Clause 189

by inserting, immediately after the words “Parts II to VI” in section 3(2), the words “(except for sections 6A, 6B and 6C)”;

by deleting the words “section 494 of the Penal Code (Cap. 224)” in section 6 and substituting the words “section 6A”;

by inserting, immediately after section 6, the following sections:“Marrying again during lifetime of husband or wife6A. Whoever, having a husband or wife living, marries in any case in which such marriage is void by reason of its taking place during the life of such husband or wife, shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction —

in a case where the offender concealed from the person with whom the subsequent marriage is contracted the fact of the former marriage, be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years and shall also be liable to a fine not exceeding $15,000; and

in any other case, be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years and shall also be liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000.Exceptions.—This section does not extend to any person whose marriage, with such husband or wife, has been declared void by a court of competent jurisdiction, nor to any person who contracts a marriage during the life of a former husband or wife, if such husband or wife, at the time of the subsequent marriage, has been continually absent from such person for a period of 7 years, and has not been heard of by such person as being alive within that time, provided the person contracting such subsequent marriage, before the marriage takes place, informs the person with whom the marriage is contracted, of the real state of facts so far as the same are within his or her knowledge.Cohabitation caused by deceitfully inducing a belief of lawful marriage6B. Any person (A), who by deceit causes any person of the opposite sex (B) who is not lawfully married to A to believe that B is lawfully married to A and to cohabit or have sexual intercourse with A in that belief, shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years and shall also be liable to a fine not exceeding $15,000.Marriage ceremony gone through fraudulently without lawful marriage6C. Any person who dishonestly or fraudulently goes through the ceremony of being married, knowing that he or she is not as a result lawfully married, shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years and shall also be liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000.”;

by deleting paragraph (b) of section 17(2AA) and substituting the following paragraph:“(b)an offence under section 6A or an offence under section 494 of the Penal Code (Cap. 224) as in force immediately before the date of commencement of section 189 of the Criminal Law Reform Act 2019.”;

by deleting the words “by way of marriage” in section 140(1)(i) and substituting the words “with a girl who is his spouse and with his spouse’s consent”;

by deleting the words “Subject to subsection (5) and notwithstanding anything in” in section 140(4) and substituting the word “Despite”;

by deleting subsection (5) of section 140; and

by deleting subsection (1) of section 145 and substituting the following subsection:“(1) Any person who causes or encourages the prostitution of a girl below the age of 18 years, or the commission of unlawful sexual penetration of or an indecent assault on, a girl below the age of 16 years, being in either case a girl for whom that person is responsible, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.”;

by deleting the words “16 years” in section 145(5) and substituting the words “16 or 18 years, as the case may be,”;

by inserting, immediately after the words “prostitution of,” in the section heading of section 145, the words “girl below the age of 18 or”; and

by deleting “309,” in section 155(1).