A bill to repeal the Sedition Act was introduced in Parliament on Monday (13 Sep), with certain related amendments to be made to existing statutory law such as the Penal Code to incorporate one element that the Government wishes to retain.

In existence for over 80 years, the Sedition Act, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in a release, has been wielded in the past “to address various forms of conduct that could weaken our social fabric and undermine our institutions”.

Over the years, however, new laws including but not limited to the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act, the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019, and the Administration of Justice (Protection) Act 2016 were introduced “to deal with these concerns in a more targeted and calibrated manner”.

“Thus, the Sedition Act is of limited application and can be repealed,” said MHA.

The ministry, however, said that one aspect of the Sedition Act — ensuring social cohesion between different groups within Singapore — continues to be relevant.

“One of the offences in the Penal Code will therefore be amended to ensure that this continues to be adequately addressed, in a more calibrated way, as set out below,” said MHA.

Penal Code

Section 3(1)(e) of the Sedition Act safeguards social cohesion in Singapore, by criminalising conduct that promotes feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races or classes of the population.

Some examples of “different classes of the population” include groups of persons identified or organised on the basis of religion, nationality, or residential status.

Presently, the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act and Sections 298 and 298A of the Penal Code already cover cases of disharmony involving religious and racial groups.

“With the repeal of the Sedition Act, there is a need to ensure that we continue to have laws that can deal with serious cases of disharmony involving other groups.

“To this end, MHA will amend section 267C of the Penal Code. Currently, Section 267C prohibits the making, possession or dissemination of material containing any incitement of violence against others, counselling others to disobey the law, or which is likely to lead to a breach of the peace,” said MHA.

“Section 267C will also be amended to cover other acts, such as speeches and other verbal communications, that could lead to violence, disobedience to the law or a breach of the peace.

“At the same time, however, we will narrow the scope of application by requiring that the offender intended for the violence, disobedience to the law, or breach of the peace to occur, or knew or had reason to believe that these would likely occur,” MHA added.

Section 267C of the Penal Code will be also amended to clarify that “counselling disobedience to the law” includes, but is not limited to, providing instruction, advice, or information that promotes disobedience to the law.

Criminal Procedure Code

Noting that offences under the Sedition Act are arrestable, MHA said that it intends to make the following offences in the Penal Code that deal with conduct which threatens social cohesion and harmony arrestable:

  • Section 298, which criminalises the deliberate wounding of any person’s religious or racial feelings;
  • Section 298A, which criminalises the promotion of disharmony between different religious and racial groups and acts which are prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between religious or racial groups and which disturb the public tranquility; and
  • Section 505, which criminalises, among other things, the making, publication or circulation of material with intent to incite any class of persons to commit an offence against another class of persons.

This is to ensure that with the Sedition Act’s repeal, the police can “continue to act swiftly and effectively when dealing with egregious cases that affect social cohesion”, said MHA.

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