Singapore legislation
Clause 17
Clause 17
Desertion
(1)
Every person subject to military law who —
deserts or attempts to desert from the Singapore armed forces; or
persuades, endeavours to persuade, procures or attempts to procure, any person subject to military law to desert from the Singapore armed forces,shall be liable on conviction by court-martial to suffer imprisonment or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned:Provided that a person shall not be liable for a first offence to suffer imprisonment for a term exceeding two years unless that offence was committed when on active service or under orders for active service.
(2)
Where an offender has fraudulently enlisted once or oftener he may, for purposes of trial for the offence of deserting or attempting to desert the Singapore armed forces, be deemed to belong to any one or more of the corps to which he has been appointed or transferred as well as to the corps to which he properly belongs; and it shall be lawful to charge an offender with any number of offences against this section at the same time, and to give evidence of such offences against him, and if he be convicted thereof to punish him accordingly; and further it shall be lawful on conviction of a person for two or more offences to award him the higher punishment allowed by this section for a second offence as if he had been convicted by a previous court-martial of one of such offences.
(3)
For the purposes of the liability under this section to the higher punishment for a second offence, a previous offence of fraudulent enlistment may be reckoned as a previous offence under this section.