Singapore Armed Forces Act 1972 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 3 · Military Offences
19. Insubordinate behaviour
Feedback & supportLast amended by an amending law of 2022.
Every person subject to military law shall be guilty of an offence if the person —
strikes or otherwise uses violence to, or offers violence to, a person superior in rank or appointment; or
uses threatening or insubordinate language or gestures to, or behaves with contempt to, a person superior in rank or appointment.
A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1)(a) shall be liable on conviction by a subordinate military court to —
military court
“military court” means a general court martial or the Military Court of Appeal.
if the offence is committed during active service — imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years or any less punishment authorised by this Act; and
in any other case — imprisonment for a term not exceeding 4 years or any less punishment authorised by this Act.
A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1)(b) shall be liable on conviction by a subordinate military court to —
if the offence is committed during active service — imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or any less punishment authorised by this Act; and
in any other case — imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or any less punishment authorised by this Act.
It is a defence for any person charged under this section to prove that he or she neither knew nor had reasonable cause to believe that the person in relation to whom the offence is alleged to have been committed was a person superior in rank or appointment.