SINGAPORE: National Laws

Summary: General overview of Singapore's national legal provisions on children's rights, including guidance on how to conduct further research.

National laws on children's rights

Status of the CRC in national law
Treaties and conventions are not directly applicable in Singaporean law, but enter into force via implementing legislation. As such, courts may reference the Convention, but its provisions are not directly enforceable without the support of domestic law.

Constitution- The Constitution of Singapore has a small number of provisions that apply specifically to children, primarily in the context of citizenship. These provisions include:

• S. 16(2) providing for the foundation of religious schools for the education of children

• S. 122 as amended to permit children to inherit citizenship from a mother as well as a father

• S. 124 regarding the inheritance of Singaporean citizenship

• Ss. 130 and 137 regarding the revocation of the citizenship of children in the event of their parents being deprived of citizenship

Legislation- There is no consolidated or comprehensive Children's Act in Singaporean law. Rather, children's rights are generally addressed both in broadly applicable codes and in targeted, thematic legislation. Among other things, the Penal Code (Cap. 224) covers juvenile justice dispositions, and the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 68) contains a number of protections for children involved in legal proceedings. Other relevant legislation includes, but is by no means limited to:

• The Children and Young Persons Act (Cap. 38) (as amended in 1993 and 2001)

• The Women's Charter (Cap. 353) (as amended in 1996 to address domestic violence)

• The Compulsory Education Act (Cap. 51)

• The Child Care Centres Act (Cap. 37A)

• The Adoption of Infants Act (Cap. 4)

• The Guardianship of Infants Act (Cap. 122)

• The Employment Act (Cap. 91)

• The Employment of Children and Young Persons Regulations

Legal research
The Singapore Parliament maintains an official website (http://www.parliament.gov.sg/) that offers the full text of all bills proposed in recent years, and Singaporean statutes and Constitutional documents can be found online through the Attorney General's website (http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/). The Singapore Academy of Law website (http://www.singaporelaw.sg/) also offers an extensive range of legal commentary and resources. In addition, the GlobaLex initiative at New York University has published a useful and up-to-date guide to legal research on Singapore (http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/singapore1.htm), and both the U.S. Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/singapore.php) and World Legal Information Institute (http://www.worldlii.org/catalog/257.html) have compiled a selection of relevant links.

Case law
CRC Jurisprudence
Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any cases in national courts that reference the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Compliance with the CRC
In its 2011 Concluding Observations, the Committee on the Rights of the Child welcomed several legislative changes “which contribute to the improvement of children's living conditions and development.” However, the Committee also noted with concern that despite these developments, “the Convention, which is not directly applicable...has not yet been fully incorporated into domestic legislation” and urged Singapore to take steps in this direction.

In depth analysis:
In its 2011 Concluding Observations, the Committee on the Rights of the Child welcomed several legislative changes "which contribute to the improvement of children's living conditions and development." However, the Committee also noted with concern that despite these developments, "the Convention, which is not directly applicable...has not yet been fully incorporated into domestic legislation" and urged Singapore to take steps in this direction.

In detail analysis:
Juvenile justice is perhaps the area of Singaporean law that is most starkly in contrast with the CRC. Singapore maintains a very low age of criminal responsibility (7 years), prescribes corporal punishment as a penalty for offences committed by males, allows corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure for children detained, and permits the imposition of life imprisonment for crimes committed by persons under the age of 18. The Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that the State address all of these issues through legislation in their 2011 Concluding Observations.

Though national legislation on trafficking has been updated in recent years, Singapore remains a destination country for the trafficking of children. Child victims of the practice are often treated as offenders and arrested for immigration offences. The Committee has recommended that the State ensure that it enforces its laws on child trafficking by investigating alleged crimes, bringing prosecutions and punishing offenders appropriately, particularly with regards to children trafficked for economic and sexual exploitation.

Violence against, and sexual exploitation of, children remains an area of national law that falls short of the standards set by the Convention. National legislation does not cover the full range of prohibitions covered by the ILO Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, specifically in relation to the offering of a child under 18 for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances. The State has also failed to take action to combat child sex tourism, and perpetrators enjoy de facto impunity for these offences.

Current legal reform projects
Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any current legal reform projects.