COVID-19: Can Safe Distancing Enforcement Officers Do This?

Safe distancing enforcement officers play an integral role in Singapore’s battle against COVID-19.

However, in recent times, some have raised concerns that they may be overstepping their boundaries, such as when safe distancing enforcement officers from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) legitimately entered the house of Singapore actor Nick Mikhail without a warrant.

This article is targeted at individuals who wish to know what safe distancing enforcement officers are legally empowered to do with regard to COVID-19 safe distancing measures.

Read on to find out:

Who are Safe Distancing Enforcement Officers?

Safe distancing enforcement officers (Enforcement Officers) are people who are appointed by the Minister of Health under section 35(1) of the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020.

Their main task is to enforce compliance with COVID-19 regulations (also known as control orders) issued by the government, such as safe distancing measures and prohibitions on social gathering.

Enforcement Officers can be any of the following:

A police officer;
A Health Officer who is either a public officer or officers of any statutory body;
A public officer;
An officer of a statutory body;
An auxiliary police officer;
An employee of a public hospital or polyclinic, except for the purposes of directing persons carrying on a business or working at any premises to stop work or to comply with control orders.

Are Safe Distancing Enforcement Officers the Same as Safe Distancing Ambassadors?

Safe distancing ambassadors (Ambassadors) do not have the same powers to enforce COVID-19 regulations, i.e., compel the public to follow them, as they are not Enforcement Officers. Safe distancing ambassadors instead advise the public to comply with safe distancing measures. According to the NEA, Ambassadors will be paired with Enforcement Officers during their patrols.

How can I identify safe distancing enforcement officers and differentiate them from safe distancing ambassadors?

Enforcement Officers and Ambassadors both wear corporate attire from their respective agencies and carry staff passes and/or lanyards.

To differentiate Enforcement Officers from Ambassadors, you may look at the type of passes that they carry. Enforcement Officers carry “Safe Distancing Enforcement Officer” passes, while Ambassadors carry “Safe Distancing Ambassador” passes. Enforcement Officers may additionally wear a red armband.

What are Safe Distancing Enforcement Officers Empowered to Do?

Enforcement Officers have a wide range of powers to enable them to carry out their duties. Failure to cooperate or comply with the directions of enforcement officers may invite penalties, which will be discussed below.

Note that a failure to cooperate with Enforcement Officers and the breaching of COVID-19 regulations are two separate offences. This means you can still be fined for non-compliance with the COVID-19 regulations even if you cooperate with an Enforcement Officer.

Conversely, if you breach COVID-19 regulations and refuse to cooperate with an Enforcement Officer, you may be found guilty of two different offences, each with their own fines and imprisonment terms.

It should also be noted that if the breach is not particularly egregious, a composition fine may be imposed instead. This means that the accused is not charged in court, but instead settles the charge through a sum paid out of court.

For example, a person caught breaching the rules once may be offered a $300 composition fine for a first-time offence, and a $1,000 composition fine for a repeat offence, in lieu of being charged in court.

See our article on composition for more information on composition fines in general.

Giving directions to individuals

For the purposes of enforcing compliance with COVID-19 regulations, Enforcement Officers have the power to direct any individual or group of individuals to leave/enter or not leave/enter a certain place. This may happen, for example, when Enforcement Officers discover an illegal gathering and order the attendees to leave the premises.

These directions can be given orally.

If an oral direction is given to a group of individuals, it is presumed at law to have been given to each individual member of the group. This is as long as the oral direction had been made in a manner that was likely to be audible to all members of the group, or as many of them as reasonably practicable.

An individual who refuses or fails to comply with these directions without a reasonable excuse is liable to a fine of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 6 months for the first offence. For second and subsequent offences, the maximum fine increases to $20,000 and the maximum imprisonment term increases to 12 months.

Giving directions to owners of a business

For the purposes of enforcing compliance with COVID-19 regulations, Enforcement Officers may direct any person carrying on a business or working at any particular place (other than at the time, in the manner and to the extent permitted under the COVID-19 regulations) to do one or more of the following:

To stop carrying on business and to stop working at that place;
To take steps to comply with any relevant restrictions with respect to the business or work; and/or
To close or limit access to that place.

Such a direction might be issued, for example, if a business has not been adhering to safe distancing measures at its work premises.

Like directions given to individuals, these directions can be given orally.

An oral direction will be presumed at law to be given to the person carrying on the business at a particular place as long as the direction was given to an officer, an employee, a manager, a partner or an agent of a person carrying on the business or working at that place.

A company, unincorporated association or partnership which refuses or fails to comply with the direction will also be liable to the same fines.

As with directions given to individuals, it must be noted that failing to comply with directions given to business owners, and breaching COVID-19 regulations, are two separate offences that a person may be found guilty of.

Powers of investigation

An Enforcement Officer has all the powers of a Health Officer authorised under sections 55A, 55B and 57 of the Infectious Diseases Act to ascertain whether COVID-19 regulations are being complied with, or to investigate any non-compliance with the directions of an Enforcement Officer.

This includes the power under section 55A of the Infectious Diseases Act to, at any time, without warrant and with such force as may be necessary, stop, board, enter, inspect and search any premises or conveyance.

Any person who fails to comply with any such requirement will be guilty of an offence, which will invite a fine of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 6 months for the first offence. For second and subsequent offences, the maximum fine increases to $20,000 and the maximum imprisonment term increases to 12 months.

Powers of arrest

Under section 35(6) of the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020, any police officer, or Enforcement Officer (save for an employee of a public hospital or polyclinic) authorised in writing by the Minister for Health, may arrest any person without a warrant if:

That person is committing the offence of breaching either the COVID-19 regulations or the directions of Enforcement Officers; or
The police or Enforcement Officer has reason to believe that the person has done so.

Are There Any Limits On What Safe Distancing Enforcement Officers Can Do?

Can Enforcement Officers issue a fine?

While breaching the COVID-19 regulations or failing to comply with directions from Enforcement Officers will usually invite a fine, Enforcement Officers will not collect fines from individuals or businesses on the spot. Instead, the penalties for breaches will be issued to individuals or businesses through composition letters, which will detail any necessary follow-up actions.

Can safe distancing enforcement officers ask for my personal information?

Under section 57 of the Infectious Diseases Act, an Enforcement Officer may require a person to give his/her name, address and other proof of identity. Anyone who is asked for such details must give such details on demand. Thus, you should always carry around proof of identity (such as your NRIC) when you are out.

An Enforcement Officer may also require the occupier of any premises to give his/her name and address and other proof of identity, as well as the name and address of the owner of the premises if known.

Under section 57(3) of the Infectious Diseases Act, you will be guilty of an offence and fined a sum of up to $500 if you do not comply with any request from an Enforcement Officer, or if you deliberately give a wrong name and address.

Can Safe Distancing Enforcement Officers enter my house, and do they need a warrant to enter?

Enforcement Officers may request to enter your home to conduct an inspection. This could happen if they have reason to believe that you have been carrying out social gatherings beyond the permitted number of visitors under the COVID-19 regulations at the time, for example.

Enforcement Officers can enter your house without a warrant. This is because they have all the powers of a Health Officer under section 55A of the Infectious Diseases Act, which includes, under section 55A(1)(b), the power to, “at any time without warrant and with such force as may be necessary, stop, board, enter, inspect and search any premises or conveyance” for the purposes of their investigation.

Section 16 of the URA Act, which requires URA employees, agents or contractors to obtain consent from the occupier of a property before entering the property, or to give at least 6 hours’ notice before doing so, is not relevant in this situation. This law applies only to URA employees, agents or contractors acting in their capacity as URA employees, agents or contractors, instead of in their capacity as Safe Distancing Enforcement Officers.

If you do not let the Enforcement Officers into your home, you may be committing an offence under section 55A(3)(a) of the Infectious Diseases Act by failing to comply with the Enforcement Officer’s requirements without a reasonable excuse. If convicted, you will be fined up to $10,000 and/or imprisoned of up to 6 months for a first offence, or fined up to $20,000 and/or imprisoned of up to 12 months for subsequent offences. What constitutes a reasonable excuse will be a question for the judge to decide in the circumstances. This may include having a genuine doubt as to the identity of the Enforcement Officer.

You might also be charged with obstructing a public servant in the discharge of their public functions under section 186 of the Penal Code, as Enforcement Officers are considered public servants. If found guilty of this offence, you may be sentenced to a fine of up to $2,500 and/or an imprisonment term of up to 3 months.

What Should I Keep in Mind If an Enforcement Officer Requests to Enter My House?

Even though Enforcement Officers can legitimately enter your house without a warrant, you should remain vigilant and wary of persons who pretend to be Enforcement Officers to commit crimes. You should therefore always request the person’s identification to verify their status as an Enforcement Officer before complying with their instructions. You can also politely request the person to wait outside while you call the person’s purported institution or the police for assistance.

People who impersonate Enforcement Officers may be found liable for cheating by personation, for which they may be punished with an imprisonment term of up to 5 years and/or a fine. They may also be liable to personating a public servant, which invites liability of imprisonment of up to 2 years and/or a fine.

What Can I Do If I Feel that a Safe Distancing Enforcement Officer has Treated Me Unfairly?

Suing the agency or Enforcement Officer

As long as Enforcement Officers act in good faith and reasonable care, they cannot be held legally liable for anything done or omitted to be done in such discharge or purported discharge of their duties as Enforcement Officers.

This may mean that the converse is also true. An Enforcement Officer might be liable to pay damages to another party (e.g., a homeowner) if he does not act in good faith and with reasonable care while carrying out their duties. In such a case, the Enforcement Officer could be committing the tort of misfeasance in public office (essentially an illegal abuse of power) and/or the tort of trespass (assuming he/she unlawfully entered a home), and would have to compensate the homeowner for any damage caused.

It is arguable that “good faith” means that it would be lawful to enter and search premises only if the Enforcement Officer had at least some cause for suspecting the COVID-19 rules were not being complied with. On the other hand, bad faith refers to acts of “malice” or knowingly committing acts that are wrong.

Filing a complaint with the agency and/or the police

Given the possible difficulty of building a legal case against an Enforcement Officer or agency, a simpler non-legal method of obtaining recourse may be to file a complaint with the government agency responsible for the search. This could lead to an internal review of the government agency’s procedures or the conduct of the particular Enforcement Officer involved.

You could also file a police report, particularly if you think the Enforcement Officer may have committed a crime (such as theft, molest, or assault).

Judicial review

An alternative legal remedy might be judicial review in administrative law. A judicial review involves alleging that the authorities acted either unlawfully, unreasonably, or in a procedurally flawed manner.

Possible grounds might include there being no formal complaint of the COVID-19 rules being breached, or the authorities simply being on a “fishing expedition” (i.e. simply trying their luck to see what they catch). The burden of proof would be on the complainant to show that the authorities had actually acted in this manner.

However, even if such a judicial review is successful, it is unlikely that it would result in any compensation for the complainant. This is because the most likely remedy in this case would simply be a “quashing order”, i.e., an order that invalidates the decision to conduct the search in the first place. This might not be useful unless, for example, you have been arrested, fined, and/or detained as a result of any search conducted by the Enforcement Officers.

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Enforcement Officers have a wide-ranging set of powers to allow them to carry out their duty of enforcing COVID-19 rules (control orders), ranging from searching and inspecting homes to conducting arrests without warrants. Such powers are necessary to keep Singapore safe in these unprecedented times.

However, you should still remain vigilant and take steps to ensure your own safety, such as by verifying the identity of any purported Enforcement Officers before allowing them into your home. In addition, you should bear in mind that Enforcement Officers also will not ask for payment of fines on the spot.

Finally, if you believe that an Enforcement Officer has treated you unfairly or illegally, you may wish to speak with a lawyer to explore your options, as well as how feasible those options are for you (including whether they would lead to monetary compensation).

This article was co-authored by Wyz Kim-Chan

Disclaimer

The information provided does not constitute legal advice. You should obtain specific legal advice from a lawyer before taking any legal action. Although we try our best to ensure the accuracy of the information on this website, you rely on it at your own risk.