Registration of Criminals Act
(CHAPTER 268)

(Original Enactment: Ordinance 20 of 1949)

REVISED EDITION 1985
(30th March 1987)
An Act to provide for the registration of criminals.
[29th June 1949]
PART I
PRELIMINARY
[45/2002 wef 13/02/2003]
Short title
1.  This Act may be cited as the Registration of Criminals Act.
Interpretation
2.  In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —
“authorised officer” means —
(a)a police officer;
(b)an officer of customs of the Singapore Customs in any case concerning an offence or alleged offence against any law or provision of law which is the function of the Singapore Customs to enforce;
[4/2003 wef 01/04/2003]
(c)an immigration officer;
(ca)a forensic specialist acting in accordance with an authorisation under section 65B(1) of the Police Force Act (Cap. 235) to exercise a power under this Act;
[Act 10 of 2015 wef 01/06/2015]
(d)an officer of any law enforcement agency in any case concerning an offence or alleged offence against any law or provision of law which it is the function of that agency to enforce; and
(e)any other person who is duly appointed in writing by the Commissioner of Police as an authorised officer for the purposes of this Act or any provision thereof;
[45/2002 wef 13/02/2003]
“crime” means any offence included for the time being in the First or Second Schedule;
“DNA” means deoxyribonucleic acid;
[45/2002 wef 13/02/2003]
“DNA database” means the database maintained under section 13F;
[45/2002 wef 13/02/2003]
“DNA information” means genetic information derived from the forensic DNA analysis of a body sample;
[45/2002 wef 13/02/2003]
“finger impression” includes palmar impressions, hand prints, finger prints, foot prints or toe prints;
[Act 10 of 2015 wef 01/06/2015]
“forensic procedure”, in relation to an individual, includes doing one or all of the following in relation to the individual:
(a)taking an impression or cast of a wound from the external parts of the individual’s body other than the parts referred to in section 13A(3);
(b)the taking of physical measurements (whether or not involving marking) for biomechanical analysis of an external part of the body other than the parts referred to in section 13A(3);
(c)removing any article that the individual is wearing, and searching any article so removed;
(d)removing a relevant thing attached physically to those external parts of the individual’s body or taking a sample of that relevant thing;
(e)photographing any relevant thing in the position it is found on the external parts of the individual’s body, or in the individual’s mouth;
[Act 10 of 2015 wef 01/06/2015]
“forensic specialist” means an individual who is appointed under section 65A of the Police Force Act as a forensic specialist;
[Act 10 of 2015 wef 01/06/2015]
“law enforcement agency” means any body or organisation which is prescribed by the Minister to be a law enforcement agency for the purposes of this Act;
[45/2002 wef 13/02/2003]
“other particulars”, in relation to a person, means any particulars, information or description of that person, other than his registrable particulars, that may be relevant or useful in the identification of that person;
[45/2002 wef 13/02/2003]
“photograph”, in relation to a person, includes the photograph of any distinguishing feature or mark on the body of that person;
[45/2002 wef 13/02/2003]
“principal registration area” means Singapore and Malaysia;
“register” means the register of criminals maintained in accordance with section 4;
“registrable particulars” means the particulars of any conviction, sentence, banishment, expulsion or deportation, and any name, description, photograph, or finger impression of, or document relating to, any person so convicted, sentenced, banished, expelled or deported, as the case may be, and includes particulars of any outstanding offence, whether that offence be a crime or not, taken into consideration in determining and passing sentence on any conviction for a crime;
“Registrar” means the Registrar of Criminals appointed under section 3, and includes an Assistant Registrar of Criminals.
Appointment of Registrar of Criminals and Assistant Registrars
3.—(1)  The President may appoint a Registrar of Criminals and such Assistant Registrars as he may consider necessary for the purposes of this Act.
(2)  The President may, with the concurrence of the government of Malaysia, appoint an officer in the service of that government to be a Registrar of Criminals or an Assistant Registrar for the purposes of this Act.