Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Rationale for the Requirement of at Least Three Individuals to Form a Group Under Section 2 of the Organised Crime Act 2015

Question:

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs what is the rationale for the requirement of at least three individuals to form a group under section 2 of the Organised Crime Act 2015.

Answer:

Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law:

1.   The Organised Crime Act, or OCA, was enacted to strengthen the ability of our law enforcement agencies to deal with criminal syndicates.

2.   Criminal syndicates often operate across borders. Therefore, our approach towards organised syndicates has also taken into account international practices.

3.   Under the OCA, it is an offence to be a member of an Organised Criminal Group, which is defined as a group that comprises at least three persons, and has as one of its objectives, the obtaining of material financial benefits from the facilitation or commission of any serious offence listed in the Schedule to the OCA. The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, to which Singapore is a signatory, also defines an organised criminal group as three persons or more. Other jurisdictions, such as Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom also define an organised criminal group as one which comprises three or more persons.