Public Order Regulations 2009 - Singapore Statutes Online

No. S 487

Public Order Act 2009

(Act 15 of 2009)

Public Order Regulations 2009

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 47 of the Public Order Act 2009, the Minister for Home Affairs hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Public Order Regulations 2009 and shall come into operation on 9th October 2009.

Non-application to election meetings and processions

2. These Regulations do not apply to any public assembly or public procession to which either of the following Regulations apply:

(a)	the Public Order (Election Meetings and Processions in Parliamentary Elections) Regulations 2009 (G.N. No. S 486/2009);
(b)	the Public Order (Election Meetings and Processions in Presidential Elections) Regulations 2017 (G.N. No. S 273/2017). [S 494/2020 wef 26/06/2020]

Definitions

3. In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires —

“advance notice”, in relation to a public assembly or public procession, means notice of intention to organise the public assembly or public procession required by section 6 of the Act and includes the accompanying application for a permit for that public assembly or public procession;

“applicant” means the person giving advance notice of a public assembly or public procession and who will be the person to whom a permit for that assembly or procession is granted;

“special notice” means the special notice of intention to organise an event, required by section 6A of the Act;

[S 533/2017 wef 01/10/2017]

“working day” means any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday.

Forms

4.—(1) In these Regulations, “appropriate form”, in relation to any purpose for which a specific form is required to be used, means the relevant form that —

(a)

is provided by the Commissioner and obtainable from any Neighbourhood Police Centre during such hours as such office is open for business; or

(b)

is set out on the Commissioner’s Internet website at http://www.spf.gov.sg (in relation to an advance notice) or at http://www.police.gov.sg/e-services (in relation to a special notice), and any reference in these Regulations to a numbered form shall be construed as a reference to the current version of the form bearing the corresponding number which is displayed at the relevant website.

[S 533/2017 wef 01/10/2017]

[S 494/2020 wef 26/06/2020]

(2) All forms used for the purposes of these Regulations shall be completed in the English language and in accordance with such directions as may be specified in the form or by the Commissioner.

(3) The Commissioner may refuse to accept any form if —

(a)	it is not completed or lodged in accordance with this regulation; or
(b)	it is not accompanied by the relevant fee required by regulation 7.

(4) Where strict compliance with any form is not possible, the Commissioner may allow for the necessary modifications to be made to that form, or for the requirements of that form to be complied with in such other manner as the Commissioner thinks fit.

Advance notice

5.—(1) For the purposes of section 6(1) of the Act, advance notice of a public assembly or public procession may be given to the Commissioner —

(a)	by delivering the advance notice in person at any Neighbourhood Police Centre;
(b)	by registered post addressed to any Police Division Headquarters so that that office receives it not less than the applicable period specified in paragraph (2);
(c)	by facsimile transmission sent to the number of any office referred to in sub-paragraph (a) or (b) approved by the Commissioner for the purpose of receiving advance notice of public assemblies or public processions, accompanied by a cover sheet clearly stating the sender’s name, postal address, telephone number and facsimile number and the number of pages transmitted, so that that office receives it not less than the applicable period specified in paragraph (2); or
(d)	by using the electronic system provided by the Government for this purpose, by completing and submitting a web-based form of the appropriate form made available on the Commissioner’s Internet website at http://www.spf.gov.sg, in accordance with the instructions accompanying the form or of the electronic system so that the Commissioner receives it not less than the applicable period specified in paragraph (2).

(2) For the purposes of section 6(2) of the Act, the advance notice of a public assembly or public procession shall be given as follows:

(a)	if the advance notice is for a funeral procession not exempted from section 5(1)(a) of the Act — not less than 12 hours before the date on which the procession is to be held;
(b)	if the advance notice is for any other public assembly or public procession — not less than 14 working days before the date on which the assembly or procession, as the case may be, is to be held. [S 557/2016 wef 01/11/2016]

(3) For the purposes of section 6(3)(a) of the Act, an advance notice of a public assembly or public procession shall be in the appropriate form.

(4) For the purposes of section 6(3)(c)(vii) of the Act, an advance notice of a public assembly or public procession shall contain the following other particulars and information relating to the assembly or procession:

(a)	the number and description of vehicles, banners, dress and insignia intended to be used in the proposed public assembly or public procession, as the case may be; and
(b)	the type of music intended to be provided during, and by whom, and the number and description of instruments to be used in, the proposed public assembly or public procession, as the case may be.

Applicant’s attendance

6.—(1) Every applicant shall, if so required in writing by the Commissioner —

(a)	attend personally before the Commissioner; and
(b)	provide clarification to the Commissioner as to such additional particulars, information and document as may be required.

(2) Where an applicant fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with any requirement of the Commissioner under paragraph (1), the Commissioner may reject the advance notice given by the applicant.

Fee

7.—(1) The relevant fee specified in the Schedule shall be payable upon the grant of a permit for the public assembly or public procession.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), such fee shall be payable to the officer-in-charge of the Police Division in which the public assembly or public procession is to be held.

(3) Where it appears to the Commissioner that it is unduly onerous or unreasonable for an applicant to comply with paragraph (1), he may waive payment of any fee specified in the Schedule.

(4) The fees payable under paragraph (1) are not inclusive of such goods and services tax as is chargeable under the Goods and Services Tax Act (Cap. 117A).

(5) Such fee that has been paid under these Regulations shall not be refundable, in whole or in part, even if the permit for which it is imposed is cancelled.

General conditions

8.—(1) Every permit for a public assembly shall be subject to the following conditions, which shall be deemed to be imposed under section 8(2) of the Act:

(a)	the assembly must not be held in any place other than the place specified in the permit;
(b)	the assembly must be held within the time specified in the permit;
(c)	no singing or music, gongs, drums or music-producing equipment shall be played, and no live-streaming of any event shall be shown, during the assembly unless authorised by the police officer granting the permit;
(d)	no public address system shall be used during the assembly unless authorised by the police officer granting the permit;
(e)	the number of participants in the assembly shall not exceed the number specified in the permit;
(f)	no banner, flag, poster, placard, photograph, film, sign, writing or other visible representation or paraphernalia shall be displayed during the assembly unless authorised by the police officer granting the permit.

(2) Every permit for a public procession shall be subject to the following conditions, which shall be deemed to be imposed under section 8(2) of the Act:

(a)	the procession must not deviate from the route specified in the permit;
(b)	the procession must be held within the time specified in the permit;
(c)	no singing or music, gongs, drums or music-producing equipment shall be played, and no live-streaming of any event shall be shown, during the procession unless authorised by the police officer granting the permit;
(d)	no public address system shall be used during the procession unless authorised by the police officer granting the permit;
(e)	the number of participants in the procession shall not exceed the number specified in the permit;
(f)	the number of vehicles used for the procession shall not exceed the number specified in the permit;
(g)	no banner, flag, poster, placard, photograph, film, sign, writing or other visible representation or paraphernalia shall be displayed during the procession unless authorised by the police officer granting the permit.

Production of permit on demand

9. Every organiser of a public assembly or public procession shall on demand produce to any police officer the permit granted in respect of the assembly or procession.

Restriction on transfer of permit

10.—(1) No permit shall be transferred to any person.

(2) Any purported transfer of a permit in contravention of this regulation shall be void and of no effect.

Special notice of event

11.—(1) For the purposes of section 6A(1) of the Act, special notice of an event must be given to the Commissioner —

(a)	by using the electronic system provided by the Government for this purpose, by completing and submitting a web‑based form of the appropriate form made available at http://www.police.gov.sg/e-services, in accordance with the instructions accompanying the form or of the electronic system; or [S 494/2020 wef 26/06/2020]
(b)	where the electronic system mentioned in sub‑paragraph (a) is unusable due to technical fault, by delivering the special notice in person at any Neighbourhood Police Centre.

(2) Special notice of an event must be in the appropriate form.

(3) For the purposes of section 6A(1) of the Act, special notice of an event must contain the following information:

(a)

the name, address, telephone number of the event organiser, and either —

(i)	the event organiser’s Unique Entity Number; or
(ii)	the identity card number of the individual who is the event organiser or representing the event organiser;

(b)

whether there is —

(i)	any licence or permit granted or issued in relation to the event under the Act, the Liquor Control (Supply and Consumption) Act 2015 (Act 5 of 2015), the Public Entertainments Act (Cap. 257) or the Road Traffic Act (Cap. 276), as the case may be; or
(ii)	any pending application for any licence or permit mentioned in sub‑paragraph (i);

(c)

whether the special notice is submitted on behalf of another person;

(d)

the name of the event;

(e)

whether or not access to the event is restricted through a ticket, invitation or coupon;

(f)

an estimate of the maximum number of participants at any time during the event;

(g)

whether the event is held in a public place;

(h)

the purpose of the event;

(i)

the location of the event;

(j)

the date and time when the event will start and end;

(k)

the identity of any guest of honour or elected member of Parliament attending the event;

(l)

a brief description of the event programme;

(m)

the age group of individuals likely to attend the event;

(n)

the interest group of participants in the event;

(o)

whether there is any publicity plan, and if so, details of such plan;

(p)

whether there is any road closure plan, security plan, crowd control plan, or access control and guest verification plan.

Illustration 1

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(h), the purpose of an event includes whether it is —

(a)	a religious event such as a church service;

(b)	a conference or workshop;

(c)	a community event such as a grassroots gathering;

(d)	a sporting event such as a marathon or a cycling event;

(e)	an entertainment event such as a concert or party; or

(f)	a commemorative event such as an event organised in association with Chinese New Year, Thaipusam or Hari Raya.

Illustration 2

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(n), the interest group of participants in the event includes whether the participants are —

(a)	followers of a religion;

(b)	members of a fan club, such as the supporters of an ethnic culture, a national culture, a game, a genre of music, a genre of literature, a performing art, a visual art, a person, or a group of persons; or

(c)	practitioners of a sport.

[S 533/2017 wef 01/10/2017]

Made this 7th day of October 2009.

BENNY LIM

Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of Home Affairs,
Singapore.

[MHA 112/2/0108; AG/LEG/SL/257A/2009/1 Vol. 1]

(To be presented to Parliament under section 47(4) of the Public Order Act 2009).

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