Singapore legislation

Clause 43

Offences by bodies corporate, etc.

(1)

If, in a proceeding for an offence under this Act, it is necessary to prove the state of mind of a body corporate, an unincorporated association or a partnership in relation to a particular conduct, the following is evidence that the body corporate, unincorporated association or partnership (as the case may be) had that state of mind:

(a)

in the case of a body corporate, evidence that —

(i)

an officer, employee or agent of the body corporate engaged in that conduct within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority; and

(ii)

the officer, employee or agent had that state of mind;

(b)

in the case of an unincorporated association or a partnership, evidence that —

(i)

an employee or agent of the unincorporated association or partnership engaged in that conduct within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority; and

(ii)

the employee or agent had that state of mind.

(2)

If a body corporate commits an offence under this Act, a person —

(a)

who is —

(i)

an officer of the body corporate; or

(ii)

an individual involved in the management of the body corporate and in a position to influence the conduct of the body corporate in relation to the commission of the offence; and

(b)

who —

(i)

consented or connived, or conspired with others, to effect the commission of the offence;

(ii)

is in any other way, whether by act or omission, knowingly concerned in, or is party to, the commission of the offence by the body corporate; or

(iii)

knew or ought reasonably to have known that the offence by the body corporate (or an offence of the same type) would be or is being committed, and failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent or stop the commission of that offence,shall be guilty of the same offence as is the body corporate, and shall be liable on conviction to be punished accordingly.

(3)

If an unincorporated association or a partnership commits an offence under this Act, a person —

(a)

who is —

(i)

an officer of the unincorporated association or a member of its governing body;

(ii)

a partner in the partnership; or

(iii)

an individual involved in the management of the unincorporated association or partnership and in a position to influence the conduct of the unincorporated association or partnership (as the case may be) in relation to the commission of the offence; and

(b)

who —

(i)

consented or connived, or conspired with others, to effect the commission of the offence;

(ii)

is in any other way, whether by act or omission, knowingly concerned in, or is party to, the commission of the offence by the unincorporated association or partnership; or

(iii)

knew or ought reasonably to have known that the offence by the unincorporated association or partnership (or an offence of the same type) would be or is being committed, and failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent or stop the commission of that offence,shall be guilty of the same offence as is the unincorporated association or partnership (as the case may be), and shall be liable on conviction to be punished accordingly.

(4)

A person mentioned in subsection (2) or (3) may rely on a defence that would be available to the body corporate, unincorporated association or partnership (as the case may be) if it were charged with the offence with which the person is charged and, in doing so, the person bears the same burden of proof that the body corporate, unincorporated association or partnership (as the case may be) would bear.

(5)

To avoid doubt, this section does not affect —

(a)

the application of Chapters 5 and 5A of the Penal Code 1871;

(b)

the application of the Evidence Act 1893 or any other law or practice regarding the admissibility of evidence; or

(c)

the liability of an individual for an offence under any other provision of this Act.

(6)

To avoid doubt, subsection (2) or (3) does not affect the liability of a body corporate, an unincorporated association or a partnership (as the case may be) for an offence under this Act, and applies whether or not the body corporate, unincorporated association or partnership (as the case may be) is convicted of the offence.

(7)

The regulations may provide for the application of any provision of this section, with any modifications that the Minister considers appropriate, to any body corporate, unincorporated association or partnership formed or recognised under the law of a country or territory outside Singapore.

(8)

In this section —

Definition

“body corporate” includes a limited liability partnership as defined by section 4(1) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005;

Definition

“officer” —

(a)

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

(i)

any person purporting to act in any such capacity; and

(ii)

for a body corporate whose affairs are managed by its members, any of those members as if the member were a director of the body corporate; and

(b)

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 —

(i)

any person holding a position analogous to that of president, secretary or member of a committee of the unincorporated association; and

(ii)

any person purporting to act in any such capacity;

Definition

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

Definition

“state of mind” of a person includes —

(a)

the knowledge, intention, opinion, belief or purpose of the person; and

(b)

the person’s reasons for the intention, opinion, belief or purpose.

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