User:Sgconlaw/Public Order (Preservation) Act

The Public Order (Preservation) Act of Singapore is a statute that empowers the Government to proclaim a "state of danger to public order" in any area in Singapore where public order is "seriously disturbed" or "seriously threatened", and gives the police wide powers to maintain or restore order within the proclaimed area. The present Act was originally enacted by the Federal Legislative Council of the Federation of Malaya as the Public Order (Preservation) Ordinance 1958 (No. 46 of 1958), extended to Singapore on 16 September 1963 when Singapore was a state of the Federation of Malaysia, and retained following Singapore's full independence on 9 August 1965.

History
The Public Order (Preservation) Act was originally enacted as the Public Order (Preservation) Ordinance 1958 on 23 October 1958 by the Federal Legislative Council of the Federation of Malaya during the Malayan Emergency. The Emergency was a guerrilla war fought between Commonwealth armed forces and the Malayan National Liberation Army, the military arm of the Malayan Communist Party between 1948 and 1960.

The version of the Act currently in force is Chapter 258, 1985 Revised Edition.

Operation
The Act empowers the Minister for Home Affairs to proclaim a "state of danger to public order" in any area in Singapore where public order is "seriously disturbed" or "seriously threatened", and the Minister thinks it is necessary to make the proclamation to maintain or restore order there. A proclamation that has been made remains in force for a month unless it has been revoked by the Minister or by a parliamentary resolution, and can be renewed for periods of a month.

All proclamations and declarations of renewal must be published in the Government Gazette and presented to Parliament as soon as possible after they are made. In addition, the Minister is required to publish proclamations and declarations of renewal in such a manner as he or she thinks is necessary to notify people who may be affected by them. Once notice has been given of a particular proclamation or declaration of renewal, it comes into effect even if it has not yet been published in the Gazette.

Powers for the maintenance of public order
The Act confers on the police wide powers to maintain or restore order in the proclaimed area. Among the powers that may be exercised are the power to:


 * close or regulate the use of roads; and put up barriers and take reasonable steps to prevent people from crossing such barriers (to the extent of using lethal weapons);
 * prohibit or disperse assemblies of five or more persons in any public or private area, including using lethal force to do so;
 * impose curfews;
 * exclude people from the proclaimed area or any place or building within the area;
 * seize articles or material capable of being used for offensive purposes;
 * requisition any "movable or immovable property situated within any proclaimed area or any space or accommodation in any land, building, vessel, vehicle or aircraft"; and
 * arrest without warrant people who are suspected of committing certain offences referred to in section 27 of the Act, such as theft, unlawful assembly, rioting, and assaulting or obstructing public servants who are trying to suppress a riot. Again, lethal force can be used when trying to effect arrests.

Offences relating to public order
The Act creates a number of special offences. For instance, within a proclaimed area it is a crime to use or consort with someone using, or to carry, offensive weapons, or explosive, corrosive or inflammable substances. It is also an offence for a person to have under his or her possession or control in a private place within a proclaimed area any offensive weapon, or any explosive, corrosive or inflammable substance in circumstances raising a reasonable presumption that the weapon or substance "is intended to be used for a purpose prejudicial to the maintenance or restoration of public order", unless the person can prove on a balance of probabilities that the possession or control was solely for a lawful purpose. The Act creates a rebuttable presumption that if any weapon or substance is found on any premises the occupier is in possession of it, unless he or she can prove that it was in someone else's possession, or that he or she did not reasonably know that it was on the premises and had taken reasonable precautions against it being kept on the premises. Furthermore, it will also be presumed that weapons or substances were to be used for a purpose prejudicial to the maintenance or restoration of public order if their quantity exceeds what is reasonably required for ordinary use in a household or business, if they are hidden or not kept where they might reasonably be expected to be kept for domestic or business purposes, or if substances are kept in containers other than those they are usually kept in for domestic or business purposes.

Section 27 of the Act, referred to above, enhances the maximum penalties for certain crimes committed within a proclaimed area. In these cases, the courts can impose up to twice the longest prison term provided for.

Within a proclaimed area, it is an offence to provoke a breach of the peace by intentionally using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour. In fact, while a proclamation under the Act is in force, it is even an offence to do or say anything, or publish any document, anywhere in Singapore that "is likely to be prejudicial to the maintenance or restoration of public order in the proclaimed area or in any other part of Singapore", "incites or is likely to cause unlawful violence or to promote feelings of ill-will or hostility between different races or classes of the population of Singapore", or "is likely to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against any public servant in the execution of his duty or against any class of public servants or against any armed force lawfully in Singapore or any member of such force in the execution of his duty".

Invocation of the Act
In 1964 the Act was invoked twice, both times by the Federal Government in Kuala Lumpur when Singapore was a state of Malaysia, due to civil unrest that occurred in the midst of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation (September 1963 – May 1965) stemming from Indonesia's opposition to the creation of Malaysia. On these occasions, the whole of Singapore was declared a proclaimed area. The first time was on 22 July 1964 when riots between the Chinese and Malay communities broke out the previous day. A curfew was imposed from 9:30 pm to 6:00 am. As the public order situation improved, the curfew hours were gradually reduced until 2 August when the curfew was lifted completely.

With effect from 11:00 am on 5 September 1964, Singapore was again declared a proclaimed area, with a curfew beginning at 2:00 pm. This followed incidents of unrest in Geylang which the Prime Minister's Office claimed to have been instigated by "Indonesian agents and fifth columnists". Criminal proceedings were taken against various people for possessing and using offensive weapons, breaking curfew, uttering words likely to cause unlawful violence, and unlawful assembly.

Prior to the Little India riot...