Newspaper and Printing Presses Bill

This Act may be cited as the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act, 1974, and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

The Minister may appoint different dates for the coming into operation of the different Parts or provisions of this Act.

“chief editor” includes the executive editor, the managing editor and any other person who controls the policy of a newspaper;

“company” means a company incorporated or registered under the Companies Act (Cap. 185) or under any corresponding previous written law;

“document” means any printed newspaper or sheet of paper or other material and any printed pamphlet, leaflet, map, chart and plan, and includes any documents bound together;

“newspaper” means any publication containing news, intelligence, reports of occurrences, or any remarks, observations or comments, in relation to such news, intelligence, reports of occurrences, or to any other matter of public interest, printed in any language and published in Singapore for sale or free distribution at regular intervals or otherwise, but does not include any publication published by or for the Government;

“newspaper company” means a public company limited by shares which has complied with the provisions of section 9 of this Act;

“newspaper register” means the books which are to be kept by the Registrar under section 19 of this Act;

“place”, in the phrases “place of business” and “place of residence”, means the street, square or other place and the number or other designation of the house;

“proprietor” includes the chief executive officer of a newspaper company;

“Registrar” means the Registrar of Newspapers and includes any Deputy or Assistant Registrar of Newspapers appointed by the Minister under section 18 of this Act;

Any person who publishes, sells, offers for sale or distributes or abets the sale, offer for sale or distribution of any newspaper the printing, publication, sale or distribution of which is unlawful under any of the provisions of this Act shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or to both such imprisonment and fine:Provided that no person shall be convicted of any offence under this subsection if he proves that the newspaper in respect of which he is charged was published, sold, offered for sale or distributed, as the case may be, without his authority, consent and knowledge and without any want of due care on his part.

Any person who, without lawful excuse, has in his possession, custody or control for the purpose of publication, sale or distribution any newspaper the printing, publication, sale or distribution of which is unlawful under any of the provisions of this Act shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to the penalty prescribed by section 25 of this Act.

It shall be presumed until the contrary is proved that any person found in possession, custody or control of any such newspaper had it for the purpose of the publication, sale or distribution thereof.

Where any person is convicted of any offence under this section, any newspaper to which the proceedings relate shall be forfeited and shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of as the court directs.

Any officer of the Postal Services Department not below the rank of Assistant Controller or any officer of customs not below the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Customs and Excise or any police officer not below the rank of Inspector may detain, open and examine any package or article which he suspects to contain any newspaper which is being or has been brought into Singapore for the purpose of publication, sale or distribution in contravention of the provisions of this Act or of any condition imposed in respect of any permit.

Any police officer or any officer of customs may seize and detain any newspaper found in the possession of any person which the police officer or the officer of customs has reasonable cause to believe has been printed, published, sold or distributed or is intended to be printed, published, sold or distributed in contravention of the provisions of this Act or of any conditions imposed in respect of any permit and any such newspaper which has been so printed, published, sold or distributed shall whether or not any person has been convicted of any offence in respect thereof be forfeited by order of a court and shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of as the court directs.

A District Judge or a Magistrate may issue a warrant empowering any police officer not below the rank of sergeant to enter upon and search for any newspaper the printing, publication, sale or distribution of which is unlawful under any of the provisions of this Act in any premises where any such newspaper is known or reasonably suspected to be.

Whenever it appears to any police officer not below the rank of Inspector that there is reasonable cause to believe that in any premises there is concealed or deposited any newspaper the printing, publication, sale or distribution of which is unlawful under any of the provisions of this Act and he has reasonable grounds for believing that by reason of the delay which would be entailed by obtaining a search warrant the object of the search is likely to be frustrated he may enter and search the premises as if he were empowered to do so by a warrant.

Except where otherwise herein provided, any person who fails to comply with any of the requirements of this Act shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction before a District Court or Magistrate’s Court to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or to both such imprisonment and fine.

Such Courts, notwithstanding anything in the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 113) contained, may award the full penalty provided for the offence.

The Printing Presses Act is hereby repealed.

Any valid licence or permit granted under the Printing Presses Act (Cap. 258) repealed by this Act shall be deemed to have been granted under this Act.

The Minister may in his discretion grant to any person in Singapore a licence to keep and use a press for the printing of documents and may at any time withdraw such a licence either permanently or for such period as he thinks fit.

The licence shall be in the prescribed form.

Any person to whom a licence is refused or whose licence is withdrawn may appeal to the President whose decision thereon shall be final.

No person shall keep for use or use any such press without such a licence.

For the purposes of this section the occupier of any premises on which any such press is found shall be deemed to have kept it for use until he proves the contrary.

Every licence granted under subsection (1) of this section shall ordinarily be for one year from the date of its issue.

The withdrawal of any licence shall be deemed to be sufficiently communicated to the licensee if a notice of withdrawal is personally served on the person in charge of the printing press.

Every document printed within Singapore shall have printed legibly on its first or last printed leaf the name of its printer and publisher.

No person shall print or publish or distribute or assist in distributing any document which does not comply with the requirements of this section.

No newspaper to which this Part applies shall be published in Singapore except by a newspaper company unless the newspaper has been exempted from the provisions of this Part.

Any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars or to both such imprisonment and fine.

In every newspaper company —

No newspaper company shall refuse to issue management shares to any person who has been granted the written approval of the Minister to purchase such shares.

No person shall continue to hold management shares of a newspaper company if the approval of the Minister has been revoked, and on the revocation of such approval he shall cease to have any voting rights under such management shares; and such newspaper company shall, as soon as may be, arrange for such person to be issued with one ordinary share in exchange for each management share held by him.

The directors of a newspaper company, notwithstanding anything in its articles of association, shall, on the requisition of the holders of not less than one-quarter of its issued management shares, forthwith proceed to convene an extraordinary general meeting of the company to be held as soon as practicable but in any case not later than two months after the receipt by the company of the requisition.

For the purposes of this section, “management share” means a share of a class, the aggregate voting rights of which exceed the voting rights conferred by all the ordinary shares of the company.

The provisions of this section shall have effect notwithstanding the provisions of any other written law.

Subject to this section, no person shall, on or after the grant or renewal of a permit under section 12 of this Act, receive on behalf or for the purposes of any newspaper to which this Part applies any funds from a foreign source without the prior approval of the Minister.

The Minister may grant such approval if he is satisfied, on such evidence as he may require to be furnished to him, that the funds from a foreign source are intended for bona fide commercial purposes.

Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section where any funds from a foreign source are sent to a person without his prior knowledge, consent or solicitation and such funds are intended for or given by the donor for the purposes of the newspaper, that person shall within three days of the receipt thereof report the circumstances and particulars of the receipt of such funds and the purposes for which such funds were received to the Minister.

Where funds from a foreign source have been received by a person for the purposes of the newspaper under subsection (3) of this section and the Minister refuses his approval for the retention of those funds the person shall, within such time as is specified by the Minister, return them to the sender thereof or, if the sender is untraced, such funds shall be donated to any charity specified by the Minister.

For the purposes of this section “foreign source” includes —

In this section “funds” means money, securities, movable or immovable property or other valuable consideration.

Nothing in this section shall apply to any dealing by any person in the shares of a newspaper company quoted on a Stock Exchange in Singapore.

Any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (1), (3) or (4) of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars or to both such imprisonment and fine and the Court may, in addition to any other penalty that it may impose, order the forfeiture to the Government of any funds which are the subject of the charge.

No person shall print or publish or assist in the printing or publishing of any newspaper in Singapore unless the chief editor of the newspaper has previously obtained a permit in writing under the hand of the Minister authorizing the publication thereof, which permit he may in his discretion grant, refuse, or revoke, or grant subject to conditions to be endorsed thereon.

Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of subsection (1) of this section the Minister may direct that the newspaper shall be printed in such language as may be specified in the permit, and may before granting the permit require the applicant to execute a bond with or without sureties to secure the payment of any penalties which may be imposed upon the newspaper company, proprietor or editor of the newspaper under this Act or under any other written law.

Every such permit unless sooner revoked shall ordinarily be for one year from the date of its issue, and may be renewed for further periods of twelve months.

Notice of the grant or withdrawal of a permit to publish a newspaper shall be given in the Gazette.

The Minister may make rules prescribing the particulars to be supplied by an applicant for a permit under this section.

A permit under this section shall be in addition to any licence issued under section 3 of this Act in respect of the printing press at which any newspaper is to be printed.

Any person dissatisfied with any decision of the Minister or with any condition imposed by the Minister under this section may appeal to the President whose decision thereon shall be final.

Any person who contravenes the provisions of this section or fails to comply with any condition attached to the grant of a permit under this section shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and shall be liable to the penalty prescribed by section 25 of this Act.

The printer and the publisher of every newspaper printed or published within Singapore shall —

Every declaration made or subscribed under subsection (1) of this section shall specify the title of the newspaper, the language in which it is to be published and the periodicity of its publication and shall contain such other particulars as may be prescribed.

Where the title of any newspaper or its language or the periodicity of its publication is changed, the declaration shall cease to have effect and a new declaration shall be made or subscribed before the publication of the newspaper can be continued except that where the change is for a period not exceeding thirty days, no new declaration shall be necessary if —

As often as the printer or the publisher who shall have made or subscribed such declaration as is referred to in this section shall leave Singapore for a period exceeding ninety days or where such printer or publisher is by infirmity or otherwise rendered incapable of carrying out his duties for a period exceeding ninety days in circumstances not involving the vacation of his appointment, a new declaration shall be made or subscribed.

Every declaration made or subscribed in respect of a newspaper shall be void, where the newspaper does not commence publication —

No person shall cause to be printed or published any newspaper, knowing that the above provisions have not been complied with.

If on an application made to the Minister by the Registrar or any other person the Minister is of the opinion that any declaration made or subscribed in respect of a newspaper should be cancelled, he may, after giving the person concerned an opportunity of showing cause against the action proposed to be taken, cause an inquiry to be held into the matter and if, after considering the cause, if any, shown by such person and after giving him an opportunity of being heard, he is satisfied —

Any person dissatisfied with an order of the Minister under subsection (1) of this section may appeal to the President whose decision thereon shall be final.

Within twenty-one days of any change in the ownership of any newspaper the printer and the publisher of the newspaper shall make or subscribe before the Registrar a declaration as to that change in the newspaper register.

If within that period of twenty-one days such a declaration is not made or subscribed, the printer and the publisher of the newspaper shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.

Any party to any such change may at any time make or subscribe or cause to be made or subscribed such a declaration.

No newspaper printed in Malaysia shall be published, sold, offered for sale or distributed in Singapore unless the proprietor of the newspaper or his agent has previously obtained and there is in force a permit in writing under the hand of the Minister authorizing the publication, sale or distribution of the newspaper in Singapore, which permit the Minister may in his discretion grant, refuse, or revoke, or grant subject to conditions to be endorsed thereon:Provided that nothing in this section shall affect the publication, sale, offer for sale or distribution of any newspaper in respect of which a permit has been granted under section 12 of this Act.

Every such permit shall have effect only in respect of the proprietor to whom it was granted and shall unless sooner revoked ordinarily be for one year from the date of its issue, and may be renewed for further periods of twelve months.

It shall be a condition of the grant of any permit under this section that any newspaper to which it refers shall have printed legibly in the English or Malay language on its first or last printed leaf the name and address of its printer, its publisher, and the place or places where it is printed and published and an address within Singapore for the service of legal process upon the printer and the publisher or of a person or persons authorized by the printer and the publisher to accept service on their behalf.

The Minister may in his discretion impose as conditions of the grant of a permit that the proprietor shall establish and maintain a place of business within Singapore, that he shall appoint persons within Singapore authorized to accept service of any notice or legal process on his behalf and on behalf of the printer or the publisher and that he shall furnish the Registrar with the names and addresses of the persons so appointed.

Notice of the grant, refusal or revocation of a permit to sell and distribute a newspaper shall be published in the Gazette.

Any person dissatisfied with the decision of the Minister as to the grant, refusal or revocation of a permit or with any condition imposed by the Minister as a condition of the grant of a permit under this section may appeal to the President whose decision thereon shall be final.

The Minister may appoint a Registrar of Newspapers and such Deputy Registrars and Assistant Registrars of Newspapers as he thinks necessary for the proper administration of this Act.

The Registrar shall be charged with the general administration of this Act and the exercise of functions imposed upon him by this Act.

The Registrar may authorize or appoint any person to assist him in the exercise of his functions and duties under this Act whether generally or in any particular case.

The Registrar and any person authorized or appointed by him pursuant to subsection (3) of this section shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of the Penal Code (Cap. 103).

The Registrar shall keep a newspaper register in books consisting of printed copies of the forms of declaration prescribed by rules made under this Act.

These forms shall be completed by the Registrar and be subscribed by the person making the declaration.