Legislation Update
New
Bills
Statutes
(Miscellaneous Amendments and Repeal) Bill 2000 (B22/2000)
This
Bill seeks to amend certain statutes of the Republic of Singapore and to repeal
certain statutes that are obsolete. The Bill seeks to amend the following Acts:
Interpretation
Act
The
Interpretation Act will be amended for the following purposes:
to
prescribe definitions for ‘appoint’ and ‘contravene’;
to
provide that different grammatical forms of a defined word or expression
bear corresponding meanings;
to
provide that an example or illustration in relation to a provision of an Act
is not to be taken to be exhaustive, and that in the event of an
inconsistency between the provision and the example or illustration, the
provision will prevail;
to
provide that, where a Minister is given the power in any written law to
specify, by notification, a day when the written law is to come into
operation, the notification may specify different days for different
provisions of the written law to come into operation;
to
provide that the consequences of a repeal under s 16(2) also applies to any
amendment that has the effect of removing or limiting the effect of a
written law, or of excluding the application of the written law to any
person, subject-matter or circumstance;
to
provide that a reference in a written law to an Act includes a reference to
subsidiary legislation made under the Act; and
to
prescribe rules of substantive law to be implied into legislation in
relation to the exercise of powers by a statutory body and service of
documents.
Air
Navigation Act
Section
3 of the Air Navigation Act will be amended to enable the Minister to make
orders to give effect to obligations of Singapore as a member of an
international organisation or a party to an international agreement.
Legal
Profession Act
The
Bill seeks to amend s 130B of the Legal Profession Act to provide that,
notwithstanding s 27 of the Companies Act, a Joint Law Venture that is a limited
company need not have the word ‘Limited’ or ‘Berhad’ as part of its
name, and a Joint Law Venture that is a private company need not have the word
‘Private’ or ‘Sendirian’ as part of its name. Section 130I will also be
amended to provide for the registration of all foreign lawyers practising in or
employed by a foreign law firm, a Singapore law firm or a Joint Law Venture.
Medical
Registration Act
The
Medical Registration Act will be amended by inserting a new s 57A, which
empowers a Magistrate’s Court or a District Court to impose any punishment
authorised by the Act.
Mental
Disorders and Treatment Act
The
Mental Disorders and Treatment Act will be amended to re-define the term
‘medical officer’ to include registered medical practitioners who are
designated by name or office by the Director of Medical Services in writing for
the purposes of the Act (in addition to registered medical practitioners in the
service of the Government).
Monetary
Authority of Singapore Act
The
Monetary Authority of Singapore Act will be amended by inserting a new s 27A,
which enables the Monetary Authority of Singapore to issue directions to
financial institutions to give effect to decisions of the Security Council of
the United Nations.
Moneylenders
Act
The
Moneylenders Act will be amended to do away with the requirement for a
registered moneylender to deposit with the Commissioner of Stamp Duties a copy
of any note or memorandum setting out the contract for repayment of money lent
by him.
Motor
Vehicles (Third-Party Risks and Compensation) Act
The
Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks and Compensation) Act will be amended to
introduce a definition of ‘relevant amount’. ‘Relevant amount’ is
defined as $5,000 or, if an amount has been prescribed, the prescribed amount.
Sections 6(1), 9(2), 9(8) and 18 of the Act will be amended by replacing the
reference to ‘$5,000’ with ‘relevant amount’. This is to enable future
changes to the minimum sum in those sections to be made by rules. Section 18(3)
of the Act will also be amended —
to
require the costs of a public officer or an advocate and solicitor acting on
behalf of a claimant for damages in respect of death or injury arising out
of the use of a motor vehicle, to be taxed only if there is no agreement
between the Public Trustee and the public officer or advocate and solicitor
as to the costs; and
to
enable the Public Trustee to fix costs if taxation proceedings were not
commenced within three months after a specified date, unless before that
time an agreement as to costs has been reached.
The
Bill also seeks to insert a new s 18A to give the Public Trustee the right to
appear and be heard in court in certain proceedings.
Mutual
Assistance in Criminal Matters Act
A
new s 44A will be inserted to enable assistance in criminal matters to be
provided to prescribed international criminal tribunals.
Securities
Industry Act
The
Bill seeks to amend s 103 of the Securities Industry Act to clarify that the
defence in s 103(11) applies also to a civil penalty action for insider trading
under s 104A.
Trade
Marks Act
The
Bill seeks to amend s 22(5) of the Trade Marks Act for purposes of consistency
with s 7(10). A new s 35(6) will also be inserted to clarify that an advocate
and solicitor is not liable under s 35 (remedy for groundless threats of
infringement proceedings) in respect of an act done in his professional capacity
on behalf of a client.
Obsolete
Acts
The
Bill seeks to repeal the following obsolete Acts:
Land
Officers Powers Act;
Preservation
of the Peace Act;
Prevention
of Crimes Act; and
Tin
and Tin-Ore (Disclosure of Smelters’ Stocks) Act.
Compulsory
Education Bill 2000 (B23/2000)
This
Bill seeks to make provisions for compulsory primary education in the national
primary schools to meet two key objectives:
to
give the children of Singapore a common core knowledge which will provide a
strong foundation for further education and training to prepare them for a
knowledge-based economy; and
to
give the children of Singapore a common educational experience which will
help build national identity and cohesion.
New
Subsidiary Legislation
Road
Traffic (Rebate on Licence Fee for Motor Vehicles) Rules 2000 (S361/2000)
With
effect from 8 August 2000, the Registrar of Vehicles may, at the time of the
issue or renewal of a licence for a motor vehicle, allow a rebate on the licence
fee payable for the issue or renewal of the licence in the following two
situations:
where
an application is made for a licence for a motor vehicle which has not been
previously registered under the Act and the licence is to commence on any
date during the relevant period; or
where
an application is made for the renewal of a licence which commences on any
date during the relevant period.
The
rebates are not available in respect of any motor vehicle —
in
respect of which a permit has been issued under s 25 of the Act (visitor’s
vehicle);
which
has been approved by the Registrar as a vintage vehicle under rule 5(2) of
the Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Registration and Licensing) Rules (R 5);
which
is a trailer; or
which
has been re-registered as a classic car under rule 33A (1) of the Road
Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Registration and Licensing) Rules.
Patents
(Convention Countries) (Amendment) Order 2000 (S367/2000)
With
effect from 4 August 2000, Bhutan has been declared to be a convention country
for purposes of the Patents Act.
Planning
(Development Charges) (Amendment No 2) Rules 2000 (S391/2000)
The
Ministry of National Development, in consultation with the Chief Valuer, has
revised the rates of development charges. The revised rates are effective from 1
September 2000.
With
the revised rates, development charges for the residential use groups will be
reduced by an average of 1% for landed developments and 2% for non-landed
developments. The rates for commercial, hotel and industrial land on the main
island have remained unchanged.
The
number of sectors has been increased from 116 to 118. The outlying islands,
which were previously all in the same sector, have now been grouped into three
different sectors, namely sectors 116, 117 and 118. This is to better reflect
the values of the land on the different islands.
Trustees
(Authorised Unit Trust Scheme) (No 9) Order 2000 (S373/2000)
Trustees (Authorised Unit Trust Scheme) (No 10) Order 2000 (S374/2000)
Trustees (Authorised Unit Trust Scheme) (No 11) Order 2000 (S375/2000)
Trustees (Authorised Unit Trust Scheme) (No 12) Order 2000 (S376/2000)
Trustees (Authorised Unit Trust Scheme) (No 13) Order 2000 (S385/2000)
Trustees (Authorised Unit Trust Scheme) (No 14) Order 2000 (S400/2000)
The
following unit trusts have been declared as authorised unit trust schemes for
the purposes of the Trustees Act:
DBS
Enhanced Income Fund (S$);
Infinity
US 500 Stock Index Fund;
Infinity
European Stock Index Fund;
Infinity
Global Stock Index Fund;
OCBC
Protected Investment Series; and
Indocam
Asia Vision Fund.
Elizabeth
Wong