57. Contempt of court

Amended

Last amended by an amending law of 2024. 2 amendments in all.

(1)

A Court shall have the same power to punish as contempt of court a failure to comply with an order of the Court made under section 56 as is possessed by the General Division of the High Court in respect of a failure to comply with an order of the General Division of the High Court.

(2)

The maximum penalty which a Court is empowered to impose under this section shall be —

(a)

where the contempt was committed by a trade union or platform work association, a fine of $4,000;

(b)

where the contempt was committed by an employer, a platform operator or an officer of a trade union or platform work association, a fine of $2,000 or imprisonment for one year or both; or

(c)

in any other case, a fine of $500 and, in default of payment of the fine, imprisonment for 6 months.

(3)

A Court shall have power to punish an act or omission as a contempt of the Court although a penalty is provided in respect of that act or omission under some other provision of this Act or under any other written law.

(4)

For the purposes of enforcing the payment of any fine imposed or giving effect to any order of imprisonment, the president shall have the powers of the General Division of the High Court.

(5)

Where a Court punishes as contempt a failure by a person to comply with an order of the Court, that person shall, during a period of 2 years from the date on which the punishment is imposed (or any lesser period that the Court may determine), be ineligible —

(a)

to be nominated for election as —

(i)

an officer of a trade union, branch of a trade union or federation; or

(ii)

an officer of a platform work association or branch of a platform work association; or

(b)

to act as an officer mentioned in paragraph (a)(i) or (ii).

(6)

A person who acts as an officer mentioned in subsection (5)(a)(i) or (ii) while he is ineligible by reason of subsection (5) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction by a District Court —

(a)

to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both; and

(b)

if the person is a repeat offender, to imprisonment for a term not less than 6 months and not exceeding 3 years.

(7)

For the purposes of subsection (6)(b), “repeat offender”, in relation to an offence under subsection (6), means a person who —

(a)

is convicted, or found guilty, of an offence under subsection (6); and

(b)

has been convicted, or found guilty, of an offence under subsection (6) on at least one other occasion (whether before, on or after the date of commencement of paragraph 13 of the Sixth Schedule to the Platform Workers Act 2024).