Clause 1
This Act is the Singapore Armed Forces and Other Matters Act 2022 and comes into operation on a date that the Minister appoints by notification in the Gazette.
/akn/sg/act/bill/2022/15
Singapore Armed Forces and Other Matters Bill
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Part 1
AMENDMENT OF SINGAPORE ARMED FORCES ACT 1972
Clause 2
Section 2 of the Singapore Armed Forces Act 1972 (called in this Part the SAF Act) is amended —
(a)
by deleting the words “or the Chief of Navy” in the definition of “Service Chief” in subsection (1) and substituting the words “, the Chief of Navy or the Chief of Digital and Intelligence Service”; and(b)by deleting the words “or air force” in subsection (2)(c) and substituting the words “, air force, or digital and intelligence service”.
Clause 3
Section 7(1) of the SAF Act is amended by deleting the words “and navy” and substituting the words “, navy, and digital and intelligence service”.
Clause 4
Section 8(1) of the SAF Act is amended by deleting the word “and” at the end of paragraph (f), and by inserting immediately thereafter the following paragraph:“(fa)the Chief of Digital and Intelligence Service; and”.
Clause 5
Section 8B(2) of the SAF Act is amended by deleting the words “or Navy” in paragraph (c) and substituting the words “, Navy, or Digital and Intelligence Service”.
Clause 6
Section 10A of the SAF Act is amended —
(a)
by deleting the words “and a Chief of Navy” in subsection (1) and substituting the words “, a Chief of Navy and a Chief of Digital and Intelligence Service”;
(b)
by deleting the words “or the Chief of Navy” in subsections (3) and (4) and substituting in each case the words “, the Chief of Navy or the Chief of Digital and Intelligence Service”; and(c)by deleting the section heading and substituting the following section heading:“Appointment of Chief of Defence Force and Service Chiefs”.
Clause 7
Subclause
“(1) Every person subject to military law shall be guilty of an offence if the person —
(a)
strikes or otherwise uses violence to, or offers violence to, a person superior in rank or appointment; or(b)uses threatening or insubordinate language or gestures to, or behaves with contempt to, a person superior in rank or appointment.
(1A)
A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1)(a) shall be liable on conviction by a subordinate military court to —
(a)
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(b)in any other case — imprisonment for a term not exceeding 4 years or any less punishment authorised by this Act.
(1B)
A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1)(b) shall be liable on conviction by a subordinate military court to —
(a)
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(b)in any other case — imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or any less punishment authorised by this Act.”.
Clause 8
Part 4 of the SAF Act is amended by inserting, immediately after the words “DISCIPLINARY OFFICERS” in the Part heading, the words “AND COMPOSITION OF MILITARY OFFENCES”.
Clause 9
Section 60 of the SAF Act is amended —
(a)
by inserting, immediately before the definition of “detachment”, the following definition:“ “authorised composition officer” means a serviceman authorised to compound offences under section 79A(1);”; and(b)by deleting the words “and air force” in the definitions of “formation” and “unit” and substituting in each case the words “, air force or digital and intelligence service,”.
Clause 10
Subclause
“(1) Before an allegation against any person subject to military law (called in this Act the accused) that the person has committed an offence under this Act is further proceeded with, the allegation must —
(a)
be reported in the form of a charge to a disciplinary officer and dealt with in accordance with the provisions of this Part; or(b)be referred to an authorised composition officer for composition of the offence under section 79A.”.
Clause 11
Subclause
“(1A) A disciplinary officer must dismiss a charge if the charge relates to an offence that has been compounded under section 79A.”; and
Clause 12
Section 68 of the SAF Act is amended —
(a)
by deleting “$1,000” in paragraph (b)(i) and substituting “$2,000”; and(b)by deleting “$300” in paragraph (b)(ii) and substituting “$600”.
Clause 13
Section 69(1) of the SAF Act is amended —
(a)
by deleting “$1,500” in paragraph (d)(i) and substituting “$3,000”; and(b)by deleting “$500” in paragraph (d)(ii) and substituting “$1,000”.
Clause 14
Section 70(1) of the SAF Act is amended —
(a)
by deleting “$3,000” in paragraph (b)(i) and substituting “$6,000”; and(b)by deleting “$2,000” in paragraph (b)(ii) and substituting “$4,000”.
Clause 15
Section 70A(1) of the SAF Act is amended by deleting “$6,000” in paragraph (b) and substituting “$10,000”.
Clause 16
Section 70B(1) of the SAF Act is amended by deleting “$6,000” in paragraph (b) and substituting “$10,000”.
Clause 17
Section 72 of the SAF Act is amended —
(a)
by inserting, immediately after the words “senior military expert of” in subsection (1), the words “or above”; and(b)by deleting “$10,000” in subsection (6)(b)(ii) and substituting “$30,000”.
Clause 18
(2)
An authorised composition officer must not compound a prescribed offence reasonably suspected to have been committed by an accused who is in the same chain of command as the authorised composition officer.
(3)
For the purposes of subsection (2), an authorised composition officer is not in the same chain of command as an accused by reason only of being in the same formation as the accused.
(4)
On payment of the sum of money under subsection (1), no further proceedings are to be taken against the accused in respect of the prescribed offence.
(5)
All sums collected for the composition of an offence under subsection (1) must be paid into the Consolidated Fund.”.
(1)
Subject to subsection (2), any serviceman authorised by the Armed Forces Council to compound offences may compound any offence specified in the Schedule that is prescribed as a compoundable offence (called in this section a prescribed offence) by collecting from an accused reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding the lower of the following:
(a)
either —
(i)
one half of the amount of the maximum fine that is prescribed for the offence; or(ii)one half of the amount of the maximum fine that is authorised to be imposed by a disciplinary officer on the accused for the offence at a summary trial, if lower than the amount in sub‑paragraph (i) or if no maximum fine is prescribed;
(b)
$5,000.
Clause 19
Subclause
“(6) In this section —
Definition
“default limitation period” means the period of 3 years after the later of the dates mentioned in subsection (1)(a) and (b);
Definition
“related civil offence”, in relation to a person alleged to have committed an offence triable under this Act, means an alleged civil offence, whether alleged to have been committed by that person or another person, arising from the same factual matrix as the alleged offence triable under this Act, which, if tried in a civil court, may result in a finding by the civil court that has a material relevance to a finding at a trial by a subordinate military court of that person for the alleged offence triable under this Act.”.
Clause 20
Subclause
“(1) Subject to subsection (2), every person subject to military law who commits any offence which when committed in Singapore or elsewhere is punishable by any written law of Singapore shall, if charged under this section with any such offence, be liable to be tried by a subordinate military court and on conviction to be punished with either —
(a)
any punishment that may be awarded to the person under this Act in respect of an act, conduct or neglect to the prejudice of good order or discipline; or(b)any punishment that may be awarded for the offence under that written law, had the person been convicted by a civil court for the offence and, in addition to or in lieu of such punishment, one or more of the punishments specified in section 118(1)(c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (j), (k) and (l), and any punishment which may be imposed under section 118(10), (11), (13) and (14), which is or are not prescribed by the written law for the offence.”.
Clause 21
Subclause
“(16A) Where a subordinate military court sentences a person to caning under section 112(1), that sentence must not be carried into effect unless confirmed by the Armed Forces Council.”.
Clause 22
Section 125(1) of the SAF Act is amended by inserting, immediately after the word “awarded”, the words “under section 112(1) or”.
Clause 23
Subclause
“(5) When a notice of appeal has been lodged, the registrar of the Military Court of Appeal must cause a copy of the grounds of decision in the case signed by the president of the subordinate military court and a copy of the record of proceedings (called in this subsection the appeal documents) to be served on the appellant or the appellant’s counsel —
(a)
by delivering the appeal documents at the address mentioned in the notice of appeal to —
(i)
the appellant;
(ii)
where the appellant is not present at the address and the address is a business address — the appellant’s counsel or any other adult person present at the address; or(iii)where the appellant is not present at the address and the address is a residential address — an adult person who is a member of the appellant’s family;
(b)
by posting the appeal documents by registered post addressed to the appellant or the appellant’s counsel (as the case may be) at the address mentioned in the notice of appeal;
(c)
by addressing the appeal documents to the appellant or the appellant’s counsel (as the case may be), and transmitting the documents by fax to the fax number mentioned in the notice of appeal;
(d)
by addressing the appeal documents to the appellant or the appellant’s counsel (as the case may be), and transmitting the documents to the electronic mail address mentioned in the notice of appeal; or(e)by any other prescribed method.”.
Clause 24
Section 167(3) of the SAF Act is amended by inserting, immediately after the words “must be”, the words “released or”.
Clause 25
Subclause
“(1A) The regulations made under subsection (1) may provide that any of the following may be determined by the Armed Forces Council in a General Order made under section 208(1):
(a)
the rate of contribution by the Government under the SAVER Plan or the Premium Plan;
(b)
the conditions under which a contribution by the Government is payable under the SAVER Plan or the Premium Plan to the SAVER‑Premium Fund;
(c)
the conditions under which a superannuation benefit is payable to a serviceman (including to his or her legal personal representatives or dependants if the serviceman is deceased).”.
Clause 26
Section 205C of the SAF Act is amended —
(a)
by deleting subsection (12); and(b)by deleting the words “, auditing and periodic examination” in subsection (13)(c) and substituting the words “and auditing”.