Effective Acts (Laws)
Effective laws provide the basis for the fight against corruption. The law must define corruption offences
and their punishments and the powers of enforcement against it. As society and the environment changes
all the time, it is necessary to review the law periodically to ensure that it is up to date. The powers of
enforcement must be well provisioned so that they will have sufficient force and strength.
In Singapore, the principal law is the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA). This governs the primary
offences of corruption and the powers of the enforcement agency, which is CPIB. In addition, there is
the Corruption, Drugs Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (CDSA)
which provides for the seizure and forfeiture of proceeds which a person convicted of corruption cannot
satisfactorily account for. The PCA was enacted in 1960 to replace the previous Prevention of Corruption
Ordinance. Since then, the Act had undergone numerous amendments to increase the powers of
investigation of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Officers, enhance punishments for corruption and to
plug loopholes to prevent exploitation by criminals.
The law must support law enforcement with a cutting edge. This is vital as corruption offences are
particularly difficult offences to deal with. Unlike general crime where there is a victim who tells us
everything that happened, in corruption offences, both the giver and the receiver are guilty parties who
have the motivation to hide and not tell the truth. This makes investigation and evidence gathering more
challenging. To be successful, the law must provide sufficient teeth for law enforcement.
The principal law we use is the Prevention of Corruption Act. The following are the distinctive features
which may differ from anti-corruption laws in other countries: