Adoption of Children Act 2022 · Updated to 15 Oct 2024 · Part 6 · Regulation of Adoption Practices and Processes
60. Duty to report offences to Guardian-in-Adoption
Official textFrom Singapore Statutes Online, unchanged
Any of the following persons who knows or has reason to suspect that an offence under this Part (except this section) or section 43, 48 or 65 has been committed in connection with the adoption or proposed adoption of a child, must report to the Guardian‑in‑Adoption or an authorised officer as soon as practicable the facts and circumstances on which the person’s knowledge or suspicion is based:
child
“child”, if age rather than descendancy is relevant, means an individual below 21 years of age;
an adoption agency or any employee or contractor of an adoption agency;
a relevant person of the child;
an advocate or solicitor who is acting for any person in relation to an adoption application in respect of the child;
any employee of the advocate or solicitor mentioned in paragraph (c) or of a law corporation, law firm or limited liability law partnership who is assisting the advocate or solicitor in the matter mentioned in that paragraph.
A person who has engaged the services of an adoption agency for the proposed adoption of any child and who knows or has reason to suspect that an offence under this Part (except this section) or section 43, 48 or 65 has been committed —
by the adoption agency or any employee or contractor of the adoption agency; or
in connection with the child that the person desires to adopt,must report to the Guardian-in-Adoption or an authorised officer as soon as practicable the facts and circumstances on which the person’s knowledge or suspicion is based.
Any person who fails to comply with subsection (1) or (2) 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 12 months or to both; or
in the case of a second or subsequent conviction — to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.
In proceedings against an individual for an offence under subsection (3), it is not a defence for the individual to rely on —
the common law privilege against self‑incrimination or exposure to the imposition of a penalty; or
any rule of law relating to legal professional privilege or any other privilege, or the public interest.
However, any information in a report made by an individual under subsection (1) or (2) is not admissible in evidence against the individual in any criminal proceeding other than a proceeding for an offence under section 59(1) or 65(1) or section 177 of the Penal Code 1871, if the information might in fact tend to incriminate the individual.
In this section, “advocate and solicitor”, “law corporation”, “law firm” and “limited liability law partnership” have the meanings given by section 2(1) of the Legal Profession Act 1966.
Terms defined in s 2
adoption application
Defined · s 2“adoption application” means an application made under this Act for an adoption order;
authorised officer
Defined · s 2“authorised officer” means an individual who is appointed under section 9 to be an authorised officer for the purposes of this Act;
child
Defined · s 2“child”, if age rather than descendancy is relevant, means an individual below 21 years of age;
Guardian-in-Adoption
Defined · s 2“Guardian-in-Adoption” means the Guardian‑in‑Adoption appointed under section 8;
relevant person
Defined · s 2“relevant person”, in relation to a child, or a protected person mentioned in Part 5, means any person who —(a)is a parent or guardian of the child or protected person;(b)has actual custody of the child or protected person; or(c)is liable to contribute to the support of the child or protected person;
Part 7
Enforcement
Part 8
General Provisions
Part 9