CHILD-SEX OFFENCES COMMITTED BY SINGAPOREANS OVERSEAS

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CHILD-SEX OFFENCES COMMITTED BY SINGAPOREANS OVERSEAS

22.

Ms Braema Mathiaparanam asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether there is any provision in the law for Singaporeans who commit child-sex offences overseas to be brought home to face trial, and if there is none, (b) will his Ministry consider amending the law to allow for such extraterritorial jurisdiction as a deterrent to Singaporeans and as some form of protection to the children in the region.

Mr Wong Kan Seng: Currently, it is not an offence for Singaporeans to have sex with minors overseas. When we replied to a parliamentary question on this in 1995, we said that there was no need to amend our laws to make it an offence. The situation has not changed significantly since then. We can study this matter once more.

It is not just a matter of enacting a provision in our statutes to make it an offence for Singaporeans to have sex with minors overseas. Difficult legal issues arise in extending our jurisdiction overseas. Besides, there are also practical problems in enforcing such a law. Police will have to first detect such an act; it will then have to conduct investigations overseas and even bring witnesses back to Singapore to give evidence.

Our preliminary study is that jurisdictions with such laws have found it difficult to enforce such a law. Successful prosecutions have been few and far between.