PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

6.30 p.m.

The Minister for Home Affairs (Mr Ong Pang Boon): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill he now read a Second time."

Sir, the purpose of the Bill is straightforward in that the Bill seeks to introduce two new sections to enlarge the powers of the special investigators under the existing Prevention of Corruption Ordinance, 1960. The first provision seeks to give senior special investigators or special investigators in the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau powers given to police officers under sections 119 and 120 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Chapter 132). Under these sections, a police officer making a police investigation may, by order in writing, require the attendance before himself of any person being within the State who, from the information given or otherwise, appears to be acquainted with the circumstances of the case under investigation. Where any such person fails to attend as required, the Magistrate may issue a warrant to secure his attendance. The police officer may also examine orally any person supposed to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case under investigation and shall reduce in writing any statement made by the person so examined; and such person shall be bound to state truly the facts and circumstances of the case with which he was acquainted concerning the case, save only that he may decline to make, with regard to any fact or circumstance, a statement which has a tendency to expose him to a criminal charge or to a penalty or forfeiture.

At present, owing to the lack of sufficient experienced civilian senior special investigators or special investigators, a number of police officers have been seconded to the Corrupt Practices investigation Bureau as senior special investigators or special investigators, and in the course of their duties with the Bureau, they have been able to conduct investigations by making use of the powers under sections 119 and 120 of the Criminal Procedure Code which they possess as police officers.

The secondment of police officers to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, however, is intended to be a temporary measure, since the intention is that eventually the Bureau will be staffed entirely by civilian officers. There are, at the moment, ten civilian special investigators employed in the Bureau. These special investigators undergo the same training as cadet police inspectors and are required to pass the same prescribed examinations, but because of the fact that they are not police officers, they do not have the powers of their police colleagues under sections 119 and 120 of the Criminal Procedure Code when carrying out investigation work. In order, therefore, to enable them to carry out their duties more effectively and deal with offences more expeditiously, it is considered necessary that these civilian special investigators should be given similar powers to those possessed by police officers in the course of investigations.

At the same time, the opportunity has been taken to remedy a weakness in section 20 of the Prevention of Corruption Ordinance. This section provides that whenever it appears to any magistrate or to the Director of C.P.I.B. upon information and after such inquiry as he thinks necessary, that there is reasonable cause to believe that in any place there is any document containing evidence of the commission of an offence relating to corruption, the magistrate or the Director may empower a police officer or an investigator of the Bureau to enter such place by force, if necessary, and there to search for, seize and detain any such document. It has been found by experience that, for the purpose of investigations by the Bureau, it is necessary for this provision to be extended to cover also any article or property involved in the commission of an offence relating to corruption, under either the Prevention of Corruption Ordinance or sections 161 to 165 or sections 213 to 215 of the Penal Code, and the Bill accordingly includes an amendment to this effect.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole Assembly.

Assembly immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. -[Mr Ong Pang Boon].

Bill considered in Committee; reported, without amendment; read a Third time and passed.