PART 3 | Purpose for which enforcement powers are exercisable by authorised officers |
9.—(1) An authorised officer may exercise the powers set out in sections 10 and 11 for any of the following purposes:| (a) | to investigate an offence under this Act reasonably believed to have been committed; | | (b) | to determine compliance with any condition of an import approval for the import of any small motorised vehicle; | | (c) | to determine whether information provided to the Authority under this Act is correct; | | (d) | to investigate whether there are grounds for taking any action under section 7 against a person granted an import approval. |
| (2) To avoid doubt, nothing in this Part limits section 39 of the Land Transport Authority of Singapore Act 1995 with respect to an offence under this Act. |
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| Powers of entry, etc., at premises |
10.—(1) An authorised officer may, subject to subsection (2), enter and inspect any relevant premises and do all or any of the following:| (a) | to examine any thing or observe any activity conducted in or on the premises, including —| (i) | to detain any package, box, container or other thing in or on the premises until any person in charge of the package, box, container or thing has opened it for examination and search; | | (ii) | to mark, lock, seal or otherwise secure the package, box, container or other thing pending examination and search; and | | (iii) | if the thing appears to be a small motorised vehicle, to order any person in charge of the vehicle to deliver the vehicle (in that state it is found on the date of the order) for weighing or an inspection by a person and at a time and place specified by the authorised officer; |
| | (b) | to search the premises and any thing in or on the premises; | | (c) | to make a still or moving image or recording of the premises and any thing in or on the premises; | | (d) | to inspect any document in the premises and take extracts from, or make copies of, any such document; | | (e) | to take into or onto the premises such equipment and materials as the authorised officer requires for the purpose of exercising powers in relation to the premises; | | (f) | to operate electronic equipment in or on the premises; | | (g) | to secure a thing for a period not exceeding 24 hours if the thing is found in or on the premises, where the authorised officer believes on reasonable grounds that —| (i) | the thing is evidential material relevant to an offence under this Act; and | | (ii) | it is necessary to secure the thing in order to prevent it from being concealed, lost or destroyed before a warrant to seize the thing is obtained; |
| | (h) | to seize any thing found in or on the premises which the authorised officer reasonably suspects is as described in paragraph (g)(i); | | (i) | to require any relevant person, or any individual found in or on the relevant premises, to answer any question (to the best of that person’s or individual’s knowledge, information and belief) and to provide any document or information that the authorised officer reasonably requires for any of the purposes of section 9. |
(2) However, an authorised officer is not authorised by subsection (1) —| (a) | to enter and search any relevant premises that is a place of accommodation or residence, except —| (i) | with the consent of the occupier; or | | (ii) | under a warrant of a Magistrate’s Court or District Court; or |
| | (b) | to seize any thing in or on any relevant premises unless the seizure is made under a warrant of a Magistrate’s Court or District Court, being a thing other than a vehicle or vehicle component mentioned in section 11. |
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| (3) A warrant mentioned in subsection (2) may be issued if a Magistrate’s Court or District Court is satisfied that it is necessary for the authorised officer to enter any relevant premises, search any relevant premises or seize any thing (as the case may be) for any of the purposes of section 9. |
(4) The power under subsection (1)(f) to operate electronic equipment in or on any relevant premises includes the power —| (a) | to use a disk, tape or other storage device that is in or on the premises and can be used with the equipment or in association with the equipment; | | (b) | to operate electronic equipment in or on the premises to put the relevant data in documentary form and remove the documents so produced from those premises; and | | (c) | to operate electronic equipment in or on the premises to transfer the relevant data to a disk, tape or other storage device that —| (i) | is brought to the premises for the exercise of the power; or | | (ii) | is in or on the premises and the use of which for that purpose has been agreed in writing by the occupier of the premises, |
| and to remove the disk, tape or other storage device from those premises. |
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(5) The power under subsection (1)(g) to secure any thing which is found during the exercise of enforcement powers in or on any relevant premises includes the power —| (a) | to secure the thing by locking it up, placing a guard or any other means; and | | (b) | to prohibit any person from dealing with such thing. |
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(6) The power to require an individual to provide any document or information under subsection (1)(i) includes the power —| (a) | to require that individual to provide an explanation of the document or information; | | (b) | if the document or information is not provided, to require that individual to state, to the best of the individual’s knowledge and belief, where it is; and | | (c) | if the information is recorded otherwise than in legible form, to require the information to be made available to the authorised officer or the Authority in legible form. |
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| (7) The Authority is entitled without payment to keep any document or information, or any copy or extract thereof, provided to an authorised officer under subsection (1)(i). |
(8) In this section —“relevant person” means —| (a) | a person to whom an import approval is or was granted under this Act; | | (b) | an individual who is or was an officer or a representative of a person mentioned in paragraph (a); | | (c) | an individual who is or was an employee of a person mentioned in paragraph (a); or | | (d) | a person whom an authorised officer suspects on reasonable grounds is or was an importer of small motorised vehicles, or an agent of such a person; |
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“relevant premises” means any premises in Singapore that an authorised officer believes on reasonable grounds —| (a) | is used for or in connection with —| (i) | the import of small motorised vehicles; or | | (ii) | the storage or supply of small motorised vehicles that are being, or are about to be, or have recently been imported; or |
| | (b) | is under the control or management of a relevant person in paragraph (a) or (d) of the definition of “relevant person”. |
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11.—(1) Where an authorised officer has reason to believe that a small motorised vehicle or vehicle component is a vehicle or component in connection with which an offence under section 5 or 8 has been or is being committed, the authorised officer may, without warrant —| (a) | seize the vehicle or vehicle component and take it to a holding yard; or | | (b) | require the owner or person in charge of the vehicle or vehicle component to take the vehicle or component (as the case may be) to and surrender it at a specified holding yard. |
| (2) The power conferred on an authorised officer under subsection (1)(a) may be exercised whether or not the owner or person in charge of the vehicle or vehicle component is present at the time of its seizure. |
| (3) When a vehicle or vehicle component is seized under this section by an authorised officer, the authorised officer concerned must, as soon as practicable, give notice of the seizure and the grounds of doing so to the owner of the vehicle or component (if known) except that the notice is not required to be given where the seizure is made in the presence of the owner or the owner’s agent. |
| (4) A person who, without reasonable excuse, refuses or neglects to comply with any requirement under subsection (1)(b) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both. |
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| Offence of non-compliance, etc. |
12.—(1) A person commits an offence if the person —| (a) | without prior permission of an authorised officer, opens, breaks, alters or removes any mark, lock, seal or other safeguard used to secure a package, box, container or other thing under section 10(1)(a)(ii) or (g)(ii); or | | (b) | without reasonable excuse, fails to do anything required of the person by an authorised officer under section 10(1). |
| (2) A person commits an offence if the person intentionally alters, suppresses or destroys any document or information which the person has been required by an authorised officer under section 10(1)(i) to provide. |
| (3) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1) shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both. |
| (4) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (2) shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both. |
(5) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (1), it is a defence for the accused to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that —| (a) | the person does not possess the document or information required; or | | (b) | the person has taken all reasonable steps available to the person to obtain the document or information required and has been unable to obtain it. |
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| (6) To avoid doubt, for the purposes of subsection (1), it is a reasonable excuse for a person to refuse or fail to provide any information, produce any document or answer any question if doing so might tend to incriminate that person. |
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| Offence of providing false information, etc. |
13.—(1) If —| (a) | a person provides a document, or makes a statement (whether orally, in writing or any other way) or gives information, to the Authority or an authorised officer; | | (b) | the document, statement or information is false or misleading, or the statement or information omits any matter or thing without which the statement or information (as the case may be) is misleading; | | (c) | the person knows, or ought reasonably to know, that the document is false or misleading, or that the statement or information is as described in paragraph (b); and | | (d) | the document is provided, or the statement is made or the information is given, for or in connection with —| (i) | an application for or relating to an import approval under this Act; or | | (ii) | a question or request of the Authority or an authorised officer made under this Act, |
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| the person shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both. |
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if the document, statement or information —| (a) | is not false or misleading in a material particular; or | | (b) | did not omit any matter or thing without which the statement or information (as the case may be) is misleading in a material particular. |
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14.—(1) The Chief Executive of the Authority, or any employee of the Authority authorised in writing by the Authority for the purpose of this section, may compound any offence under this Act that is prescribed as a compoundable offence.(2) A compoundable offence may be compounded under this section by collecting from a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding the lower of the following:| (a) | one half of the amount of the maximum fine that is prescribed for the offence; | | (b) | $5,000. |
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| (3) On payment of the sum of money, no further proceedings are to be taken against that person in respect of the offence. |
| (4) All sums collected under this section must be paid into the Consolidated Fund. |
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| Forfeiture of vehicles, etc. |
15.—(1) Subject to this section, all things seized or surrendered under the provisions of this Act are liable to forfeiture by a court.(2) An order for the forfeiture may be made by the Authority in respect of a vehicle or vehicle components seized or surrendered under this Act if the Authority is satisfied that —| (a) | the vehicle is a non‑compliant personal mobility device or non‑compliant power‑assisted bicycle or the vehicle components if assembled result in a non‑compliant personal mobility device or non‑compliant power‑assisted bicycle; | | (b) | an offence under this Act has been committed and the vehicle was or vehicle components were the subject matter, or was or were used in the commission, of the offence; | | (c) | at the end of 30 days after the date of the seizure or surrender, no claim to the vehicle or vehicle components is earlier made in the prescribed manner to the Authority by a person who is none of the following:| (i) | the person from whom the vehicle was or vehicle components were seized; | | (ii) | the person required to surrender the vehicle or vehicle components; | | (iii) | an agent of a person in sub‑paragraph (i) or (ii); and |
| | (d) | a person is convicted of the offence, or a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence has that offence compounded under section 14. |
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(3) Despite subsection (2), the Authority may at once order the forfeiture of a vehicle or vehicle components seized or surrendered under this Act —| (a) | that is a non‑compliant personal mobility device or non‑compliant power‑assisted bicycle, or that if assembled result in a non‑compliant personal mobility device or non‑compliant power‑assisted bicycle; and | | (b) | that the Authority considers is of such a nature or in such condition that it would be dangerous to retain custody, or the detention of the vehicle or vehicle components in a holding yard materially increases the likelihood of an outbreak of fire at the holding yard. |
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| (4) Sections 51, 52 and 53 of the Active Mobility Act 2017 apply to a vehicle or vehicle components seized or surrendered under this Act in the same way as those sections apply to a vehicle seized or surrendered under section 50 of that Act. |
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