Singaporeans can be convicted of crimes on international seas, aircraft: High Court

SINGAPORE – The High Court has made it clear that a Singaporean who commits a crime in international waters or on any aircraft can be tried and convicted in the Singapore courts as though the offence occurred in Singapore.

The ruling came as the court on Oct 27 dismissed a man’s appeal against his conviction for breaking into another passenger’s cabin on a Bahamas-flagged

cruise ship while on the high seas and stealing her bra.

Ng Kok Wai, 29, had been found guilty on one charge each of housebreaking and theft – offences in the Penal Code – and sentenced to four months’ jail by a district court in November 2022.

Ng admitted to carrying out the offending acts, but repeated his arguments that he cannot be held criminally liable for his actions committed outside Singapore.

He contended that the relevant Singapore law that made his actions a crime did not apply to someone like himself who was on a foreign-registered ship on the high seas.

In its judgment, the three-judge panel led by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon noted that acts committed outside Singapore would generally not constitute an offence, as they usually fall outside domestic criminal legislation.

Section 3 of the Penal Code allows for it to be applied to acts committed outside the country, provided that there is some other provision empowering the Singapore court to try a person for such offences, the judges said.

In Ng’s case, the State Courts Act empowers a district court to try offences committed “by any person who is a citizen of Singapore on the high seas”.

Since he is a Singapore citizen who broke into the victim’s cabin and stole her bra while on the high seas, the necessary condition has been met. This means that what Ng did on the ship will be treated as though it took place in Singapore, and he can be punished under the Penal Code, the court ruled.

The court said its interpretation of the law will not lead to the overly wide extraterritorial application of the Penal Code, as the various provisions that confer power on the courts all require a clear connection to Singapore.

Besides offences committed within Singapore, the State Courts Act also gives a district court jurisdiction over crimes 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 in any written law that the offence can be tried in Singapore.

So, someone who commits what is considered a crime in Singapore while in another country cannot be tried here, unless there is a law that specifically makes it an offence.