Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill

a Magistrate’s Court —

has jurisdiction to try any offence specified in subsection (2), where no imprisonment is prescribed or where twice the maximum term of imprisonment prescribed for the offence does not exceed 5 years; and

has power to impose the full punishment provided under subsection (1) in respect of the offence; and

a District Court —

has jurisdiction to try any offence specified in subsection (2); and

has power to impose the full punishment provided under subsection (1) in respect of the offence.”.

by deleting subsection (2) and substituting the following subsection:“(2) To avoid doubt, where a person alleges a mistake of fact or ignorance of a fact that may negate the fault element of the offence that the person is charged with, the prosecution must prove the fault element in order to establish liability under the offence.”;

by renumbering the Explanation as Explanation 1, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following Explanation:“Explanation 2.—Where an alleged mistake of fact or ignorance of a fact may negate the fault element of an offence, the accused person does not need to rely on the defence of mistake. The accused person may allege the mistake of fact or ignorance of the fact for the purpose of raising a reasonable doubt that the accused person had the requisite fault element as a result of labouring under the mistake of fact or ignorance of fact. The prosecution must prove the fault element in order to establish liability under the offence.”; and

by deleting the words “as he did not intend to dishonestly take the watch out of Z’s possession” in illustration (f) and substituting the words “as A did not possess the requisite fault element of dishonesty when A took the watch out of Z’s possession. There is no need for A to rely on a defence under this section”.

by deleting subsection (2) and substituting the following subsection:“(2) To avoid doubt, where a person alleges a mistake of law or ignorance of the law that may negate the fault element of the offence that the person is charged with, the prosecution must prove the fault element in order to establish liability under the offence.”; and

by deleting the Illustration.

a person alleges any act is done by accident or misfortune in the doing of a lawful act in a lawful manner, by lawful means, and with proper care and caution; and

the doing of the act allegedly by accident or misfortune may negate the fault element of the offence that the person is charged with,the prosecution must prove the fault element in order to establish liability under the offence.”.

by deleting the words “(whether wrong by the ordinary standards of reasonable and honest persons or wrong as contrary to law)” in paragraph (b); and

by renumbering the section as subsection (1) of that section, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following subsection (before the Illustration):“(2) Subsection (1)(b) applies only if the person is incapable of knowing that his act —

is wrong by the ordinary standards of reasonable and honest persons; and

is wrong as contrary to law.”.

by deleting the words “(whether wrong by the ordinary standards of reasonable and honest persons or wrong as contrary to law)” in subsection (2)(b); and

by inserting, immediately after subsection (2), the following subsection:“(2A) Subsection (2)(b) only applies if the person charged, at the time of the act or omission complained of, did not know that the act or omission —

was wrong by the ordinary standards of reasonable and honest persons; and

was wrong as contrary to law.”.

by deleting the words “malignantly or wantonly” and substituting the words “intentionally or rashly”; and

by deleting the word “Wantonly” in the section heading and substituting the words “Intentionally or rashly”.

by inserting, immediately after the words “ought not to”, the words “, or would not,”; and

by inserting, immediately after illustration (c), the following illustration:“(d) A informs a policeman that A does not know the identity of the suspect of a criminal offence, knowing such information to be false, and knowing it to be likely that in consequence of this information, the policeman will expend additional time and resources to identify the suspect which will not be so expended if A had informed the policeman that A knew the identity of the suspect. A has committed an offence under this section.”.

by deleting the words “3 months” in paragraph (a) and substituting the words “6 months”; and

by renumbering the section as subsection (1) of that section, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following subsection and Illustration:“(2) For the purposes of this section, an obstruction may be caused other than by the use of physical means or threatening language by a person against a public servant.IllustrationA group of paramedics from the Singapore Civil Defence Force intends to take the lift to the 30th storey of a block of flats to reach a person suffering from a heart attack. A decides to play a prank on the paramedics by telling them that the lift has broken down, knowing this to be false. The paramedics took the stairs because of what A told them and reached the person 15 minutes later than if they had taken the lift. A has voluntarily obstructed the paramedics in the discharge of their public function.”.

Whoever, being in an office that gives him legal authority to commit persons for trial or to confinement, or to keep persons in confinement —

corruptly or with intent to cause injury to any person, commits the person or any other person for trial or to confinement, or keeps the person or any other person in confinement, in the exercise of that authority; and

knowing that in doing so he is acting contrary to law,shall be guilty of an offence.(2) Any person convicted of an offence under subsection (1) shall be punished with imprisonment for a term that may extend to 7 years, or with fine, or with both.”.

by deleting the word “malignantly” and substituting the words “intentionally or rashly”; and

by deleting the word “Malignant” in the section heading and substituting the words “Intentional or rash”.

by deleting the words “(whether wrong by the ordinary standards of reasonable and honest persons or wrong as contrary to law)” in paragraph (a)(ii) of Exception 7; and

by inserting, at the end of Exception 7, the following paragraph: “Paragraph (a)(ii) of the above exception applies only if, at the time of the acts or omissions causing the death concerned, there was a substantial impairment of the offender’s capacity to know that the acts or omissions —

are wrong by the ordinary standards of reasonable and honest persons; and

are wrong as contrary to law.”.

by deleting subsection (1);

by deleting the words “(1) or” wherever they appear in subsections (4) and (5);

by deleting the word “man” in subsection (6) and substituting the word “person”; and

by deleting the word “he” wherever it appears in subsection (6) and substituting in each case the words “the person”.

by deleting the words “section 355,” in paragraph (a) and substituting the words “section 354, 354A, 355,”; and

by deleting “377(3),” in paragraph (a) and substituting the words “377(1)(e), (f), (g) or (h),”.

by deleting “377(3),” in paragraph (a) and substituting the words “377(1)(e), (f), (g) or (h),”;

by deleting the word “or” at the end of paragraph (a); and

by deleting the full‑stop at the end of paragraph (b) and substituting the word “; or”, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following paragraph:“(c)section 7 of the Children and Young Persons Act.”.

by deleting paragraph (a) and substituting the following paragraph:“(a)A intentionally touches another person (B) or intentionally incites B to —

touch A or the bodily fluids of A;

touch B;

touch another person (C) or the bodily fluids of C; or

be touched by C;”; and

by deleting sub‑paragraph (ii) of paragraph (d) and substituting the following sub‑paragraph:“(ii)the risk of B contracting a sexually transmitted disease from the touching; and”.

A person (A) who —

penetrates, with A’s penis, the vagina, anus or mouth of a human corpse;

sexually penetrates, with a part of A’s body (other than A’s penis, if A is a man) or anything else, the vagina or anus of a human corpse;

causes A’s vagina, anus or mouth to be penetrated by the penis of a human corpse;

causes A’s vagina or anus to be sexually penetrated by a part of a human corpse (other than the penis, if the human corpse is that of a deceased man);

causes a person (B) to penetrate, with B’s penis (if B is a man), the vagina, anus or mouth of a human corpse, without B’s consent;

causes B to sexually penetrate, with a part of B’s body (other than B’s penis, if B is a man) or anything else, the vagina or anus of a human corpse, without B’s consent;

causes B’s vagina, anus or mouth to be penetrated by the penis of a human corpse, without B’s consent; or

causes B’s vagina or anus to be sexually penetrated by a part of a human corpse (other than the penis, if the human corpse is that of a deceased man), without B’s consent,shall be guilty of an offence.(2) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1)(a), (b), (c) or (d) shall be punished with imprisonment for a term that may extend to 5 years, or with fine, or with both.(3) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1)(e), (f), (g) or (h) shall be punished with imprisonment for a term that may extend to 20 years, and shall also be liable to fine or to caning.”.

by deleting the words “the genital or anal region of B” in paragraph (b) and substituting the words “the genital region or buttocks (whether exposed or covered) of B, where the depiction is sexual and”; and

by deleting the words “the breasts of B if B is female,” in paragraph (c) and substituting the words “the breasts (whether exposed or covered) of B if B is female, where the depiction is sexual and”.

by inserting, immediately after the word “In” in subsection (1), the words “this section and in”;

by inserting, immediately before the definition of “child abuse material” in subsection (1), the following definition:“ “buttocks”, in relation to a person, includes the anal region of the person;”;

by deleting the words “the genital or anal region” in paragraph (b) of the definition of “child abuse material” in subsection (1) and substituting the words “the genital region or buttocks (whether exposed or covered)”;

by inserting, immediately after the words “16 years of age” in paragraphs (b) and (c) of the definition of “child abuse material” in subsection (1), the words “, where the depiction is sexual and”;

by inserting, immediately after the words “the breasts” in paragraph (c) of the definition of “child abuse material” in subsection (1), the words “(whether exposed or covered)”; and

by deleting the word “genitals” in subsection (3)(f)(i) and substituting the words “genital region”.

by deleting the words “section 376(1) or (2)” in section 102(d) and substituting the words “section 376(2)”;

by deleting the words “376(1)(a), 376(1)(b) read with section 376(4),” in section 376A(1A);

by deleting the words “376(1)(a) or (2)” in section 376G(4) and substituting “376(2)”; and

by inserting, immediately after “376(1)” in section 377D(3)(a), the words “as in force before its deletion by section 23(a) of the Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2021”.

by deleting the word “or” at the end of subsection (12)(a); and

by deleting paragraph (b) of subsection (12) and substituting the following paragraphs:“(b)an offence under the repealed section 7 of the Children and Young Persons Act (Cap. 38, 2001 Ed.) as in force between 20 July 2011 and 30 June 2020 (both dates inclusive);

an offence under the repealed section 7 of the Children and Young Persons Act (Cap. 38, 2001 Ed.) as in force between 1 February 2008 and 19 July 2011 (both dates inclusive);

an offence under the repealed section 7 of the Children and Young Persons Act (Cap. 38, 2001 Ed.) as in force between 31 December 2001 and 31 January 2008 (both dates inclusive);

an offence under the repealed section 6 of the Children and Young Persons Act (Cap. 38, 1994 Ed.) as in force between 15 March 1994 and 30 December 2001 (both dates inclusive); or

an offence under the repealed section 6 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1993 (Act 1 of 1993) as in force between 21 March 1993 and 14 March 1994 (both dates inclusive),”.

by deleting the words “15 years” under the sixth column in the first item relating to section 115 and substituting the words “20 years”;

by deleting the second item relating to section 115;

by deleting the word “Wantonly” under the second column in the item relating to section 153 and substituting the words “Intentionally or rashly”;

by deleting the words “3 months” under the sixth column in the item relating to section 186 and substituting the words “6 months”;

by deleting the word “Malignantly” under the second column in the item relating to section 270 and substituting the words “Intentionally or rashly”;

by deleting the words “2 years” under the sixth column in the item relating to section 354(1) and substituting the words “3 years”;

by deleting the words “one year” under the sixth column in the items relating to sections 376ED(1), 376ED(2), 376EE(1) and 376EE(2) and substituting in each case the words “2 years”; and

by deleting the items relating to sections 377(2) and 377(4) and substituting the following items:“377(2)Penile or sexual penetration of a corpse, etc.May arrest without warrantWarrantBailableImprisonment for 5 years, or fine, or bothMagistrate’s Court or District Court377(3)Causing another person to carry out penile or sexual penetration of a corpse without the person’s consent, etc.May arrest without warrantWarrantNot bailableImprisonment for 20 years, and fine or caning ”.