Immigration (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 33/1995

Read the first time on 27th September 1995.

An Act to amend the Immigration Act (Chapter 133 of the 1995 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 Immigration (Amendment) Act 1995 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of section 2

2. Section 2 of the Immigration Act is amended by deleting the definition of “employ” and substituting the following definition:

“ “employ” means to engage or use the service of any person, whether under a contract of service or otherwise, with or without remuneration;”.

Amendment of section 6

3. Section 6(3) of the Immigration Act is amended by deleting paragraph (a) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(a)

in the case of an offence under subsection (1), shall on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months and shall also, subject to section 231 of the Criminal Procedure Code [Cap. 68], be punished with caning with not less than 3 strokes, or where by virtue of that section he is not punishable with caning, he shall, in lieu of caning, be punished with a fine not exceeding $6,000;”.

Amendment of section 8

4. Section 8(7) of the Immigration Act is amended by deleting the words “sections 24, 25” in the first line and substituting the words “sections 24, 25, 25A”.

Amendment of section 15

5. Section 15(3) of the Immigration Act is amended by deleting paragraph (b) and substituting the following paragraph:

“(b)

in the case where he remains unlawfully for a period exceeding 90 days, shall on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months and shall also, subject to section 231 of the Criminal Procedure Code [Cap. 68], be punished with caning with not less than 3 strokes, or where by virtue of that section he is not punishable with caning, he shall, in lieu of caning, be punished with a fine not exceeding $6,000.”.

Amendment of section 57

6. Section 57 of the Immigration Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting the words “$2,000” and “6 months” in sub-paragraph (iv) of subsection (1) and substituting the words “$4,000” and “one year”, respectively;

(b)

by deleting subsection (1A) and substituting the following subsection:

“(1A) Where, in the case of any offence under subsection (1)(e), it is proved to the satisfaction of the court that the defendant has at the same time employed more than 5 immigration offenders, the defendant shall be punished, subject to section 231 of the Criminal Procedure Code [Cap. 68], with caning in addition to the punishment prescribed for that offence.”;

(c)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (2), the following subsection:

“(2A) Where a body corporate is guilty of an offence under this Act for which a period of mandatory imprisonment or mandatory caning is prescribed, the body corporate shall, in lieu of imprisonment or caning, be liable on conviction to a fine of not less than $50,000 and not more than $100,000.”;

(d)

by deleting subsection (8) and substituting the following subsection:

“(8) Where an immigration offender is found at any premises or place, other than premises used solely for residential purposes, the occupier of the premises or place shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, to have employed him knowing that he is an immigration offender.”; and

(e)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (10), the following subsection:

“(11) In this section and section 57B, “immigration offender” means a person who has acted in contravention of section 6(1), 15 or 36 or the regulations.”.

New section 57B

7. The Immigration Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 57A, the following section:

“Prohibition of immigration offender entering or remaining at work place

57B.—(1) No occupier of a work place who has control of access to the work place shall permit any immigration offender to enter or remain at the work place.

(2) Where an immigration offender is found at a work place, it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that the occupier of the work place —

(a)	had control of access to the work place;
(b)	had permitted the immigration offender to enter or remain at the work place; and
(c)	had knowledge that he is an immigration offender.

(3) The presumptions provided for in subsection (2)(b) and (c) shall not be rebutted unless the defendant proves that he had exercised due diligence to prevent the immigration offender from entering or remaining at the work place.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3), a defendant shall not be presumed to have exercised due diligence unless he had taken all reasonable measures to prevent any immigration offender from entering or remaining at the work place, including all the measures prescribed under subsection (5) in respect of the work place.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4), the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, prescribe the measures that are required to be taken by the occupier of the work place.

(6) Any person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not less than $15,000 and not more than $30,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both for each immigration offender found at the work place, and in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine of not less than $30,000 and not more than $60,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both for each immigration offender found at the work place.

(7) In this section —

“construction works” has the same meaning as in the Construction and Industry Development Board Act [Cap. 51] and includes such other works or activities as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, specify to be construction works;

“occupier”, in relation to a work place, means the principal contractor who undertakes any construction works at the work place and includes such other person as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, specify to be the occupier of the work place;

“principal contractor” means a person who has entered into a contract with an owner, a developer or a lessee of a property or his agent for the purpose of carrying out any construction works on the property;

“work place” means any place or premises where any construction works are being carried out and includes —

(a)	all the land within the vicinity of the work place which are owned by the person for whom the construction works are being carried out and to which the principal contractor has control of access;
(b)	any canteen, sleeping quarters, office and other structures or buildings erected on the work place; and
(c)	such other place or premises as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, specify to be a work place.”.

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