Penal Code 1871 - Singapore Statutes Online

Harbouring an offender

212.—(1) Whenever an offence has been committed, whoever harbours or conceals a person whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the offender, with the intention of screening him from legal punishment, shall —

(a)	if the offence is punishable with death, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to fine;
(b)	if the offence is punishable with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment which may extend to 20 years, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 7 years, and shall also be liable to fine; and
(c)	if the offence is punishable with imprisonment which may extend to one year and not to 20 years, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one‑fourth part of the longest term of imprisonment provided for that offence, or with fine, or with both.

(2) In this section, “offence” includes any act committed at any place out of Singapore which if committed in Singapore would be punishable under any of the following sections, namely, 302, 304, 382, 392, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397, 399, 402, 435, 436, 449, 450, 459 and 460, and every such act shall for the purposes of this section be deemed to be punishable as if the accused person had been guilty of it in Singapore.

Illustrations

(a) A, knowing that B has committed gang‑robbery, knowingly conceals B in order to screen him from legal punishment. Here, as B is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than 5 years and not more than 20 years, A is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years, and is also liable to fine.

(b) A and B are married to each other, and live in their matrimonial home. A knows that B has committed house‑breaking. A provides food and shelter to B, with no intention to screen B from legal punishment. A is not guilty of the offence of harbouring.

(c) A and B are married to each other, and live in their matrimonial home. A knows that B has committed gang‑robbery and is preparing to leave Singapore to evade arrest. A provides food and shelter to B for the purposes of helping B evade detection by the police before he leaves Singapore. A is guilty of the offence of harbouring.

[15/2019]

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