{"id":94,"date":"2018-12-24T06:46:59","date_gmt":"2018-12-24T06:46:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asl-law.com.sg\/?p=94"},"modified":"2018-12-24T06:46:59","modified_gmt":"2018-12-24T06:46:59","slug":"a-quick-and-simple-guide-on-singapore-law-for-expatriates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asl-law.com.sg\/a-quick-and-simple-guide-on-singapore-law-for-expatriates\/","title":{"rendered":"A Quick and Simple Guide on Singapore Law for Expatriates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Singapore \u2013 the beautiful city in the tropics i<\/span><span class=\"s1\">s considered to be safe with a low crime rate. Expatriates working in Singapore are expected to be aware of the laws and legislations here as ignorance of the law is not a defense. Penalties for crimes in Singapore are often more severe as compared to those of other western countries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">Expatriates should be careful not to commit any of the following common offences:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Driving whilst under intoxication ($1000 to $5000 fine or up to 6 months prison for 1st offence);<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Using mobile-phone while driving (up to $1000 fine or up to 6 months prison or both for 1st offence);<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Careless\/reckless driving (up to $3000 fine or 12 months prison or both for 1st offence);<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Unauthorised consumption and\/or possession of drugs (up to 10 years or $20,000 fine or both);<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Commercial sex with minor under 18 (up to 7 years or fine or both);<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Theft (up to 3 years or fine or both);<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Shoplifting (up to 7 years and liable to fine);<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Computer Theft (up to $5000 fine or up to 2 years or both for 1st offence);<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Cheating or Fraud (up to 3 years or fine or both);<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Forgery or False documents (up to 4 years or fine or both).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">The following offences are especially serious and are punishable with imprisonment and caning:<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Illegal entry or overstaying your visa by more than 90 days (up to 6 months and, up to 3 strokes or fine up to $6,000);<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Vandalism (up to 3 years or $2000 fine and, liable for 3-8 strokes);<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Outrage of modesty (i.e. molestation) (up to 2 years, liable for caning);<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Rape (up to 20 years, liable to fine or caning);<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Kidnapping (up to 10 years, liable to fine or caning);<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Robbery (2 to 14 years, min. 6 strokes caning);<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Unauthorised possession of firearm (5 to 14 years, min. 6 strokes).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">These serious crimes attract the death penalty: <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Trafficking, manufacturing, importing or exporting more than 15 g of heroin, 30 g of morphine, 30g of cocaine, 500 g of cannabis, 200 g of cannabis resin and 1.2 kg of opium;<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Murder.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Common Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p5\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singaporecriminallawyer.com\/expat-crime\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What are the consequences of being charged or investigated?<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">If you are charged or investigated for an offence by the police, there is potential for significant disruption to your life and working schedule as you may need to take urgent leave to attend mandatory interviews at the police station during investigations. You could be detained for up to 48 hours when you are initially arrested. During this period, you may not be allowed to contact a lawyer or family member immediately and this puts your job at risk due to \u2018mysterious disappearance\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Furthermore, if you are offered bail, you will have to find a Singaporean or Permanent Resident surety willing to act as your bailor and having the means to furnish your bail.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p5\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singaporecriminallawyer.com\/expat-crime\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Will I be allowed to travel if my passport is detained? <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">If you are offered bail, your passport will have to be surrendered and you will have to seek permission from the police or the Court before you can travel. They may also impose additional bail conditions such as requiring your travel details and increasing the bail amount significantly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">This may affect your ability to serve the functions of your job if you often need to travel on short notice or if your application to travel is altogether refused (See: Bail, para 4(a).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p5\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singaporecriminallawyer.com\/expat-crime\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Will it affect my working visa? <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Being charged may affect your ability to review your working visa with the Ministry of Manpower (\u201cMOM\u201d) especially if your employment pass is due to expire. You may instead be issued with a temporary \u201cspecial pass\u201d which has to be renewed on a weekly or fortnightly basis. This would mean frequent visits to the police station and MOM, to have the visa renewed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">You may also attract a \u201cblacklist\u201d which will affect your future employment prospects in Singapore.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p5\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singaporecriminallawyer.com\/expat-crime\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Am I in breach of any of my employment contract terms and conditions? <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">This will depend on the specific terms of your particular employment contract and the code of conduct set by your employer. Generally, most employment contracts do state misconduct or conviction in a court of law as grounds for dismissal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Even if your employer does not dismiss you, you may face difficulty with renewal of your employment pass when it is due for expiry and a failure to obtain such pass would preclude you from being in Singapore.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p5\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singaporecriminallawyer.com\/expat-crime\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">When should I inform my employer of my circumstances?<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Unless the terms of your employment require so, there is no requirement for you to inform your employers of your circumstances as the result of the investigations could eventually mean that you are innocent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">However, if you intend to plead guilty, you would likely need to inform your employer and may also wish to obtain a testimonial letter in support of your mitigation plea to ask the court for leniency in sentencing for the offence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p5\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singaporecriminallawyer.com\/expat-crime\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">When do I engage a lawyer?<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">You should engage a lawyer the moment investigations begin. Do not delay.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Our Criminal Lawyer, Mr Amarjit Singh Sidhu, has defended numerous clients, both locals and expats over the years over a wide variety of offences. With vast experience in Singapore\u2019s laws, Mr Amarjit Singh Sidhu will be able to provide valuable and timely advice for your situation. For more information, or if you have been caught in a similar situation, feel free to <a href=\"https:\/\/asl-law.com.sg\/contact-us\/\">contact us<\/a> for a consultation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As an expatriate in Singapore, here&#8217;s a simple guide for you to understand the country&#8217;s laws.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[40,42,44,45,46,47,48],"class_list":["post-94","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-expat-law","tag-crime","tag-expatriate-crime","tag-singapore","tag-singapore-criminal-law","tag-singapore-criminal-lawyer","tag-singapore-law","tag-singapore-lawyer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asl-law.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asl-law.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asl-law.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asl-law.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asl-law.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.asl-law.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asl-law.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asl-law.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asl-law.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}