Penal Code (Singapore)

Singapore's Penal Code sets out the general principles of criminal law and defines offenses such as assault, criminal intimidation, mischief, grievous hurt, theft, extortion, sex crimes and cheating, though it does not cover every criminal offense in Singapore, since separate statutes such as the Arms Offences Act and the Misuse of Drugs Act create further crimes. It originated as Ordinance No. 4 of 1871 in the Straits Settlements and came into operation on September 16, 1872, essentially re-enacting the Indian Penal Code, a choice made because relying on the law of the United Kingdom had left uncertainty about which laws actually applied locally. The Code contains more than 500 sections across 24 chapters, each defining the elements of an offense and prescribing its maximum, and sometimes minimum, penalty, typically grading a basic offense at a lower penalty and treating more serious variants as separate, more heavily punished offenses.