The Protection from Harassment Act 2014 (POHA) is a

statute A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

of the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

that criminalises

harassment Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behavior that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, and it is characteristically identified by its unlikelihood in terms of social and ...

stalking Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance or contact by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitorin ...

, and other

anti-social behaviour Anti-social behaviours, sometimes called dissocial behaviours, are actions which are considered to violate the rights of or otherwise harm others by committing crime or nuisance, such as stealing and physical attack or noncriminal behaviours s ...

. The law is designed specifically to make acts of

cyberbullying Cyberbullying (cyberharassment or online bullying) is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Since the 2000s, it has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers and adolescents, due to young people's increased u ...

and online harassment a criminal offence.

Overview

The Act abolished the

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

tort A tort is a civil wrong, other than breach of contract, that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with cri ...

of harassment, replaced by its statutory provisions. It also replaced sections 13A to 13D of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act, and expanded the scope to cover acts conducted online and increased the penalties to include imprisonment sentences. The Act is intended to cover both intentional and unintentional harassment, and has

extra-territorial jurisdiction Extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) is the legal ability of a government to exercise authority beyond its normal boundaries. Any authority can claim ETJ over any external territory they wish. However, for the claim to be effective in the external ...

for certain offences which include online acts by the defendant if the complainant was in Singapore at the time of the offence and the defendant knew or should have known of that fact. The new law is also to be accessible for the public than previously: for instance, provisions are now made for alleged complainants to apply a protection order against an accused, and in more extreme cases a separate expedited protection order can be applied for and issued immediately. In addition, anyone who abuses public servant and public service worker, including service staff from the public transport service, can be prosecuted under this Act and the maximum penalty of jail for up to a year and/or a fine. Generally, for uncomplicated and minor cases private in nature, the offences may be compoundable by the alleged complainant for an out-of-court settlement, but subject to the consent of the DPP. For civil law and relational cases, they may be referred for mediation at the State Courts Centre for Dispute Resolution (SCCDR), including Magistrate's Complaints or applications under the Protection from Harassment Act. Mediation is a way of resolving a dispute without going for a trial in court. It is known as an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) method.

Amendments in 2019

In 2019, the Parliament seek to amend the Act to tackle offences such as

doxxing Doxing or doxxing is the act of publicly providing personally identifiable information about an individual or organization, usually via the Internet and without their consent. Historically, the term has been used to refer to both the aggregati ...

. The original 2014 Act would kick in only if the communications to be “threatening, abusive or insulting”. Doxxing would not apply as it would only be considered as an act of divulging personal information. Additionally, the amendment simplified the process for victims to by setting up a specialised court within the

State Courts of Singapore The State Courts of Singapore (formerly the Subordinate Courts) is one of the three categories of courts in Singapore, the other categories being the Supreme Court and Family Justice Courts. The State Courts comprise the District and Magistrate ...

. The amendment also introduced a mechanism for individuals and entities to seek correction orders to counter

fake news Fake news or information disorder is false or misleading information (misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, and hoaxes) claiming the aesthetics and legitimacy of news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person ...

about them. Whilst there are similarities between this amendment and the

Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019, commonly abbreviated as POFMA and known colloquially as Fake News Law, is a statute of the Parliament of Singapore that enables authorities to tackle the spread of fake news or false ...

(POFMA), POFMA can only be invoked by ministers of Singapore and it will take a longer time for individuals and entities to successfully apply for a correction order.

Cases

The Ministry of Manpower,

National Trades Union Congress The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), also known as the Singapore National Trades Union Congress (SNTUC) internationally, is the sole national trade union centre in Singapore. NTUC leads the labour movement of Singapore, comprising 59 affilia ...

and

Singapore National Employers Federation Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree o ...

are at present the primary institutions in deterring workplace harassment. In August 2015, a former

Singapore Civil Defence Force The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is a uniformed organisation in Singapore under the Ministry of Home Affairs (Singapore), Ministry of Home Affairs that provides emergency services such as firefighting, technical rescue, and emergency med ...

(SCDF) senior officer was charged in court under a POHA complaint filed by a woman complainant. The maximum penalty for the offence is up to a S$5,000 fine and 12 months' jail. In December 2016, the defendant engaged a defence counsel and managed to compound the court charge by making an open court apology and a monetary compensation to the alleged complainant as a composition. The alleged complainant was agreeable to the composition after the consequences of accepting and rejecting the offer of composition were thoroughly explained to her. Having considered the facts and in the light of further developments arising after he was first charged, the deputy public prosecutor has consented to composition. Hence, he was granted a discharge amounting to an acquittal by the court judge. In May 2015, the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

obtained a protection order against

The Online Citizen The Online Citizen is a blogging platform based in Taiwan. Founded in December 2006 by Andrew Loh and Remy Choo Zheng Xi in Singapore, it is known for its political activism. It describes itself as a group of advocacy journalists who report on t ...

. It was later, after legal arguments made by lawyers Choo Zhengxi and

Eugene Thuraisingam Eugene Singarajah Thuraisingam (born 10 June 1975) is a Singaporean lawyer. He is the founder of the law firm Eugene Thuraisingam LLP, a law firm that specialises in international arbitration and Criminal law, criminal and commercial litigation. ...

, overturned by the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

in January 2017, which ruled in a 2-1 judgement that the

Government of Singapore The government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of Singapore, Constitution of the Republic of Singapore to consist of the President of Singapore, President and the Executive. Executive authority of Singapore is vested in the Presi ...

is ineligible as a '

person A person (: people or persons, depending on context) is a being who has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations suc ...

' to apply for a protection order against any individual. In July 2019, a senior policeman was interdicted from service, charged in court and fined for harassment to a female colleague. Thereafter, a

Singapore Police Force The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is the national and principal Police, law enforcement agency responsible for the prevention of crime and law enforcement in the Republic of Singapore. It is the country's lead agency against organised crime; hum ...

(SPF) spokesperson said that its officers are not only expected to uphold the law but maintain the highest standards of conduct and integrity. He added that SPF deals severely with officers who break the law, including charging them in court. Moreover, SPF has since commenced disciplinary proceedings against him after the court verdict. In 2019, a few people were charged in court for using foul language to vehemently abuse public servants and public service workers. As at March 2019, there were more than 500 Protection Order applications made since November 2014. In December 2019, a freelance actress-model Melissa Faith Yeo was charged and fined under POHA for abusive language and hurling vulgarities towards public servants. In March 2020, 5 men were charged in court for abusing public servants.

Reference list

External links

Protection from Harassment Act 2014 (No. 17 of 2014) - Singapore Statutes Online
{{Law of Singapore 2014 in law 2014 in Singapore Singaporean criminal law Singaporean legislation Harassment law

Overview

Amendments in 2019

Cases

See also

Reference list

External links