Always revitalising and evolving

About the project

The Singapore Academy of Law’s Law Reform Committee recommended that it should be made a criminal offence for a person to stalk another person, that is, for the offender to engage in a course of conduct comprising one or more of a number of acts, including following the victim or a related person; telephoning, sending electronic messages to, or otherwise communicating with or contacting, the victim or a related person; and entering or loitering outside or near the place of residence or of business of the victim or a related person, or any other place frequented by the victim or a related person. It took the view that neither specific intent on the part of the offender to cause harm, nor proof that the victim actually suffered harm, apprehension or fear as a result of the offender’s conduct, should be necessary to establish the offence.

In addition, the Committee recommended that a court should be able to make a prohibition order to prevent further unlawful stalking, and that there should be a means by which an expedited or temporary protection order can be obtained.

Project status: Completed

• The report was published in November 2001.
• Parliament incorporated the report’s recommendations into the Protection from Harassment Act 2014 (No 17 of 2014, now Chapter 256A, 2015 Revised Edition), which was passed on 13 March 2014 and came into force on 15 November 2014.
• The report has been referred to in the following works:
  • Goh Yihan, “The Case for Legislating Harassment in Singapore” (2014) 26 Singapore Academy of Law Journal [Sing Acad LJ] 68 at page 88, paragraph 43, footnote 72.
  • Goh Yihan & Yip Man, “The Protection from Harassment Act 2014: Legislative Comment” (2014) 26 Sing Acad LJ 700 at page 716, paragraph 41, footnote 85.

Areas of law

◾ Criminal law and procedure

Click on the image above to view the report

Last updated 11 June 2019