Singapore legislation
Clause 12
Clause 12
Requisitioning of property other than land
(1)
Subject to this section, a competent authority may, if it appears to that authority to be necessary or expedient so to do in the defence of the country, or for the securing of the public safety or the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community, or for the conduct of exercises for the aforesaid purposes, requisition —
any chattel in Singapore; and
any Singapore ship or aircraft or anything on board a Singapore ship or aircraft, wherever the ship or aircraft may be,and may give such directions as appear to the competent authority to be necessary or expedient in connection with the requisition.
(2)
Where any chattel is requisitioned under this section, a competent authority may use or deal with or authorise the use or dealing with the chattel for such purposes and in such manner as the authority thinks fit and may hold, or sell or otherwise dispose of, the chattel as if the authority were the owner thereof and as if the chattel were free from any mortgage, pledge, lien or other similar obligation, and, in a case where the chattel requisitioned is a vehicle, vessel or aircraft, may acquire it by serving on the owner thereof a notice stating that the authority has acquired it in pursuance of this section. When a notice of acquisition has been served, then, at the beginning of the day on which the notice is served —
the vehicle, vessel or aircraft shall vest in the Government free from any mortgage, pledge, lien or other similar obligation; and
the period of the requisition thereof shall end.
(3)
Without prejudice to the powers conferred by subsections (1) and (2), the competent authority may by order require the owners of, and the persons having power to dispose of, chattels of any description specified in the order, being chattels situate outside Singapore, to comply with such directions as may be given by or on behalf of the competent authority for the purpose of securing that the ownership of such chattels or the right to dispose thereof is transferred to the competent authority.
(4)
A competent authority may, if it appears to that authority to be necessary for the effectual exercise of its powers under subsection (1) so to do, by order —
direct that no person who, at the time when the order takes effect, has in his possession or under his control, at any premises, any such articles as may be described in the order, shall remove the articles, or cause or permit them to be removed, from the premises until the removal of the articles therefrom is permitted by such authority or person as may be specified in the order;
require the owner or occupier of any premises to send to such authority or person as may be specified in the order a written declaration stating or estimating whether or not, on such date as may be specified in the order, any such articles as aforesaid were or will be on the premises, and, if so, the number or quantity of those articles which was or will be on the premises on that date, according as the order may direct.
(5)
In any case in which the chattel requisitioned is a chattel other than a vehicle, vessel or aircraft, such chattel shall, as soon as possession thereof is taken in pursuance of this section, vest in the Government free from any mortgage, pledge, lien or other similar obligation.
(6)
Where a competent authority has issued its notice of requisition in respect of any chattel, such chattel shall be furnished by the owner and the person having the possession, custody or control thereof to the competent authority or to such persons as such authority shall appoint for the purpose forthwith or (if such is the case) within such period as may be mentioned in the requisition. On any refusal or neglect to furnish such property in the manner aforesaid, or if the competent authority has reasonable ground for believing that it is not practicable without undue delay to give any direction for the property requisitioned to be furnished or delivered to the competent authority, then the competent authority or any authorised officer acting on behalf of such authority may take possession (and if need be may enter any premises by force for the purpose) of the property requisitioned and may use the same in like manner as if it had been furnished in pursuance of the requisition. Payment for the same shall nevertheless be made in like manner as if the property had been duly furnished according to the requisition provided that the property specified in the requisition shall not be deemed to have been furnished except in so far as possession is taken by or by the direction of the competent authority.
(7)
Where the Accountant-General is satisfied that any vehicle in respect of which a licence to keep has been granted has, in exercise of the powers conferred by this section, been acquired before the expiration of the period of the validity of such licence, the Accountant-General may authorise the refund to the person who at the date of such acquisition was the owner of the vehicle of a proportionate part of the fee paid for such licence in respect of such part of the period of its validity as remained unexpired at the date aforesaid, if a claim for such refund is made to him in writing by such person not later than 3 months after the date when such vehicle was acquired as aforesaid.
(8)
A competent authority may, to such extent and subject to such restrictions as it thinks proper, delegate all or any of its functions under subsections (1) and (2) to any persons or class of persons specified by the competent authority.
(9)
The Commissioner of Police shall, on a request to that effect made by or on behalf of the authorised officer to whom an order is issued to requisition chattels, give instructions for securing that so far as practicable police officers will be available, if required, for accompanying authorised officers requisitioning chattels in pursuance of the order.
(10)
The authorised officer to whom the requisitioning order is issued, or any member of the armed forces or civil defence force authorised by him in writing, may without warrant stop and search any vehicle, vessel or aircraft with a view to ascertaining whether such vehicle, vessel or aircraft is to be requisitioned.
(11)
The powers conferred by this section for the purpose of conducting exercises for the purposes mentioned in subsection (1) shall be exercisable only in relation to vehicles, vessels or aircraft.
(12)
In this section, “chattel” includes any substance, machine, equipment, vessel, aircraft or vehicle but shall not include currency, gold, securities or negotiable instruments.