Civil Law (Amendment) Bill

Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the Bill. This Bill is very useful and is a reflection that the Government is aware of the rapidly evolving environment around us. One of the issues that we have been discussing openly in the public domain is that of low marriage and birth rate, a problem that may have serious implications on the society and the economy of Singapore.

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With more Singaporeans choosing not to get married or not having children, we may face a situation in the future where many Singaporeans grow old without next-of-kin or clear heirs to their properties. As such, the proposed amendments through this Bill to the Civil Law Act to expand the scope of section 27 and to make related amendments to the Public Trustee Act are timely as they will help resolve matters related to ownerless property accruing to the death of individuals who do not have any next-of-kin.

While this Bill will allow, that is, the rightful person, property of deceased citizens to be transferred to claimants and ensure more equitable distribution of assets, I have some concern about the authenticity of such claims that may emerge as the process is now made more simplified through these amendments accruing to this Bill. I would like to query on the process and criteria that have been thought of and how these will help protect the authenticity of the claims and to ensure that the pay-outs made meet their intended consequences of equitable distribution.

To protect this process, it is also perhaps important to consider implementing some deterrents to prevent false claimants from making their claims. I would like to suggest creating a clause in this Act that would penalise such errant claimants as a deterrent. Also, there should be provisions to ensure that false claimants who are revealed after the warrant has been issued to transfer the assets in their name, can be brought to task for the false claims. And, of course, provision should also be made to repossess the assets that have been transferred should the claim prove to be false. Also these processes may have to take into account disputes in claims and decide how these should be resolved. We must not ignore the possibility that such disputes may emerge even after the warrant of transfer has been issued and the transaction is completed.

On the whole, I wish to extend my support to the Bill which aims to simplify the process and to ensure that assets that belong to the deceased are transferred properly to the deserving claimants.

Sir, in general, this amendment Bill is a welcome as it covers greater scope than the current section 27. I have a few clarifications to raise. First, the amendment empowers the Minister with no change to the existing provision to release any bona vacantia properties to any person if the Minister is satisfied that person has established an equitable or moral claim on the property.

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Now, would the Minister require the claimant to obtain an order from the court that the claimant has indeed established this before the Minister is satisfied with the claim? Again, this is related to the preservation of authenticity as mentioned by the Member, Mr Dhinakaran. There would also be the concern of legal as well as court costs incurred by the claimant to obtain that order.

Secondly, pertaining to section 27 (3)(a), where the release of the bona vacantia property consists of only monies, would the release be also of the principal sum? Would the release also then include accrued interests?

And thirdly, on section 27 (3)(b), where the bona vacantia property was a land which had been sold, the successful claimant would only receive payment by means of monies. How would the quantum payment be made? Would it be the sale proceeds at the time of sale of the land by the Government or would it be based on the valuation at the time of the claim?

Can the Minister also provide some details as to how a bona vacantia would be dealt with, such as the holding period before the land is sold and also the method of sale, etc?

Finally, Sir, how would the Government address the concern of a claimant, for example, that the bona vacantia land has been of ancestral, or other intrinsic value, and should not have been sold off by the Government? With that, Sir, I support the Bill.

Sir, I thank both Members for supporting the Bill. Let me first address Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef's concerns. I think there are three.

The first concern is whether a court order is needed before the Minister can exercise his powers and how much would that cost. A court order is not needed for this purpose. It is for the Minister to assess whether a person has a moral or equitable claim to property which has devolved to the Government. That has always been the position, and that continues to be the position. This Bill is simply amended to make clear what properties are covered.

Second, whether the Minister can distribute accrued interests. Yes, the powers extend to distributing accrued interests.

And, third, how will the property be disposed of. I should clarify that the Minister's principal role is to decide who has the moral or equitable claim to the relevant property. Administration of the estate is usually done by the claimant or other private parties. It is for the administrator to decide matters such as whether, when and how to sell the estate property, the manner in which the property is distributed and, of course, he has to discharge his duties in accordance with the law.

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Let me now address Mr Dhinakaran's concerns. I think his essential concern is with false claimants.

My Ministry has safeguards in relation to the claims process. First, we will check that the property has, in fact, devolved to the Government based on documents provided by the claimant.

Second, it is a practice to wait for six months to pass, after the death of the deceased, before processing any claim. This is to allow time for entitled next-of-kin to step forward.

Third, we will also require claimants to submit supporting documents, for example, receipts of hospital or funeral expenses. If necessary, we will ask for further documents.

Fourth, claimants to bona vacantia property must submit statutory declaration or affidavit which has already been filed in court. The declaration or affidavit must state the basis of the claim, amongst other things. And, of course, making a false statutory declaration or filing a false affidavit are serious offences.

These are safeguards which will minimise the likelihood of false claims being made. I thank the Members for their support of the Bill.

*Question put, and agreed to.*

*Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.*

*The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mr K Shanmugam].*

*Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.*

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