Legislation

Evidence (Amendment) Act 2003 (A17/2003)

The Evidence Act (Cap 97) has been amended with effect from 26 September 2003 to safeguard official communications made to members, officers and employees of certain specified organisations.

Previously, s 126 of the Evidence Act provided that no public officer shall be compelled to disclose communications made to him in official confidence when he considers that the public interest would suffer by the disclosure.

Section 126 has now been amended with the addition of a new ss (2) which extends the privilege against disclosure of official communications to members, officers and employees of, and persons seconded to, organisations which are specified in the Schedule to the Official Secrets Act (Cap 213).

Tokyo Convention (Convention Countries) Notification 2003 (S443/2003)

The Tokyo Convention Act (Cap 327) gives effect to the Convention on Offences and certain other Acts Committed on board Aircrafts.

With effect from 19 September 2003, the list of countries that have ratified, acceded to or denounced the Tokyo Convention and the dates on which the Tokyo Convention has come into force or taken effect for such countries may be found on the official internet website of the International Civil Aviation Organisation at http://www.icao.int/icao/en/leb (under ‘Treaty Collection’).

If any doubt arises in relation to the accuracy or currency of the information published on the said website as to whether a country has ratified, acceded to or denounced the Tokyo Convention or the date on which the Tokyo Convention has come into force or taken effect for such country, or if any such information cannot, for any reason, be obtained from the website, a certificate issued by the International Civil Aviation Organisation stating whether that country has ratified, acceded to or denounced the Tokyo Convention or the date on which the Tokyo Convention has come into force or taken effect for such country shall be treated as a correct statement of the information so certified.

The Tokyo Convention (Convention Countries) Notification (N1), which previously listed definitively the list of convention countries, has been cancelled.

Central Provident Fund (Permanent Residents — Employees) (Amendment) Regulations 2003 (S466/2003)

Permanent Residents of Singapore contribute to the Central Provident Fund (‘CPF’) at graduated rates in their first and second year of becoming a Permanent Resident. The full CPF contribution rate will apply from the third year onwards. This is to allow them time to adjust to contributing to the CPF.

Following the cut to the CPF contribution rates applicable to Singapore citizens from 36% to 33% with effect from 1 October 2003, there have also been some changes to the rates applicable to Permanent Residents.

There is no change to the first year contribution rates. For second year Permanent Residents, with effect from 1 October 2003, the private sector employer contribution rate for those aged 55 and below will be lowered by 3 percentage points to 9%. The employee contribution rate will remain unchanged at 15%. Third year Singapore Permanent Residents will continue to pay the rates applicable for Singapore citizens.

The following table provides a summary of the CPF contribution rates applicable with effect from 1 October 2003 to Singapore Permanent Residents aged 55 and below and drawing a monthly salary which exceeds $750.

Central Provident Fund (Amendment of First Schedule) Notification 2003 (S468/2003)

The First Schedule to the Central Provident Act has been amended with effect from 1 October 2003.

Following the amendment, the Central Provident Fund (‘CPF’) contribution rate for workers aged 55 and below and whose monthly wages exceed $750 have been lowered from 36% to 33%. The 33% will be borne by the employee and employer as follows:

These changes were first announced on 28 August 2003 by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in an effort to reduce business costs in Singapore.

Elizabeth Wong
Allen and Gledhill