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State Lands Encroachments (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 30/1974

Read the first time on 23rd October 1974.

An Act to amend the State Lands Encroachments Act (Chapter 286 of the 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 State Lands Encroachments (Amendment) Act, 1974 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of section 3

2. Section 3 of the State Lands Encroachments Act (hereinafter in this Act referred to as “the principal Act”) is hereby amended by deleting subsection (2) thereof and substituting therefor the following: —

“(2) In any action commenced under section 2 for the removal of any person in unlawful occupation of State land, the defendant may within such time as may be prescribed by the rules of the Supreme Court for the time being in force, apply to the High Court for the action to be transferred to the High Court on the ground that the defendant is claiming title to the land.

(3) On the hearing of any such application, the High Court, if it is satisfied that a bona fide claim of title is raised, may make an order for the action to be transferred to the High Court.”.

Amendment of section 4

3. Section 4 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

(a)

by inserting immediately after the word “thereto” appearing at the end of subsection (1) thereof the expression “, and all movable property found thereon”;

(b)

by inserting immediately after subsection (3) thereof the following new subsection: —

“(4) The Government may forfeit any movable property which has been seized on the land pursuant to the execution of a warrant referred to in subsection (1) of this section if such movable property has been seized after the expiry of a period of twenty-eight days from the date of service of a written notice on the unlawful occupants of the land requiring them to vacate the land and warning them that if any movable property thereon is not so removed within twenty-eight days of the date of service of the notice such property may be seized and forfeited to the Government.”; and

(c)

by re-numbering the existing subsection (4) thereof as subsection (5).

Amendment of section 7

4. Section 7 of the principal Act is hereby amended —

(a)

by deleting subsection (1) thereof and substituting therefor the following: —

“(1) Any person who —

(a)	unlawfully enters into possession of any State land, either by residing or by erecting any building or hut thereon or by clearing, enclosing or cultivating any part thereof; or
(b)	unlawfully trespasses on State land by depositing, placing or throwing any article or thing whatsoever, or any waste, refuse or other thing, thereon; or
(c)	directly or indirectly abets the commission of such an act or trespass by another person,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment, and a District Court or a Magistrate’s Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine all proceedings under this subsection and, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 113), shall have the power to impose the full penalty or punishment provided by this subsection.”; and

(b)

by inserting immediately after subsection (2) thereof the following new subsection: —

“(3) Where an offence under subsection (1) of this section has been committed by a company or an association or body of persons, corporate or unincorporate, any person who at the time of the commission of the offence was a director, manager, partner, secretary or other officer thereof or was purporting to act in such capacity shall also be deemed to be guilty of such offence unless he proves that the offence was committed without his consent or connivance and that he exercised all such diligence to prevent the commission of the offence as he ought to have exercised having regard to the nature of his functions in that capacity and to all the circumstances.”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 12

5. Section 12 of the principal Act is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —

“State land not to be acquired by adverse possession

12. No State land shall be acquired by possession or unlawful occupation and the provisions of the Limitation Act (Cap. 10) shall not apply to any action brought by the Government for the recovery of State land.”.

Amendment of section 13

6. Section 13 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the word “fifty” appearing in the fourth line thereof and substituting therefor the words “five hundred”.

Amendment of section 14

7. Section 14 of the principal Act is hereby amended by deleting the word “hundred” appearing in the last line thereof and substituting therefor the word “thousand”.