For Want of a Better Title

Just a point of legal information

September 17, 2008 at 12:15 pm | Posted in But Seriously | 6 Comments

Chia Ti Lik in his post “Revelations from Bukit Merah West NPC” seems to indicate that “the Parliamentary statute of the Miscellaneous Offences Act has been arbitrarily expanded by the Singapore Police Force or the AG-C.”

Mr Chia probably did not have the benefit of Legal Analysis, Writing and Research (LAWR) or Singapore Legal System (SLS) as his first year foundational course. As he himself admitted he “had never been an exceptionally bright student. Many a time legal concepts did escape me for awhile before I finally grasped them.”The thing is that there is legislation on the matter. It is the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) (Assemblies and Processions) Rules (Cap. 184, R.1, 1997 Rev. Ed. Sing.) [reproduced at the end of this post].

It’s a subsidiary legislation (or delegated legislation in the UK). Basically it is a law made by a government body due to the powers ascribed to it from a statute (primary legislation, the one parliament debates about). It is usually done because there are minute details that would take too much time if Parliament were to debate it.

So it is not arbitrary in nature, it is delegated authority. Under Section 5(1) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act “The
Minister may make rules…” So to answer Mr Chia’s question, it probably is the Home Affairs Minister who expanded made the legislation but it was his statutory duty/right according to what the statute provided him. [edited thanks to a knowledgeable reader]

As a practicing lawyer Mr Chia should have known better and should have checked subsidiary legislation. I find it very irresponsible for a practitioner of the law to make wild accusations about matters of the law. A layperson could make such mistakes as subsidiary legislation is not readily available online, and they probably would not know about them anyway. But lawyers should know. We have access to law libraries and, if not, we would still have an inkling of the fact that there could be subsidiary legislation.

I hope that Mr Chia would clarify his statement made at Sgpolitics.net, so as not to mislead the general public into thinking that our society is one without rules.

—
MISCELLANEOUS OFFENCES (PUBLIC ORDER AND NUISANCE) ACT
(CHAPTER 184, SECTION 5 (1))
MISCELLANEOUS OFFENCES (PUBLIC ORDER AND NUISANCE) (ASSEMBLIES AND PROCESSIONS) RULES

[9th June 1989]

Citation
1. These Rules may be cited as the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) (Assemblies and Processions) Rules.

Application
2. —(1) Subject to paragraph (2), these Rules shall apply to any assembly or procession of 5 or more persons in any public road, public place or place of public resort intended —

(a) to demonstrate support for or opposition to the views or actions of any person;

(b) to publicise a cause or campaign; or

(c) to mark or commemorate any event.

(2) These Rules shall not apply to the following assemblies or processions:

(a) any assembly held in the Botanic Gardens with the consent or written permission of the National Parks Board;

(b) any assembly held in connection with any wedding or funeral —

(i) on any State land;

(ii) in any Housing and Development Board estate; or

(iii) in any public road,

with the consent or written permission of the Commissioner of Lands, the Estates Officer of the Housing and Development Board estate or the Chief Executive of the Land Transport Authority of Singapore, as the case may be;

(c) any sporting event held in any public place designated for use for sporting events;

(d) any assembly in any place of public resort for the purpose for which the place of public resort is licensed under any written law;

(e) any election meeting to which the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) (Election Meetings) Rules (R 2) apply;

(ea) any festival auction assembly to which the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) (Festival Auction Assembly) Rules 2000 (G.N. No. S 303/2000) apply;

(eb) any assembly held in connection with any public entertainment that is licensed under the Public Entertainments Act (Cap. 257);

(f) any assembly or procession held by or under the direction or control of the Government;

(g) any assembly or procession held wholly within the area in Hong Lim Park known as the Speakers’ Corner (more particularly delineated in the Schedule) where —

(i) the promoter or promoters of the assembly or procession are all citizens of Singapore; and

(ii) the participants in the assembly or procession are all citizens or permanent residents of Singapore; and

(h) any assembly held wholly within a building and where —

(i) the promoter or promoters of the assembly are all citizens of Singapore;

(ii) there are only citizens and permanent residents of Singapore participating in the assembly;

(iii) the promoter or promoters, or an authorised agent of the promoter or promoters, is present at all times during the assembly; and

(iv) the assembly does not deal with any matter —

(A) which relates, directly or indirectly, to any religious belief or to religion generally; or

(B) which may cause feelings of enmity, hatred, ill-will or hostility between different racial or religious groups in Singapore.