43
CAP. 224
Penal Code
2008 Ed.
Act done by a person justified, or by mistake of fact believing
himself justified by law
79. Nothing is an offence which is done by any person who is
justified by law, or who by reason of a mistake of fact and not by
reason of a mistake of law in good faith believes himself to be justified
by law, in doing it.
Illustrations
(a) A sees Z commit what appears to A to be a murder. A, in the exercise, to the
best of his judgment exerted in good faith, of the power which the law
gives to all persons of apprehending murderers in the act, seizes Z, in
order to bring Z before the proper authorities. A has committed no offence,
though it may turn out that Z was acting in self-defence.
(b) A, a police officer, is deployed to perform the duty of screening
passengers boarding a flight at the airport. A sees Z, a passenger queuing
up to be screened, acting suspiciously. As A approaches Z, Z suddenly
shouts aloud that he is carrying a bomb and warns A not to approach
further. As A draws his revolver, Z suddenly starts to run away. A, after
assessing the circumstances of the case, and to the best of his judgment
exerted in good faith, believes that Z has a bomb and will set it off. A
shoots Z and Z dies as a result. A has committed no offence, even though it
may turn out that Z was not carrying a bomb.
(c) A, a police officer, is deployed to perform patrol duty at an underground
train station. A receives information from police headquarters that
someone is attempting to plant a bomb in the public transport system.
The profile of the suspect is also provided. While patrolling the
underground train station, A sees Z, who fits the profile. Z is seen
carrying a backpack and behaving suspiciously. A approaches Z and
orders him to stop. Z suddenly starts running towards a crowd in the
station. A, after assessing the circumstances of the case, and to the best of
his judgment exerted in good faith, believes that Z has a bomb and will set
it off. A shoots Z and Z dies as a result. A has committed no offence, even
though it may turn out that Z was not carrying a bomb.
(d) X, the commander of a naval vessel, is patrolling Singapore territorial
waters. X receives information that someone may hijack a vessel in order
to commit a terrorist act. X spots vessel A which is proceeding at high
speed towards a cruise liner. X orders vessel A to stop her manoeuvre
immediately and fires a warning signal. Vessel A instead starts
accelerating towards the cruise liner. X, after assessing the
circumstances of the case, and to the best of his judgment exerted in
good faith, believes that vessel A is going to ram into the cruise liner. X
Informal Consolidation – version in force from 1/4/2015
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents