3. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 17, the following Division:| “Division 2 — Protection from assault and harassment |
| Assaulting or using criminal force on security officer |
17A.—(1) An individual who assaults or uses criminal force on a person (called in this section the target person) —| (a) | in the execution of the target person’s duty as a security officer; | | (b) | with intent to prevent or deter the target person from discharging his or her duty as a security officer; or | | (c) | in consequence of anything done or attempted to be done by the target person in the lawful discharge of his or her duty as a security officer, |
| shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $7,500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both. |
| (2) In this section, “assault” and “criminal force” are to be construed in accordance with sections 349, 350 and 351 of the Penal Code. |
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| Voluntarily causing hurt to security officer |
17B.—(1) An individual who voluntarily causes hurt to a person (called in this section the target person) —| (a) | in the execution of the target person’s duty as a security officer; | | (b) | with intent to prevent or deter the target person from discharging his or her duty as a security officer; or | | (c) | in consequence of anything done or attempted to be done by the target person in the lawful discharge of his or her duty as a security officer, |
| shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both. |
| (2) In this section, “voluntarily causes hurt” is to be construed in accordance with section 321 of the Penal Code. |
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| Intentionally causing harassment, alarm or distress to security officer |
17C.—(1) An individual must not by any means —| (a) | use any indecent, threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour; or | | (b) | make any indecent, threatening, abusive or insulting communication, |
| towards a person (called in this section the target person) in relation to the execution of the target person’s duty as a security officer, with the intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress to the target person and as a result causing the target person harassment, alarm or distress. |
| (2) Subject to section 17D, an individual who contravenes subsection (1) 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. |
(3) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (2), it is a defence for the accused to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that —| (a) | the accused did not know and had no reason to believe that the words or behaviour used, or the communication made, would be heard, seen or otherwise perceived by the target person; or | | (b) | the accused’s conduct was reasonable. |
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| (4) However, for the purposes of this section, a target person is not treated as executing a duty as a security officer or acting in the capacity of a security officer if the target person is, at the relevant time, also a public service worker as defined in section 6(5) of the Protection from Harassment Act and acting in the capacity of such a public service worker. |
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| Enhanced penalty for section 17C offence committed subsequently |
17D. An individual who has been convicted of any offence under —| (a) | the repealed section 13A, 13B, 13C or 13D of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act as in force before 15 November 2014 (whether the conviction was before, on or after that date); | | (b) | section 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 of the Protection from Harassment Act; or | | (c) | section 17C, |
| shall, on a subsequent conviction for an offence under section 17C, be liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both. |
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| Requisite knowledge that target person is acting as security officer |
| 17E. No offence is committed by an individual under section 17A(1), 17B(1) or 17C(2) unless the individual knows or ought reasonably to know that the target person mentioned in section 17A(1), 17B(1) or 17C(1) was at the material time a security officer and acting in that capacity. |
| Application of Protection from Harassment Act |
17F.—(1) A reference in sections 12(1), (2), (2A) and (2B)(b), 13(1)(a)(i) and (ii) and (1A) and 13A(1)(a) and (3)(a) of the Protection from Harassment Act to a contravention or an alleged contravention, or an offence, under section 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 of that Act includes a contravention or an alleged contravention, or an offence, under section 17C(2), as the case may be.(2) The following provisions of the Protection from Harassment Act apply with the necessary modifications because of subsection (1):| (a) | section 10; | | (b) | Division 1 of Part 3 (except section 11); | | (c) | sections 16C, 16CB and 16D; | | (d) | Part 3A; | | (e) | sections 19, 20 and 21; | | (f) | the Schedule as it applies in relation to sections 12(2A)(a) and 13(1A)(a). |
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| (3) Any word or expression used in, or relevant for the purpose of interpreting, section 17C, 17D, 17E or this section and that is defined in section 2(1) of the Protection from Harassment Act has the meaning given to it by section 2(1) of that Act.”. |
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