The term “gratification” is also defined broadly and includes monetary rewards, employment, discharge of any loan, service, favour or advantage. employees, those who act on behalf of others and public servants. Section 5 of the PCA covers those who corruptly receive and corruptly give gratification as an inducement or reward for a person performing or withholding performance of a transaction while section 6 of the PCA covers the actions of agents, i.e. The main offences are listed out in sections 5 and 6 of the PCA. Just retribution will follow those who persist in corrupt practices.” Application of the Prevention of Corruption Act To those who corrupt and those who are corrupt, the warning is clear – take heed and mend their ways. “he Bill, while directed mainly at corruption in the public services, is applicable also to corruption by private agents, trustees and others in a fiduciary capacity.
The PCA’s purpose was well articulated during the second reading of the Prevention of Corruption Bill when the then Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Ong Pang Boon stated that: The PCA addressed the deficiencies of the POCO and empowered the CPIB to conduct investigations and enforcement duties. The inadequacy of the Anti-Corruption Branch eventually led the colonial government to abolish it entirely and the Corrupt Practice Investigation Bureau (CPIB) was formed out of the Special Investigations Team to review the inadequacies of the Anti-Corruption Branch.Īfter Singapore attained self-government, the POCO was repealed and the PCA was enacted in its place on 17 June 1960. However, corruption remained endemic as the Anti-Corruption Branch was understaffed. Although the POCO covered corruption in both public and private businesses, the offences covered under POCO were non-seizable offences and the powers of investigation by the Anti-Corruption Branch were largely curtailed resulting in corruption being rife and rampant.Īfter World War II, the POCO was revised to make the offences seizable and powers of investigation of the Anti-Corruption Branch widened. The POCO was enacted in December 1937 during the colonial period of Singapore.
The PCA’s predecessor legislation was known as the Prevention of Corruption Ordinance (POCO). History and Purpose of Anti-Corruption Laws This article will focus on the history of the PCA and how it has been applied in Singapore. This impressive feat is attributed to the robust anti-corruption laws in the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA). In 2017, Singapore rose to the 7 th position on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index and is the only Asian country to have made it into the top 10 of the index to be among the least corrupt countries in the world.