Newspaper and Printing Presses (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 18/1990

Read the first time on 18th July 1990.

An Act to amend the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act (Chapter 206 of the 1985 Revised Edition).

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 may be cited as the Newspaper and Printing Presses (Amendment) Act 1990 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of section 14

2. Section 14 of the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act (referred to in this Act as the principal Act) is amended —

(a)

by inserting, immediately after the words “chief editor” in the third line of subsection (1), the words “or the proprietor”;

(b)

by deleting the words “in writing under the hand of” in the fourth line of subsection (1) and substituting the words “granted by”;

(c)

by inserting, immediately after the words “chief editor” in the proviso to subsection (1), the words “or the proprietor”;

(d)

by deleting the words “of 12 months” at the end of subsection (3) and substituting the words “not exceeding 12 months in respect of each renewal”; and

(e)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (8), the following subsection:

“(9) This section shall not apply to any offshore newspaper within the meaning of section 15A.”.

Amendment of section 15

3. Section 15(1) of the principal Act is amended by deleting the words “in writing under the hand of” in the fourth and fifth lines and substituting the words “granted by”;

New section 15A

4. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 15, the following section:

“Permit required for sale and distribution in Singapore of offshore newspapers

15A.—(1) No person shall sell or distribute, or import for or possess for sale or distribution any offshore newspaper in Singapore unless there is in force a permit granted by the Minister to the proprietor of the newspaper or his agent authorising the sale or distribution of that newspaper in Singapore.

(2) The Minister may grant the permit subject to such conditions as he may impose or may refuse to grant or revoke the permit without assigning any reason.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), the Minister may in imposing conditions under that subsection —

(a)	specify that the maximum number of copies for each issue of the newspaper which may be sold or distributed in Singapore shall be determined from time to time by the Minister;
(b)	require the proprietor of the newspaper to appoint a person within Singapore authorised to accept service of any notice or legal process on his behalf and on behalf of the publisher and to furnish the Registrar with the name and address of the person so appointed; and
(c)	require the proprietor of the newspaper to furnish to the Registrar a deposit or some other form of security of such amount as the Minister may determine for the purpose of meeting any liability or costs arising out of any legal proceedings in connection with the publication of the newspaper.

(4) Every such permit shall have effect only in respect of the proprietor to whom it was granted and shall unless sooner revoked ordinarily be for one year from the date of its issue, and may be renewed for further periods not exceeding 12 months in respect of each renewal.

(5) Notice of the grant or revocation of a permit to sell or distribute an offshore newspaper shall be published in the Gazette.

(6) In any proceedings under this section, it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that any person found in possession of more than 5 copies of the same issue of an offshore newspaper had possession of them for sale or distribution.

(7) In this section —

(a)	“offshore newspaper” means a newspaper published outside Singapore at intervals not exceeding one week which contains news, intelligence, reports of occurrences, or any remarks, observations or comments, pertaining to the politics and current affairs of any country in South-East Asia, except where the circulation of every issue of the newspaper in Singapore is less than 300 copies;
(b)	for the purposes of paragraph (a), a newspaper is published outside Singapore if, and only if, its contents and editorial policy are determined outside Singapore.

(8) This section shall not apply to any newspaper in respect of which there is in force a permit granted under section 15 or to any copy of a newspaper reproduced with the approval of the Minister under section 17.

(9) Any permit granted under section 14 in respect of any offshore newspaper and in force immediately before the commencement of the Newspaper and Printing Presses (Amendment) Act 1990 shall upon such commencement be deemed to have expired.”.

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