Penal Code - Singapore Statutes Online

Enhanced penalties for racially or religiously aggravated offences

74.—(1) Where a person is convicted of an offence specified in subsection (2) which is racially or religiously aggravated, the court may sentence the person to one and a half times the amount of punishment to which he would otherwise have been liable for that offence.

[51/2007]

(2) The offence referred to in subsection (1) is as follows:

(a)	an offence under section 143, 144, 145, 147, 148, 151, 153, 158, 267B, 267C, 323, 324, 325, 341, 342, 343, 344, 346, 352, 354, 355, 357, 363A, 504, 505, 506, 507 or 509; or
(b)	an offence of attempting to commit, abetting the commission of, or being a party to a criminal conspiracy to commit, any offence under paragraph (a). [51/2007]

(3) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 68) —

(a)	a Magistrate’s Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine all proceedings for the offences punishable under sections 143, 151, 153, 323, 343, 344, 346, 354(1), 355, 504, 505 and 507 and shall have power to award the full punishment provided under subsection (1) in respect of those offences; and
(b)	a District Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine all proceedings for the offences punishable under sections 144, 145, 147, 148, 158, 267C, 324, 325, 354(2), 363A and 506 and shall have power to award the full punishment provided under subsection (1) in respect of those offences. [51/2007]

(4) For the purposes of this section, an offence is racially or religiously aggravated if —

(a)	at the time of committing the offence, or immediately before or after committing such offence, the offender demonstrates towards the victim of the offence hostility based on the victim’s membership (or presumed membership) of a racial or religious group; or
(b)	the offence is motivated (wholly or partly) by hostility towards members of a racial or religious group based on their membership of that group. [51/2007]

(5) It is immaterial for the purposes of paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (4) whether or not the offender’s hostility is also based, to any extent, on any other factor not mentioned in that paragraph.

[51/2007]

(6) In this section —

“membership”, in relation to a racial or religious group, includes association with members of that group;

“presumed” means presumed by the offender.

[51/2007]

[UK CDA 1998, s. 28(1) to (3)]

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