Children and Young Persons Act 1993 - Singapore Statutes Online

Short title

1. This Act is the Children and Young Persons Act 1993.

Principles

4. The following principles apply for the purposes of this Act:

(a)	the parents or guardian of a child or young person are primarily responsible for the care and welfare of the child or young person and they should discharge their responsibilities to promote the welfare of the child or young person; and
(b)	in all matters relating to the administration or application of this Act, the welfare and best interests of the child or young person must be the first and paramount consideration. [3A [3/2011]

Restriction on publication of information leading to identification of child or young person who is subject of investigation, etc.

111.—(1) A person must not, without the Director‑General’s approval, publish or broadcast —

(a)

any information or picture that identifies, or is likely to lead to the identification of any child or young person as a child or young person who —

(i)	had been or is the subject of any investigation under this Act;
(ii)	had been or is arrested on or after 1 July 2020, for an offence committed under any written law;
(iii)	had been or is taken into care or custody by the Director‑General, a protector, any officer generally or specially authorised in that behalf in writing by the Director‑General or a protector or a police officer under this Act;
(iv)	had attended or is attending a family programme in relation to an application to be made under section 59; or
(v)	was or is the subject of an order made by a court under this Act; or

(b)

any information or picture mentioned in paragraph (a) even after the child or young person attains 18 years of age (called in this section the protected person).

[30/2019]

(2) A court may —

(a)	on the application made by the Director‑General or a protector, order a person to remove the publication, or stop the broadcast, of any information or picture that is in contravention of section 27A(1) as in force immediately before 1 July 2020 or subsection (1)(a); or
(b)	on the application made by the protected person, order a person to remove the publication, or stop the broadcast, of any information or picture that is published or broadcast in contravention of subsection (1)(b). [30/2019]

(3) The court may make an order under subsection (2) even if —

(a)	the application is not served on the person against whom the order is to be made (called in this section the respondent) or is not served on the respondent within a reasonable time before the hearing of the application; or
(b)	where the application has been served on the respondent, the respondent does not appear at the hearing of the application,

so long as the court is satisfied, on a balance of probabilities, that the order is necessary for the protection and safety of the child or young person concerned or the protected person, as the case may be.

[30/2019]

(4) If any information or picture is published or broadcast in contravention of subsection (1)(a) or (b) —

(a)	in the case of the publication of any information or picture as part of a newspaper or periodical publication, every proprietor, editor, publisher or distributor of the newspaper or periodical publication;
(b)	in the case of the publication of any information or picture otherwise than as part of a newspaper or periodical publication, the person who publishes or distributes it; or
(c)	in the case of the broadcast of any information or picture, every person who transmits or provides the programme in which the information or picture is broadcast, and every person having functions in relation to the programme corresponding to those of the editor of a newspaper or periodical publication,

shall jointly be guilty of an offence and shall each be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 and, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding $10,000.

[30/2019]

(5) A court may, in addition to any punishment mentioned in subsection (4), order a person to remove the publication, or stop the broadcast, of any information or picture that is in contravention of subsection (1)(a) or (b).

[30/2019]

(6) Where any proceeding is pending before a court as at 1 July 2020 for a contravention of section 27A(1) as in force immediately before that date (called in this subsection the unamended Act), the court may, in addition to any punishment mentioned in section 27A(2) of the unamended Act, order a person to remove the publication, or stop the broadcast, of any information or picture that is in contravention of section 27A(1) of the unamended Act.

[30/2019]

(7) In this section, “broadcast” and “publish” have the same meanings as in section 112(9).

[84A

[30/2019]

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