Singapore legislation
Clause 4
Clause 4
Special defences
(1)
Where a person is charged with an offence under section 3 as the occupier of a place on land, or as the person in charge of any apparatus, from which the oil or oily mixture is alleged to have been discharged, it shall be a defence to prove that the discharge of the oil or oily mixture was not due to any want of reasonable care, and that as soon as practicable after the discharge was discovered all reasonable steps were taken for stopping or reducing it.
(2)
Without prejudice to subsection (1), it shall be a defence for the occupier of a place on land, who is charged with an offence under section 3, to prove that the discharge was caused by the act of a person who was in that place without the permission (express or implied) of the occupier.
(3)
Where a person is charged with an offence under section 3 in respect of the discharge of an oily mixture from a place on land, it shall (without prejudice to any other defence under this section) be a defence to prove —
that the oil was contained in an effluent produced by operations for the refining of oil;
that it was not reasonably practicable to dispose of the effluent otherwise than by discharging it into Singapore waters; and
that all reasonably practicable steps had been taken for eliminating oil from the effluent.
(4)
Where it is proved that, at the time to which the charge relates, the surface of the waters into which the oily mixture was discharged or the land adjacent to those waters was fouled by oil, the defence under subsection (3) shall not apply unless the court is satisfied that the fouling was not caused, or contributed to, by oil contained in any effluent discharged at or before that time from that place.
(5)
Where any oil or oily mixture is discharged in consequence of the removal of sunk, stranded or abandoned ships by the Port of Singapore Authority in exercise of any power conferred by written law, and apart from this subsection the Authority or a person employed by or acting on behalf of the Authority would be guilty of an offence under section 3 in respect of that discharge, the Authority or person shall not be convicted of that offence unless it is shown that the Authority or that person failed to take such steps (if any) as were reasonable in the circumstances for preventing, stopping or reducing the discharge.