Interpretation Bill

In this Act, and in every written law enacted before or after the commencement of this Act, the following words and expressions shall, without prejudice to anything done prior to the coming into operation of this Act, have the meanings respectively assigned to them unless there is something in the subject or context inconsistent with such construction or unless it is therein otherwise expressly provided: —

“abet”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, has the same meaning as in the Penal Code (Cap. 119);

“Accountant-General” means the Accountant-General of Singapore;

“act”, when used with reference to an offence or civil wrong, includes a series of acts, and words which refer to acts done shall be construed as extending to illegal omissions;

“Act” or “ Act of Parliament” means an Act of the Parliament of Singapore and includes any Ordinance having the force of law in Singapore; and the expression “the Act” when used in any subsidiary legislation means the Act under the authority of which such subsidiary legislation has been made;

“advocate” and “advocate and solicitor” mean an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court;

“animal” includes birds, reptiles, fish and every kind of vertebrate animal and the young thereof;

“Attorney-General” means the Attorney-General of Singapore;

“Cabinet” means the Cabinet constituted under the Constitution;

“Chief Justice” means the Chief Justice of Singapore;

“citizen of Singapore” means any person who, under the provisions of the Constitution, has the status of a citizen of Singapore;

“Civil List” means the provision made under the Constitution for the maintenance of the President;

“commencement”, when used with reference to an Act, means the time at which the Act comes into operation;

“common law” means the common law of England;

“Commonwealth” or “British Commonwealth” means collectively the Commonwealth countries and includes any colony, protectorate or protected state or any other territory administered by any Commonwealth country;

“Commonwealth country” means any country recognised by the President to be a Commonwealth country and

“part of the Commonwealth” means any Commonwealth country, any colony, protectorate or protected state or any other territory administered by the Government of any Commonwealth country;

“Consolidated Fund” means the Consolidated Fund established by the Constitution;

“Constitution” means the Constitution of Singapore;

“consular officer” means consul-general, consul, vice-consul, consular agent and any person for the time being authorized to discharge the duties of consul-general, consul, vice-consul or consular agent;

“court” means any court of competent jurisdiction in Singapore;

“Crown Agents” means the persons for the time being acting as Crown Agents for the Governments of the Commonwealth or any of them;

“Deputy Speaker” means the Deputy Speaker of Parliament elected under the Constitution;

“Director of Audit” means the Director of Audit of Singapore;

“District Court” means any District Court constituted under any written law for the time being in force relating to the courts;

“District Judge” means a District Judge appointed as such under any written law for the time being in force relating to the courts;

“export”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means to take or cause to be taken out of Singapore by land, sea or air;

“Gazette” or “ Government Gazette” means the Gazette published by the order of the Government and includes any Supplement thereto and Gazette Extraordinary so published;

“Government Printer” includes any printer purporting to be the printer authorized to print Acts and other documents of the Government;

“High Court” means the High Court constituted under any written law for the time being in force relating to the courts;

“immovable property” includes land, benefits to arise out of land and things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth;

“import”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means to bring or cause to be brought into Singapore by land, sea or air;

“Judge” means a Judge of the Supreme Court and includes any person appointed to exercise the powers of a Judge;

“Legislature”, when used with reference to any part of the Commonwealth, means the authority competent to make laws for that part of the Commonwealth;

“Magistrate” means a Magistrate appointed as such under any written law for the time being in force relating to the courts;

“Malaya” means Singapore and the States of Malaya;

“Malaysia” means the Federation known as Malaysia;

“Malaysian citizen” or “Federal citizen” means any person who is a citizen of Malaysia by virtue of the provisions of any law for the time being in force, or any instrument for the time being having the force of law, in Malaysia;

“master”, when used with reference to a ship, means any person, except a pilot or harbour master, having for the time being control or charge of the ship;

“Minister” means the Minister for the time being charged with the responsibility for the department or subject to which the context refers;

“monogamous marriage” means a marriage which is recognized by the law of the place where it is contracted as a voluntary union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others during the continuance of the marriage;

“month” means calendar month;

“movable property” means property of every description except immovable property;

“national language” means the Malay language;

“oath” and “affidavit” in the case of persons for the time being allowed by law to affirm or declare instead of swearing, include affirmation and declaration, and “swear” in the like case includes affirm and declare;

“Ordinance” means any Ordinance of Singapore, and includes any Ordinance of the Colony of the Straits Settlements, any Ordinance of the Colony of Singapore or of the State of Singapore and any Proclamation having the force of law in Singapore; and the expression “the Ordinance” when used in any subsidiary legislation means the Ordinance under the authority of which such subsidiary legislation has been made;

“Parliament” means the Parliament of Singapore;

“person” or “party” include any company or association or body of persons, corporate or unincorporate;

“police officer” means any member of the Singapore Police Force;

“prescribed” means prescribed by the Act in which the word occurs or by any subsidiary legislation made thereunder;

“President” means the President of Singapore and includes any person for the time being appointed to perform the functions of the President under the provisions of the Constitution;

“public holiday” means any day which is declared to be or proclaimed as a public holiday or which under any written law is to be observed as a public holiday in Singapore;

“public officer” means the holder of any office of emolument in the service of the Government;

“public seal” means the public seal of Singapore;

“public service” means service under the Government;

“Public Service Commission” means the Public Service Commission constituted under the provisions of the Constitution;

“registered”, when used with reference to a document, means registered under the provisions of any written law for the time being applicable to the registration of such document;

“repeal” includes rescind, revoke, cancel or replace;

“rules of court”, when used in relation to any court, means rules made by the authority having for the time being power to make rules or orders regulating the practice and procedure of such court, together with the forms necessary thereto;

“Secretary to the Cabinet” means the Secretary to the Cabinet appointed in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution;

“service by post”, where an Act authorizes or requires any document to be served by post, whether the expression “serve”, “give” or “send” or any other expression is used, then, unless a contrary intention appears, the service shall be deemed to be effected by properly addressing, prepaying and posting a letter containing the document, and, unless the contrary is proved, shall be deemed to have been effected at the time at which the letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post;

“ship” includes every description of vessel used in navigation not exclusively propelled by oars or paddles;

“sign”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, with reference to a person who is unable to write his name, includes “mark” with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions;

“Singapore” means the Republic of Singapore and shall be deemed to include the Island of Singapore and all islands and places which on the 2nd day of June 1959, were administered as part of Singapore and all territorial waters adjacent thereto;

“Solicitor-General” means the Solicitor-General of Singapore;

“Speaker” means the Speaker of the Parliament elected in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution;

“States of Malaya” means the States of Johore, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor and Trengganu, which constitute part of Malaysia;

“statutory declaration”, if made —

“subsidiary legislation” means any order in council, proclamation, rule, regulation, order, notification, by-law or other instrument made under any Act, Ordinance or other lawful authority and having legislative effect;

“Supreme Court” means the Supreme Court of Singapore constituted under any written law for the time being in force relating to the courts and includes the High Court;

“the Government” means the Government of Singapore;

“United Kingdom” means Great Britain and Northern Ireland;

“value”, when used with reference to a suit, means the value of the subject matter of the suit;

“vessel” includes floating craft of every description;

“will” includes a codicil;

words importing the masculine gender include females;

words in the singular include the plural and words in the plural include the singular;

“writing” and expressions referring to writing include printing, lithography, typewriting, photography and other modes of representing or reproducing words or figures in visible form;

“written law” means the Constitution and all previous Constitutions having application to Singapore and all Acts, Ordinances and enactments by whatever name called and subsidiary legislation made thereunder for the time being in force in Singapore;

“Yang di-Pertuan Agong” means the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or Supreme Head of Malaysia and includes the Deputy Supreme Head of Malaysia or a Ruler of a Malay State, whenever he is lawfully exercising the functions of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong;

“year” means a year reckoned according to the Gregorian calendar.

In every written law enacted before the coming into operation of this Act —

In any Act, Ordinance or Order specified in sub-paragraphs (ii), (iii) and (v) of paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section 38, references to —

The Attorney-General may, with the authority of the President, cause to be printed reprints of Acts; and any such reprints may contain amendments as the Attorney-General is authorised to make by subsection (2).

The Attorney-General, in preparing any reprint, shall have the following powers: —

In this section unless the context otherwise requires —

Any reprint of any Act purporting to have been printed pursuant to this Act shall be deemed to be the authentic text of that Act in force on such date as may be specified in the reprint and shall for the purposes of subsection (6) be the official printed copy of such Act.

A reference in an Act to the number of a section in any reprinted Act, the sections of which have been renumbered, shall mean a reference to the renumbered section of such reprinted Act.

A reference in any Act to the number of a line of any section of any other Act shall mean such line in the latest official printed copy of such other Act at the time of the passing of the Act containing such reference.

Where any Act is referred to, it shall be sufficient for all purposes to cite such Act either by the short title, if any, by which it is made citable, or by the year in which it was made and its number among the Acts of that year or, in the case of a revised edition of the Acts issued under any written law providing for the issue of a revised edition, by its short title or its chapter number; and the reference may in all cases be made according to the copies of Acts printed by the Government Printer.

Any such citation of an Act shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as a reference to such Act as amended from time to time by any other Act.

Where in any Act there is a reference to a section, Part, Chapter or Schedule by number or letter only, and not in conjunction with the title or number of an Act, such reference shall be construed as a reference to the section, Part, Chapter or Schedule of that number or letter contained in the Act in which such reference occurs.

Where in any section of an Act there is a reference to a subsection, paragraph or sub-paragraph by number or letter only, such reference shall be construed as a reference to the subsection, paragraph or sub-paragraph of that number or letter contained in the section in which such reference occurs.

The provisions of this section shall, with suitable modification, apply to subsidiary legislation.

Where in any written law a reference is made to another written law, such reference shall, except where the context otherwise requires, be deemed to include a reference to such last-mentioned written law as the same may from time to time be amended.

Where any written law repeals and re-enacts, with or without modification, any provision of a former written law, references in any other written law to the provision so repealed shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as references to the provision so re-enacted.

Subsidiary legislation made under any Act or other lawful authority shall, unless it be otherwise expressly provided in any Act, be published in the Gazette and, unless it be otherwise provided in such subsidiary legislation, shall take effect and come into operation on the date of such publication.

Any such subsidiary legislation may be made to operate retrospectively to any date not being a date earlier than the commencement of the Act or the establishment of the authority by or under which such subsidiary legislation is made.

Where a written law confers a power or imposes a duty, then, unless the contrary intention appears, the power may be exercised and the duty shall be performed from time to time as occasion requires.

Where a written law confers a power or imposes a duty on the holder of an office as such, then, unless the contrary intention appears, the power may be exercised and the duty shall be performed by the holder of the office for the time being or by a person duly appointed to act for him.

Where any Act confers a power to make subsidiary legislation, to issue any order or to do any act, the power shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as including the power exercisable in like manner and subject to the like consent and conditions, if any, to amend, vary, rescind, revoke or suspend the subsidiary legislation made or order issued or any part thereof or to abstain from doing the act.

Where a written law confers power on any person to do or enforce the doing of any act or thing, all such powers shall be understood to be also conferred as are reasonably necessary to enable the person to do or enforce the doing of the act or thing.

Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing —

Where by or under any Act, the President, Minister or any public officer or body is empowered to appoint or name a person to have and exercise any powers or perform any duties, the President, Minister, public officer or body may either appoint a person by name or direct the person for the time being holding the office designated by the President, Minister, public officer or body to have and exercise such powers and perform such duties; and thereupon, or from the date specified by the President, Minister, public officer or body, the person appointed by name or the person holding the office aforesaid shall have and may exercise such powers or perform such duties accordingly.

Any such appointment may be made with retrospective effect to any date not being a date earlier than the commencement of the Act under which the appointment is made.

Where in any written law a Minister is empowered to exercise any powers or perform any duties, he may, in the absence of any provision of law to the contrary, with the approval of the President and by notification in the Gazette, depute any person by name or the person for the time being discharging the duties of an office designated by him to exercise such powers or perform such duties on behalf of the Minister subject to such conditions, exceptions and qualifications as the President may determine, and thereupon or from the date specified by the President, the person so deputed shall have and exercise such powers and perform such duties:Provided that nothing herein contained shall authorise a Minister to depute any person to make subsidiary legislation under the power in that behalf conferred upon the Minister by any Act.

The Minister may exercise any powers or perform any duties conferred upon him by an Act notwithstanding the delegation by him of such powers or duties.

Where under the provisions of any Act, power is given to the President, Minister or other authority to appoint any persons to be members of any board, commission, committee or similar body, it shall be lawful for the President, Minister or other authority, in the absence of any provision to the contrary, to appoint, by his official designation, any public officer, and, on such appointment and until such appointment shall be cancelled or otherwise determined, the person for the time being filling the office in question shall be a member of such board, commission, committee or similar body.

Where under the provisions of any Act, power is given to the President, Minister or other authority to appoint any board, commission, committee or similar body, it shall be lawful for the President, Minister or other authority, in the absence of any provision to the contrary, to appoint a chairman of such board, commission, committee or similar body.

Whenever any person, public officer, public department or statutory authority is required to do anything for which a fee is to be paid or a charge made under any written law, such person, public officer, public department or statutory authority may decline to do that thing until the fee is paid or payment be made and, where the precise amount of the payment to be made cannot be ascertained until the thing is done, until there be paid such an amount as may be estimated to be the correct amount by the person, public officer, public department or statutory authority required to do that thing.

Whenever a thing has been done for which an estimated amount shall have been paid, such amount shall be adjusted to the correct amount either by means of a further payment or by a refund of the amount overpaid.

Whenever any act requires to be done or a service performed by a public body, statutory authority or a public officer under or in connection with any written law, and no special provision is made thereby or thereunder for making a charge in respect of such act or service, the Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, provide for the imposition of such fees or charges as he may consider proper.

Any fee or charge under any written law made payable to the Government or to any public body, statutory authority or public officer, not being a fee or charge which is regulated by rules of court, may by order of the Minister be reduced, remitted or refunded, in whole or in part in the circumstances of any particular case.

Whenever any expression of time occurs in any written law or in any instrument whatsoever and whenever the doing or not doing anything at a certain time of the day or night or during a certain part of the day or night has an effect in law, such time shall, unless it is otherwise specifically stated, be held to be standard time as declared by this section.

The expression “standard time” means standard time as used in Singapore, namely, seven and a half hours, or such other period as may from time to time be determined by the President by notification in the Gazette, in advance of Greenwich Mean Time.

The Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance is hereby repealed (Cap. 2).

The Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance, 1948 (Malaysian Ord. 7 of 1948), of Malaysia and the Modification of Laws (General Provisions) (Singapore) Order, 1964, shall cease to apply to Singapore. [L.N. 361/64.]