High Court in any particular case —

Without affecting the jurisdiction and power conferred under this Act or any other written law, a court has jurisdiction to try any contempt of court and to impose the full punishment under this Act in the circumstances specified in subsections (2) to (5).

Where the publication in relation to contempt of court was published through the Internet or other electronic media (regardless of whether it was first published in Singapore or elsewhere), the publication is taken to be published in Singapore if it was accessed by members of the public in Singapore.

Where the publication in relation to contempt of court was published otherwise than in subsection (2) (regardless of whether it was first published in Singapore or elsewhere), if the publication was published in Singapore.

Where the person who commits contempt of court under section 4 is legally bound to obey or comply with the judgment, decree, direction, order, writ or other process of a court or an undertaking given to a court, regardless of whether the disobedience or failure to comply occurred in Singapore or elsewhere.

Where the act in relation to contempt of court under section 3(1)(c), (d) and (e) (regardless of whether it occurred wholly or partly outside Singapore) directly interferes with, obstructs or poses a real risk of interference with or obstruction of the administration of justice in Singapore.Illustration 1A resides in a foreign country and has agreed to testify as a witness in a criminal trial in Singapore. B stops A from travelling to Singapore to testify in the trial by making in the foreign country a death threat against A. The Singapore court has jurisdiction under subsection (5) to try and punish B for contempt of court.Illustration 2A accepts a bribe from B in a foreign country as gratification for giving false evidence in A’s testimony as a witness in a civil trial in Singapore. A gives false evidence in the trial in Singapore. The Singapore court has jurisdiction under subsection (5) to try and punish B for contempt of court.

Except as otherwise provided in any other written law, a person who commits contempt of court shall be liable to be punished —

In addition to any punishment imposed under subsection (1), where a person has committed contempt in relation to the proceedings before a court, the court may refuse to hear the person until the contempt is purged or the person submits to the order or direction of the court or an apology is made to the satisfaction of the court.

In addition to any punishment imposed under subsection (1), the court may, on its own motion or on application by the applicant in the contempt proceedings, make an order that the person who has committed contempt must publish such notice, and in such manner, as the court thinks necessary to apologise for the contemptuous publication.

An order under subsection (3) may be made subject to such exceptions or conditions (including the duration for which the notification must be made accessible to members of the public) as may be specified in the order.

Despite subsection (1), the court may discharge the person who has committed contempt or remit the punishment or any part of it on his or her purging of the contempt, submission to the order or direction of the court or on apology being made to the satisfaction of the court.

To avoid doubt, the court may, if the interests of justice so require, find a person guilty of contempt of court and impose the punishment under this section even though the person is absent.

The Attorney‑General may, if he or she is satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so and with the leave of the General Division of the High Court under subsection (7), direct the publisher of any matter to refrain from or cease publishing that matter.

A direction given under this section may be subject to such exceptions or conditions as may be specified in the direction.

A direction under this section may be served by such means as prescribed in rules made by the Minister.

A direction under this section takes effect in respect of the person to whom the direction applies —

Any person who fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with a direction under this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

The Attorney-General may at any time suspend or cancel the direction.

Leave of the General Division of the High Court must be granted if the General Division of the High Court is satisfied —

An application for leave must be made in such manner as may be prescribed in Rules of Court or Family Justice Rules except that —

The person to whom the direction applies, or the author of the matter specified in the direction, may apply to the General Division of the High Court to set aside or vary the direction, within such period and in such manner as may be prescribed in Rules of Court or Family Justice Rules.

On an application under subsection (9), the General Division of the High Court may set aside or vary the direction in whole or in part if it is satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that —

An application made under subsection (9) does not operate as a stay of the direction.

No criminal or civil liability is to be incurred for anything done or omitted to be done with reasonable care and in good faith in complying with a direction given under this section.

To avoid doubt, nothing in this section prevents the institution or continuation of proceedings for contempt of court in respect of a matter which is the subject of a direction.

Every offence under this section is an arrestable offence for the purposes of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010.

The Minister may make rules for the purposes of this section and for prescribing anything that is required to be prescribed.

All rules made under subsection (15) must be presented to Parliament as soon as possible after publication in the Gazette.

In this section —

“author” means the originator of the matter published;

“publisher” means any person who publishes the matter and includes an Internet Content Provider as defined in any subsidiary legislation made under the Broadcasting Act 1994 but excludes any person or class of persons that the Minister may prescribe.

Subject to this section, a person is not guilty of contempt of court under section 3(1)(a) or (b) for publishing in good faith a fair and accurate report of a court proceeding or any stage of the proceeding held in public, that was published contemporaneously with, or within a reasonable time after, that proceeding.

A person is not guilty of contempt of court under section 3(1)(a) or (b) for publishing in good faith a fair and accurate report of a proceeding before any court sitting in chambers or in camera, that was published contemporaneously with, or within a reasonable time after, that proceeding, except —

A person is not guilty of contempt of court under section 3(1)(a) or (b) for publishing the text or a fair and accurate summary of the whole, or any part, of an order made by a court sitting in chambers or in camera, unless the court has expressly prohibited such publication.

In any court proceedings, the court may, where it appears to be necessary to the administration of justice in those proceedings, or in any other proceedings pending or imminent, order that the publication of any report of the proceedings, or any part of the proceedings, be postponed for such period as the court thinks necessary for that purpose.

A person is not guilty of contempt of court under section 3(1)(a) or (b) for publishing in good faith a fair and accurate report of proceedings in Parliament or before a committee of Parliament, that was published contemporaneously with, or within a reasonable time after, the proceedings.

A person is not guilty of contempt of court under section 3(1)(a) or (b) for publishing in good faith a fair and accurate report of matter in a document presented to or laid before Parliament or a committee of Parliament, that was published contemporaneously with, or within a reasonable time after, the presentation or tabling of the document.

To avoid doubt, nothing in this Act limits or affects the privileges, immunities and powers of Parliament.

To avoid doubt, a person is not guilty of contempt of court under section 3(1)(a) by reason that he or she has made a report to the Chief Justice, the police, a law enforcement agency or any other public authority alleging misconduct or corruption on the part of a judge, being a report —

In this section, “law enforcement agency” has the meaning given by the Criminal Procedure Code 2010.

A person is not guilty of contempt of court under section 3(1)(a) for filing in good faith any action, pleading, application or affidavit in court.

Without limiting subsection (1), a person is not guilty of contempt of court in respect of any application he or she may make to seek the disqualification of the judge, on any ground or statement made by him or her in good faith concerning the judge of any court to that court or to —

Without limiting subsection (1), a person is not guilty of contempt of court in respect of any appeal that the person may lodge against a judgment, decree, direction, order or other decision of a judge of any court, on any ground or statement made by him or her in good faith concerning the judge to that court or to —

A person (not being the author) exercising editorial responsibility or other control over a publication is not guilty of contempt of court under section 3(1)(a) or (b) for publishing any matter if the publication was done without the person’s authority, consent or knowledge, and without any want of due care or caution on that person’s part.

A person (not being the author) is not guilty of contempt of court under section 3(1)(a) or (b) for distributing any matter if the distribution was done without the person’s authority, consent or knowledge, and without any want of due care or caution on that person’s part.

In this section, “author” means the originator of the matter published or distributed.

Where the Attorney-General —

This Part applies to the alleged contempt mentioned in subsection (1).

The Attorney-General may by order in writing authorise a police officer to exercise, for the purposes of any investigation under section 22, all or any of the powers in relation to police investigations given by the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 as set out in Part 1 of the Schedule.

For the purposes of any investigation under section 22, the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 set out in Part 2 of the Schedule apply, with the necessary modifications, as if the alleged contempt were an arrestable offence.

Where it appears to a court (other than a Small Claims Tribunal and an Employment Claims Tribunal), that a person has committed contempt in the face of the court, and that court is satisfied that it is necessary for immediate steps to be taken for the protection of the due administration of justice, that court may cause such person to be detained in custody, and must as soon as practicable —

Despite subsection (3), the court may direct that a person charged with contempt in the face of the court be detained in such custody as the court may specify pending the determination of the charge or be released on bail or on his or her own bond.

The provisions under Division 5 of Part 6 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 apply to any case where the court releases the person charged with a contempt of court on bail or on his or her own bond under this section and for the purposes of those provisions, the contempt of court is treated as a non‑bailable offence.

To avoid doubt and despite subsections (1) and (2), the proceedings being conducted in the court before the contempt in the face of the court was committed may continue as the court thinks fit.

Proceedings for contempt of court and the power of the court to punish the contempt of court must be exercised in accordance with the procedure set out in Rules of Court or Family Justice Rules.

To avoid doubt, this section applies to proceedings for contempt of court even though —

The court in any proceedings for contempt of court may award costs to be paid by or to any party as it thinks fit.

The Rules Committee constituted under the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969 may make Rules of Court prescribing the procedure for proceedings for contempt of court, the procedure for the punishment of contempt of court and the procedure under section 13(8) and (9).

The Family Justice Rules Committee constituted under the Family Justice Act 2014 may make Family Justice Rules prescribing the procedure for proceedings for contempt of court, the procedure for the punishment of contempt of court and the procedure under section 13(8) and (9).

To avoid doubt and for the purposes of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969 and the State Courts Act 1970, any originating process for contempt of court is an originating process for the purposes of service outside Singapore in the circumstances authorised by and in the manner prescribed by Rules of Court or Family Justice Rules.

When any person appears before a court in proceedings for contempt of court, the person may be released on bail by that court.

Instead of taking bail from the person, the court may release the person if he or she signs a personal bond without sureties.

The provisions under Division 5 of Part 6 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 apply to any case where the court releases the person charged with a contempt of court on bail or on his or her own bond under this section and for the purposes of those provisions, the contempt of court is treated as a non‑bailable offence.

A court may grant bail to a person who has filed an appeal against any order or decision in accordance with section 32.

No proceedings for contempt of court as defined in section 3 or 4(8) may be instituted except by or with the consent of the Attorney‑General.

To avoid doubt, proceedings for contempt in the face of the court under section 25 and any other proceedings commenced by the General Division of the High Court, the Appellate Division of the High Court or the Court of Appeal on its own motion do not require the consent of the Attorney‑General.

An appeal lies from any order or decision of the General Division of the High Court, the Appellate Division of the High Court, a State Court, a Family Court or a Youth Court —

No appeal may be brought under subsection (1) against any order or decision of the General Division of the High Court in the exercise of its appellate jurisdiction or the Appellate Division of the High Court in the exercise of its appellate jurisdiction, except with the leave of —

The appeal or application for leave to appeal must be filed in accordance with Rules of Court or Family Justice Rules (as the case may be) as if the appeal were an appeal in civil proceedings.

An appeal does not operate as a stay of execution unless the trial court or the appellate court so orders.

The trial court or the appellate court may stay execution on any judgment, order or punishment pending appeal on such terms as to security for the payment of any money or the performance or non‑performance of any act or the suffering of any punishment ordered by or in such judgment or order as to the court may seem reasonable.

At the hearing of the appeal, the appellate court has and may exercise any power which the trial court may have exercised.

The Minister may, by order in the Gazette, amend, add to or vary the Schedule.

The Minister may, in any order made under subsection (1), make such saving or transitional provisions as may be necessary or expedient.

All orders made under subsection (1) must be presented to Parliament as soon as possible after publication in the Gazette.

This Act does not apply to any act of contempt of court committed before 1 October 2017.

Any rules of court made under or in respect of the repealed section 7 of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969 or the repealed section 8 of the State Courts Act 1970 and in force immediately before 1 October 2017 will, so far as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, continue in force as if made under this Act until they are revoked or repealed by Rules of Court made under this Act.

Any Family Justice Rules made under or in respect of the repealed section 11 of the Family Justice Act 2014 and in force immediately before 1 October 2017 will, so far as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, continue in force as if made under this Act until they are revoked or repealed by Family Justice Rules made under this Act.