Enlistment and Other Matters (Amendment) Bill

Enlistment and Other Matters
(Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 1/2024

Read the first time on 9 January 2024.

An Act to amend the Enlistment Act 1970 and the Requisition of Resources Act 1985 in relation to national service and voluntary service and to update provisions on service of documents, and to make consequential amendments to certain other Acts.

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:

Short title and commencement

1. This Act is the Enlistment and Other Matters (Amendment) Act 2024 and comes into operation on a date that the Minister appoints by notification in the Gazette.

PART 1

AMENDMENT OF ENLISTMENT ACT 1970

Amendment of long title

2. In the Enlistment Act 1970 (called in this Part the principal Act), in the long title, after “Singapore”, insert “, the Singapore Police Force and the Singapore Civil Defence Force”.

Amendment of section 2

3. In the principal Act, in section 2 —

(a)

replace the definition of “armed forces” with —

“ “armed forces” means any force constituted under the Singapore Armed Forces Act 1972, and such other force constituted under any written law, as the Minister may designate by notification in the Gazette;”;

(b)

in the definition of “national service”, after “service in”, insert “the Singapore Police Force and the Singapore Civil Defence Force or”;

(c)

after the definition of “national serviceman”, insert —

“ “officer” —

(a)	in relation to the Singapore Armed Forces, has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Singapore Armed Forces Act 1972;
(b)	in relation to the Singapore Police Force, means an officer of the Singapore Police Force of a rank not below Probationary Inspector; and
(c)	in relation to the Singapore Civil Defence Force, means an officer of the Singapore Civil Defence Force of a rank not below Second Lieutenant;”;

(d)

in the definition of “person subject to this Act”, replace paragraphs (a) and (b) with —

“(a)	is an officer of the Singapore Armed Forces, the Singapore Police Force or the Singapore Civil Defence Force (as the case may be) or a senior military expert;
(b)	is an officer of the armed forces of a rank as may be regarded by the proper authority to be equivalent to that of an officer of the Singapore Armed Forces; or
(c)	is skilled in an occupation which the Minister by notification in the Gazette designates as an occupation required to meet the needs of the armed forces, the Singapore Police Force or the Singapore Civil Defence Force, as the case may be,”;

(e)

replace the definition of “Special Constabulary” with —

“ “Singapore Civil Defence Force” means the Singapore Civil Defence Force constituted under the Civil Defence Act 1986;

“Singapore Police Force” means the Singapore Police Force constituted under the Police Force Act 2004;”; and

(f)

replace the definition of “voluntary service” with —

“ “voluntary service in the Singapore Armed Forces” means service as a volunteer as defined in the Singapore Armed Forces Act 1972.”.

Amendment of section 12

4. In the principal Act, in section 12(1) —

(a)

replace paragraph (a) with —

“(a)

is, during the period of service in —

(i)	the Singapore Armed Forces or the Singapore Civil Defence Force, promoted to a rank above the rank of Lance‑Corporal in the Singapore Armed Forces or the Singapore Civil Defence Force, as the case may be;
(ii)	the Singapore Police Force, promoted to a rank above the rank of Special Constable 2 in the Singapore Police Force; or
(iii)	any of the other armed forces or in a force, body or organisation which is designated by the Minister for the purposes of national service, promoted to a rank as may be regarded by the proper authority as equal to a rank above the rank of Lance‑Corporal in the Singapore Armed Forces;”; and

(b)

replace paragraph (c) with —

“(c)

is, during the period of service in —

(i)	the Singapore Armed Forces, the Singapore Police Force or the Singapore Civil Defence Force, selected by the proper authority for training or a course intended to qualify the person to be an officer in the Singapore Armed Forces, the Singapore Police Force or the Singapore Civil Defence Force, as the case may be; or
(ii)	any of the other armed forces, or in a force, body or organisation which is designated by the Minister for the purposes of national service, selected for training or a course intended to qualify the person for such rank, position or status as may be regarded by the proper authority as equal to the rank, position or status, as the case may be, of an officer in the Singapore Armed Forces; or”.

Amendment of section 14

5. In the principal Act, in section 14 —

(a)

in subsection (1), replace paragraph (b) with —

“(b)	serve, while fit for national service, for a period or periods not exceeding in the aggregate 40 days annually.”; and

(b)

in subsection (2), replace “subsection (1)(b)(i) or (ii) if authorised” with “subsection (1)(b) if so authorised”.

Amendment of section 15

6. In the principal Act, in section 15(1), replace “section 14(1)(b)(ii)” with “section 14(1)(b)”.

Amendment of section 24

7. In the principal Act, in section 24 —

(a)

in the section heading, replace “salaries and wages” with “civilian remuneration”;

(b)

in subsection (1), delete paragraph (a);

(c)

in subsection (1)(b), replace “section 14(1)(b)(ii)” with “section 14(1)(b)”;

(d)

in subsection (7), in the definition of “civilian remuneration”, in paragraph (a), after “gainful employment”, insert “or self‑employment”;

(e)

in subsection (7), in the definition of “relevant service”, replace paragraph (b) with —

“(b)	voluntary service in the Singapore Armed Forces; or”; and

(f)

in subsection (7), delete the definition of “service”.

Amendment of section 27

8. In the principal Act, in section 27 —

(a)

in subsection (2), replace paragraphs (c) and (d) with —

“(c)

any period during which he was serving or would have been serving, if he were not unlawfully at large, a term of imprisonment, special detention, detention under any written law or reformative training;

(d)

any period during which he was under close arrest or civil custody on a charge for an offence of which he was subsequently convicted by a subordinate military court or a civil court or at summary trial;

(e)

any period during which he was —

(i)	serving a term of imprisonment or other detention outside Singapore;
(ii)	held in custody in a jurisdiction outside Singapore; or
(iii)	prevented by any authority or court in a jurisdiction outside Singapore from returning to Singapore;

(f)

any period during which he was on leave of absence that was authorised by the proper authority and for which he did not receive any service remuneration as defined in section 24(7);

(g)

any period during which he was on medical leave which was subsequently rescinded by the medical officer or medical practitioner who issued the medical certificate for the medical leave or by any other authority appointed by the relevant proper authority; or

(h)

any period of such duration or description, or during which the person was subject to such circumstances, as may be prescribed.”; and

(b)

replace subsection (3) with —

“(3) In this section —

“civil court” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Singapore Armed Forces Act 1972;

“civil custody” means any custody that does not fall within the definition of “military custody” in section 2(1) of the Singapore Armed Forces Act 1972 and includes the following:

(a)	custody after arrest;
(b)	custody on remand by a civil court;
(c)	custody when bail is revoked;
(d)	custody or detention authorised under any written law;

“summary trial” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Singapore Armed Forces Act 1972.”.

Amendment of section 30

9. In the principal Act, in section 30 —

(a)

in subsection (2), replace “issued” with “issued or made”;

(b)

in subsection (2), replace paragraph (j) (including the paragraph heading) with —

“Short message service

(j)	by sending it by short message service to the mobile telephone number of the person to be served;”;

(c)

in subsection (2)(k) (including the paragraph heading), delete “, telex”;

(d)

in subsection (2)(k), replace the full‑stop at the end with a semi‑colon;

(e)

in subsection (2), after paragraph (k), insert —

“Email

(l)	subject to subsection (2A), by sending it by email to the last email address given to the proper authority by the person to be served as the email address for the service of orders or notices issued or made under this Act;
Electronic service platform
(m)	subject to subsection (2A), by serving it to the account assigned to the person to be served and notifying the person of this fact by a message sent by short message service to the mobile telephone number of the person to be served;
Other means of service
(n)	subject to subsection (2A), by sending an electronic notice to the person to be served by the person’s chosen means of notification, stating that the order or notice is available and how the person may use the person’s chosen means of access to access the contents of the order or notice; or
(o)	by any other method authorised by regulations made under this Act for the service of orders or notices of that kind if the person to be served consents to service of an order or notice of that kind in that way.”;

(f)

after subsection (2), insert —

“Service by certain modes only with person’s consent

(2A) Service of any order or notice under this Act on a person under subsection (2)(l), (m) and (n) may be effected only with the person’s prior consent to service in that way.”;

(g)

in subsection (3)(e)(ii), delete “or” at the end;

(h)

in subsection (3)(f)(ii), replace the full‑stop at the end with a semi‑colon;

(i)

in subsection (3), after paragraph (f), insert —

“(g)

subsection (2)(l), it shall be —

(i)	presumed, until the contrary is proved, to have been received and read or heard by the person to whom it applies at the time the email is capable of being retrieved by the person; and
(ii)	deemed to have been received and read or heard by the person to whom it applies on the expiry of 6 hours from the time the email is capable of being retrieved by the person;

(h)

subsection (2)(m), it shall be —

(i)

presumed, until the contrary is proved, to have been received and read or heard by the person to whom it applies at the time the contents of the order or notice are capable of being accessed by the person through the electronic service platform, and the message notifying the person that the order or notice has been served to the person’s account on the electronic service platform has been sent by short message service to the person’s mobile telephone number; and

(ii)

deemed to have been received and read or heard by the person to whom it applies on the expiry of 6 hours from the time the contents of the order or notice are capable of being accessed by the person through the electronic service platform, and the message notifying the person that the order or notice has been served to the person’s account on the electronic service platform has been sent by short message service to the person’s mobile telephone number; or

(i)

subsection (2)(n), it shall be —

(i)	presumed, until the contrary is proved, to have been received and read or heard by the person to whom it applies at the time the electronic notice is capable of being retrieved by the person by the person’s chosen means of notification, and the contents of the order or notice are capable of being accessed by the person by the person’s chosen means of access; and
(ii)	deemed to have been received and read or heard by the person to whom it applies on the expiry of 6 hours from the time the electronic notice is capable of being retrieved by the person by the person’s chosen means of notification, and the contents of the order or notice are capable of being accessed by the person by the person’s chosen means of access.”; and

(j)

after subsection (6), insert —

“Documents to be served in proceedings in court

(7) This section does not apply to documents to be served in proceedings in court.

Definitions

(8) In this section —

“account assigned to the person to be served” means the account (on the relevant electronic service platform) assigned under section 30A(2) by the proper authority to the person to be served;

“chosen means of access”, for a person on whom is or is to be served an order or notice issued or made under this Act, means an electronic means that the person agrees with the proper authority as the means by which the person may access the contents of that order or notice;

“chosen means of notification”, for a person on whom is or is to be served an order or notice issued or made under this Act, means an electronic means that the person nominates to the proper authority as the means by which the person may be notified that such an order or notice has been served on the person;

“mobile telephone number” means the last mobile telephone number given (in accordance with a legal requirement under this Act) to the proper authority by the person to be served, and which the person has acknowledged may be used by the proper authority for the service of any order or notice issued or made under this Act.”.

New section 30A

10. In the principal Act, after section 30, insert —

“Electronic service platform

30A.—(1) The proper authority may provide one or more electronic service platforms for the electronic service of orders or notices issued or made under this Act.

(2) For the purposes of each electronic service platform, the proper authority may assign to any person an account with the relevant electronic service platform.

(3) Subject to section 30(2A), the proper authority may serve an order or notice on that person by transmitting an electronic record of that order or notice to the account assigned to that person.

(4) The Minister may make regulations under section 37 which are necessary or expedient for carrying out the purposes of this section, including but not limited to regulations prescribing the procedure for the use of the electronic service platform and the manner of assignment of the accounts mentioned in subsection (2).”.

Amendment of section 32

11. In the principal Act, in section 32(1), replace “A person subject to this Act who has been registered under section 3 or is deemed to be registered or is liable to register under this Act,” with “Subject to any regulations made under section 37, a person subject to this Act”.

Amendment of section 37

12. In the principal Act, in section 37 —

(a)

replace subsection (1) with —

“(1) The Minister may make such regulations as may be necessary or expedient to carry out the purposes and provisions of this Act and for prescribing anything that may be required, authorised or permitted to be prescribed by this Act.”; and

(b)

in subsection (2)(g), after “exit permits”, insert “, including exemptions from the requirements under section 32 for any class of prescribed persons or in prescribed circumstances”.

Miscellaneous amendments

13. In the principal Act —

(a)

in section 7(1), after “armed forces”, insert “, the Singapore Police Force or the Singapore Civil Defence Force, as the case may be”; and

(b)

in the following provisions, replace “division of the Singapore Armed Forces known as the People’s Defence Force under the Singapore Armed Forces Act 1972 or in the Special Constabulary under the Police Force Act 2004” with “Singapore Armed Forces”:

Section 22(1)(c)

Section 23(1)(c)

Section 24(1)(c) and (6)(b).

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