4-11-2023 (SINGAPORE) The High Court in Singapore has established that Singaporeans who commit crimes in international waters or on aircraft can be tried and convicted in Singapore courts as if the offences occurred within the country. This ruling was made in the dismissal of a man’s appeal against his conviction for breaking into another passenger’s cabin on a Bahamas-flagged cruise ship and stealing her bra while on the high seas.
The man, Ng Kok Wai, 29, had previously been found guilty of housebreaking and theft, offenses under the Penal Code, and was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment by a district court in November 2022. While Ng admitted to committing the acts, he argued that he should not be held criminally liable for actions committed outside Singapore.
Ng contended that the relevant Singapore law did not apply to him as he was on a foreign-registered ship in international waters. However, in their judgment, the three-judge panel led by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon emphasized that acts committed outside Singapore generally do not constitute offenses under domestic criminal legislation.
The judges explained that Section 3 of the Penal Code allows for its application to acts committed outside the country if there is another provision empowering the Singapore court to try a person for such offenses. In Ng’s case, the State Courts Act empowers a district court to try offenses committed “by any person who is a citizen of Singapore on the high seas.”
Since Ng is a Singapore citizen who committed the offenses on the high seas, the necessary condition is met, and his actions on the ship will be treated as if they took place in Singapore. Consequently, he can be punished under the Penal Code, as ruled by the court.
The court clarified that its interpretation of the law does not lead to an overly broad extraterritorial application of the Penal Code, as the various provisions conferring power on the courts require a clear connection to Singapore.
In addition to offenses committed within Singapore’s jurisdiction, the State Courts Act also grants a district court jurisdiction over crimes committed on board any ship or aircraft registered in Singapore, by any Singapore citizen on the high seas or on any aircraft, and in any other place or by any person if it is specified in written law that the offense can be tried in Singapore.
Therefore, individuals who commit acts considered crimes in Singapore while in another country cannot be tried in Singapore unless there is a specific law designating it as an offense.
