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LEGAL UPDATES |
Legislation
The International Arbitration (Amendment) Act 2009 has been gazetted and came into force on 1 January 2010.
The International Arbitration Act will be amended for the following purposes:
1. To update the definition of “arbitration agreement” in Part II by expressly including arbitration agreements made by
electronic communications;
2. To provide expressly for the powers of the High Court to make certain orders in support of international arbitration;
3. To empower the Minister for Law to appoint any person holding office in an arbitral institution or other organisation to authenticate “made in Singapore” arbitration awards and arbitration agreements, and certify copies thereof, for the purposes of enforcement of awards in countries which are Contracting States to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcementof Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958; and
4. To provide for other amendments of a technical nature.
Similar amendments are made to the Arbitration Act.
The Goods and Services Tax Act will be amended with effect from 1 January 2010 to implement changes proposed in the Budget Statement 2009 as well as to effect amendments arising from an ongoing review of the GST system. The changes to the Goods and Services Tax Act, which are made pursuant to the Good and Services Tax
(Amendment) Act 2009, include the following:
1. Zero-rating of all aircraft, including private aircraft, used wholly for international transportation as well as the sale and lease of
qualifying aircraft parts;
2. Providing for the temporary removal of goods, without payment of GST, from a warehouse outside the free trade zone for the purpose of an auction, exhibition or other similar event involving the display of goods;
3. Allowing a trust to be registered in its own name, while continuing to make the trustees liable for compliance with the Act;
4. Extending to electronic vouchers the current practice of accounting for GST on physical vouchers at the point where the physical vouchers are redeemed for goods and services. A new Part XIIIA has been introduced in the Goods and Services Tax (General) Regulations to implement this change; and
5. Requiring taxpayers to state precisely their grounds of objection when applying for a review or revision of a decision made by the Comptroller of GST.
To support the implementation of the above changes, the following regulations and orders have been issued, all of which will also
come into effect from 1 January 2010:
1. Goods and Services Tax Act - Goods and Services Tax (General) (Amendment No 3) Regulations 2009.
2. Goods and Services Tax Act - Goods and Services Tax (Imports Relief) (Amendment No 2) Order 2009.
3. Goods and Services Tax Act - Goods and Services Tax (International Services) (Amendment No 2) Order 2009.
The Mental Capacity Act 2008 (the “Act”) will come into operation on 1 March 2010, save for s 13(9) and 26(l) of the Act.
The Act reforms and updates the law where decisions need to be made on behalf of persons lacking capacity in two situations: (a) where they lose mental capacity at some point in their lives (for example as a result of dementia or brain injury), and (b) where the incapacitating condition has been present since birth.
Key features of the Act include the following:
1. A person must be assumed to have capacity until it is proved otherwise and must also be supported to make his
own decision, as far it is practicable to do so.
2. The inability to make a decision must be caused by an impairment of or a disturbance in the functioning of the mind or brain. A person is not to be treated as lacking capacity to make a decision simply because he makes an unwise decision.
3. Every act done or decision made for a person who lacks capacity must be done or made in that person’s best interests.
The Bill provides a checklist for this.
4. There will be a new statutory form of power of attorney, namely, the lasting power of attorney. In this regard, please
note that s 13(9) will not come into force on 1 March 2010. Section 13(9) provides that notwithstanding anything in the lasting
power of attorney, a donee authorised to make decisions about the donor’s property and affairs may not execute a will
for the donor.
5. There is a list of excluded decisions that can never be made on behalf of a person who lacks capacity, for instance,
consent to marriage, adopting or renouncing a religion, making or revoking a CPF nomination and register or withdrawing an
objection to a human organ transplant/donation. The excluded decisions are listed in s 26. Please note that s 26(l) will not come
into force on 1 March 2010. Section 26(l) provides that nothing in the Act permits the making or revocation of a CPF nomination
on behalf of a person.
The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act 2008 (the “Act”) will come into force on 1 March 2010, save for certain consequential changes to the Central Provident Fund Act and the Registration of Criminals Act.
The Act enhances safeguards for the protection of the interests of patients who are compulsorily admitted into psychiatric institutions. Current provisions regulating admission and detention of persons of unsound mind in mental hospitals which are set out in the Mental Disorders and Treatment Act (the “MDTA”) will be repealed and re-enacted under the Act. The provisions of the MDTA,
relating to inquiries into mental disorders and the appointment of committees of person and estate of mentally disordered persons, which the Act will repeal, will be re-enacted with amendments in the Mental Capacity Act 2008.
The Copyright (Amendment) Act 2009 (the “Act”) will come into force on 31 December 2009. The Copyright Act will be
amended to effect changes relating to the jurisdictional and operational aspects of the Copyright Tribunal. In this regard, the Copyright Tribunal (Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 (S641/2009) have been issued, coming into force also on 31 December 2009.
Elizabeth Wong
Allen & Gledhill LLP