Power to order production of any document or other thing
20.—(1)  Where a police officer of or above the rank of sergeant, or an authorised person, considers that any document or thing (other than a document or thing in the custody of the Postal Authority, a public postal licensee or the public parcel locker network operator) is necessary or desirable for any investigation, inquiry, trial or other proceeding under this Code, the police officer or authorised person may —
(a)issue a written order to require a person in whose possession or power the document or thing is believed to be —
(i)to produce the document or thing at the time and place stated in the order;
(ii)to give a police officer or an authorised person access to the document or thing; or
(iii)in the case of a document or thing that is in electronic form —
(A)to produce a copy of the document or thing, at the time and place stated in the order; or
(B)to give a police officer or an authorised person access to a copy of the document or thing; or
(b)in the case of a document or thing that is contained in or available to a computer — issue a written order to require a person who is believed to have power to access the document or thing from that computer —
(i)to produce a copy of the document or thing, at the time and place stated in the order; or
(ii)to give a police officer or an authorised person access to a copy of the document or thing.
[Act 19 of 2018 wef 17/09/2018]
[Act 10 of 2021 wef 14/05/2021]
(1A)  Without limiting subsection (1), where a police officer of or above the rank of sergeant, or an authorised person, considers that any data (other than data in the custody of the Postal Authority, a public postal licensee or the public parcel locker network operator) is necessary or desirable for any investigation, inquiry, trial or other proceeding under this Code, the police officer or authorised person may —
(a)issue a written order to require a person in whose possession or power the data is believed to be —
(i)to authenticate the data; and
(ii)to produce the data, at the time and place stated in the order; or
(b)in the case of any data that is contained in or available to a computer — issue a written order to require a person who is believed to have power to access the data from that computer —
(i)to authenticate a copy of the data; and
(ii)to produce a copy of the data, at the time and place stated in the order.
[Act 19 of 2018 wef 17/09/2018]
[Act 10 of 2021 wef 14/05/2021]
(2)  Despite subsections (1) and (1A), a written order under subsection (1) or (1A) for the production of customer information by a financial institution, or access to customer information kept by a financial institution —
(a)must only be made by a police officer of or above the rank of inspector, or an authorised person; and
[Act 19 of 2018 wef 17/09/2018]
(b)may require the financial institution to monitor any account of a customer of the financial institution for a period of time and provide such information relating to the transactions carried out in the account during that period.
[Act 19 of 2018 wef 17/09/2018]
(3)  If any document or thing in the custody of the Postal Authority, a public postal licensee or the public parcel locker network operator is, in the opinion of the Public Prosecutor, required for any investigation, inquiry, trial or other proceeding under this Code, the Public Prosecutor may issue a written order to require the Postal Authority, public postal licensee or public parcel locker network operator, as the case may be —
(a)to deliver that document or thing, at the time and place stated in the order, to a person stated in the order; or
(b)in the case of a document or thing that is in electronic form or is contained in or available to a computer — to deliver a copy of that document or thing, at the time and place stated in the order, to a person stated in the order.
[Act 19 of 2018 wef 17/09/2018]
[Act 10 of 2021 wef 14/05/2021]
(3A)  Without limiting subsection (3), if any data in the custody of the Postal Authority, a public postal licensee or the public parcel locker network operator, in the opinion of the Public Prosecutor, required for any investigation, inquiry, trial or other proceeding under this Code, the Public Prosecutor may —
(a)issue a written order to require the Postal Authority, public postal licensee or public parcel locker network operator, as the case may be —
(i)to authenticate the data; and
(ii)to produce the data, at the time and place stated in the order; or
[Act 10 of 2021 wef 14/05/2021]
(b)in the case of any data that is contained in or available to a computer — issue a written order to require the Postal Authority, public postal licensee or public parcel locker network operator, as the case may be —
(i)to authenticate a copy of the data; and
(ii)to produce a copy of the data, at the time and place stated in the order.
[Act 19 of 2018 wef 17/09/2018]
[Act 10 of 2021 wef 14/05/2021]
(4)  If a person is required merely to produce any document, thing, data or copy, he may comply with such requirement by causing the document, thing, data or copy to be produced instead of bringing it in person.
[Act 19 of 2018 wef 17/09/2018]
(5)  A police officer, or an authorised person, may exercise the powers conferred under this section notwithstanding any provision in any other law relating to the production of, or the giving of any access to, any document or thing, or data.
[Act 19 of 2018 wef 17/09/2018]
(6)  The cost incurred by a person in complying with any requirement or written order under this section, or any requirement under any regulations in respect of any matter mentioned in section 428(2)(d), is to be borne by the person.
[Act 19 of 2018 wef 17/09/2018]
[Act 14 of 2019 wef 21/06/2019]
(7)  Any person who fails to comply with a written order issued under subsection (1), (1A), (3) or (3A), shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction —
(a)in any case where the person is a body corporate, a limited liability partnership, a partnership or an unincorporated association — to a fine not exceeding $10,000;
(b)in any case where the person is an individual, and the written order states that it is issued for the investigation or trial of an arrestable offence — to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both; or
(c)in any other case — to a fine not exceeding $1,500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month or to both.
[Act 19 of 2018 wef 17/09/2018]
(8)  No liability shall lie against a person who, acting in good faith and with reasonable care, does or omits to do anything in complying with any written order issued under subsection (1), (1A), (3) or (3A), or with any requirement under any regulations in respect of any matter mentioned in section 428(2)(d).
[Act 19 of 2018 wef 17/09/2018]
[Act 14 of 2019 wef 21/06/2019]
(9)  In this section —
“authorised person” means —
(a)any person who is authorised in writing by the Commissioner of Police for the purposes of this section; or
(b)any officer of a prescribed law enforcement agency who is authorised in writing, by the head of that law enforcement agency, for the purposes of this section;
“customer information” has the same meaning as in section 40A of the Banking Act (Cap. 19);
“prescribed law enforcement agency” means a law enforcement agency prescribed, by order in the Gazette, by the Minister charged with the responsibility for that law enforcement agency.
[Act 19 of 2018 wef 17/09/2018]