Article 38-45 Constitution of Singapore 1963
Article 38, 39, 39A, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, among others, are under Part VI of the Constitution of Singapore 1963. Part VI is titled The Legislature.
Article 38 Singapore Constitution 1963
Legislature of Singapore
The legislative power of Singapore shall be vested in the Legislature which shall consist of the President and Parliament.
Article 39 Singapore Constitution 1963
Parliament
(1) Parliament shall consist of —
(a) such number of elected Members as is required to be returned at a general election by the constituencies prescribed by or under any law made by the Legislature;
(b) such other Members, not exceeding 12 in number, who shall be known as non-constituency Members, as the Legislature may provide in any law relating to Parliamentary elections to ensure the representation in Parliament of a minimum number of Members from a political party or parties not forming the Government; and
(c) such other Members not exceeding 9 in number, who shall be known as nominated Members, as may be appointed by the President in accordance with the provisions of the Fourth Schedule.
(2) A nominated Member shall not vote in Parliament on any motion pertaining to —
(a) a Bill to amend the Constitution;
(b) a Supply Bill, Supplementary Supply Bill or Final Supply Bill;
(c) a Money Bill as defined in Article 68;
(d) a vote of no confidence in the Government;
(e) removing the President from office under Article 22L; and
(f) any question on which nominated Members are excluded by this Constitution from the number of Members required for an affirmative decision.
(3) In this Article and in Articles 39A and 47, a constituency shall be construed as an electoral division for the purposes of Parliamentary elections.
(4) If any person who is not a Member of Parliament is elected as Speaker or Deputy Speaker, he shall, by virtue of holding the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker, be a Member of Parliament in addition to the Members aforesaid, except for the purposes of Chapter 2 of Part 5 and of Article 46.
Article 39A Singapore Constitution 1963
Group representation constituencies
(1) The Legislature may, in order to ensure the representation in Parliament of Members from the Malay, Indian and other minority communities, by law make provision for —
(a) any constituency to be declared by the President, having regard to the number of electors in that constituency, as a group representation constituency to enable any election in that constituency to be held on a basis of a group of not less than 3 but not more than 6 candidates; and
(b) the qualifications, in addition to those in Article 44, of persons who may be eligible for any election in group representation constituencies, including the requirements referred to in clause (2).
(2) Any law made under clause (1) shall provide for —
(a) the President to designate every group representation constituency —
(i) as a constituency where at least one of the candidates in every group shall be a person belonging to the Malay community; or
(ii) as a constituency where at least one of the candidates in every group shall be a person belonging to the Indian or other minority communities;
(b) the establishment of —
(i) a committee to determine whether a person desiring to be a candidate belongs to the Malay community; and
(ii) a committee to determine whether a person desiring to be a candidate belongs to the Indian or other minority communities,
for the purpose of any election in group representation constituencies;
(c) all the candidates in every group to be either members of the same political party standing for election for that political party or independent candidates standing as a group;
(d) the minimum and maximum number of Members to be returned by all group representation constituencies at a general election; and
(e) the number of group representation constituencies to be designated under paragraph (a)(i).
(3) No provision of any law made pursuant to this Article shall be invalid on the ground of inconsistency with Article 12 or be considered to be a differentiating measure under Article 78.
(4) In this Article —
“election” means an election for the purpose of electing a Member of Parliament;
“group” means a group of not less than 3 but not more than 6 candidates nominated for any election in any group representation constituency;
“person belonging to the Malay community” means any person, whether of the Malay race or otherwise, who considers himself to be a member of the Malay community and who is generally accepted as a member of the Malay community by that community;
“person belonging to the Indian or other minority communities” means any person of Indian origin who considers himself to be a member of the Indian community and who is generally accepted as a member of the Indian community by that community, or any person who belongs to any minority community other than the Malay or Indian community.
Article 40 Singapore Constitution 1963
Speaker
(1) When Parliament first meets after any general election and before it proceeds to the despatch of any other business, it shall elect a person to be Speaker, and, whenever the office of Speaker is vacant otherwise than by reason of a dissolution of Parliament, shall not transact any business other than the election of a person to fill that office.
(2) The Speaker may be elected, in such manner as Parliament may from time to time decide, either from among the Members of Parliament who are neither Ministers nor Parliamentary Secretaries or from among persons who are not Members of Parliament:
Provided that a person who is not a Member of Parliament shall not be elected as Speaker if, under any of the provisions of this Constitution, he is not qualified for election as a Member of Parliament.
(3) Upon the Speaker being elected and before he enters upon the duties of his office, he shall (unless he has already done so in accordance with Article 61) take and subscribe before Parliament the Oath of Allegiance in the form set out in the First Schedule.
(4) The Speaker may at any time resign his office by writing under his hand addressed to the Clerk of Parliament, and shall vacate his office —
(a) when Parliament first meets after a general election;
(b) in the case of a Speaker elected from among the Members of Parliament, if he ceases to be a Member of Parliament otherwise than by reason of a dissolution thereof or if he is appointed to be a Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary; or
(c) in the case of a Speaker elected from among persons who are not Members of Parliament, if any circumstance arises that, if he had been elected to a seat in Parliament, would cause him to vacate his seat by virtue of Article 46(2)(a) or (e).
Article 41 Singapore Constitution 1963
Remuneration of Speaker
The Speaker shall be paid such salary as Parliament may from time to time determine, and that salary, which is hereby charged on the Consolidated Fund, shall not be diminished during his continuance in office.
Article 42 Singapore Constitution 1963
Deputy Speaker
(1) Parliament shall from time to time elect 2 Deputy Speakers; and whenever the office of a Deputy Speaker is vacant otherwise than by reason of a dissolution of Parliament, Parliament shall, as soon as convenient, elect a person to that office.
(2) (a) A Deputy Speaker may be elected, in such manner as Parliament may from time to time decide, either from among the Members of Parliament who are neither Ministers nor Parliamentary Secretaries or from among persons who are not Members of Parliament:
Provided that a person who is not a Member of Parliament shall not be elected as Deputy Speaker if, under any of the provisions of this Constitution, he is not qualified for election as a Member of Parliament.
(b) Upon a Deputy Speaker being elected and before he enters upon the duties of his office, he shall (unless he has already done so in accordance with Article 61) take and subscribe before Parliament the Oath of Allegiance in the form set out in the First Schedule.
(c) A Deputy Speaker may at any time resign his office, by writing under his hand addressed to the Clerk of Parliament, and shall vacate his office —
(i) when Parliament first meets after a general election;
(ii) in the case of a Deputy Speaker elected from among the Members of Parliament, if he ceases to be a Member of Parliament otherwise than by reason of a dissolution thereof or if he is appointed to be a Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary; or
(iii) in the case of a Deputy Speaker elected from among persons who are not Members of Parliament, if any circumstance arises that, if he had been elected to a seat in Parliament, would cause him to vacate his seat by virtue of Article 46(2)(a) or (e).
(3) A Deputy Speaker shall be paid such salary or allowance as Parliament may from time to time determine, and that salary or allowance, which is hereby charged on the Consolidated Fund, shall not be diminished during his continuance in office.
Article 43 Singapore Constitution 1963
Performance of functions of Speaker
The functions conferred by this Constitution upon the Speaker shall, if there is no person holding the office of Speaker or if the Speaker is absent from a sitting of Parliament or is otherwise unable to perform those functions, be performed by a Deputy Speaker, or if there be no Deputy Speaker or if he is likewise absent or unable to perform those functions, by some other person to be elected by Parliament for the purpose.
Article 44 Singapore Constitution 1963
Qualifications for membership of Parliament
(1) Members of Parliament shall be persons qualified for election or for appointment in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution and elected in the manner provided by or under any law for the time being in force in Singapore or appointed in accordance with the provisions of the Fourth Schedule.
(2) A person shall be qualified to be elected or appointed as a Member of Parliament if —
(a) he is a citizen of Singapore;
(b) he is of the age of 21 years or above on the day of nomination;
(c) his name appears in a current register of electors;
(d) he is resident in Singapore at the date of his nomination for election and has been so resident for periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than 10 years prior to that date;
(e) he is able, with a degree of proficiency sufficient to enable him to take an active part in the proceedings of Parliament, to speak and, unless incapacitated by blindness or other physical cause, to read and write at least one of the following languages, that is to say, English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil; and
(f) he is not disqualified from being a Member of Parliament under Article 45.
(3) Any question whether any person possesses the qualifications mentioned in clause (2)(e) shall be determined in such manner as may be prescribed by or under any law for the time being in force in Singapore or, in so far as not so prescribed, as may be provided by order made by the President and published in the Gazette.
Article 45 Singapore Constitution 1963
Disqualifications for membership of Parliament
(1) Subject to this Article, a person shall not be qualified to be a Member of Parliament who —
(a) is and has been found or declared to be of unsound mind;
(b) is an undischarged bankrupt;
(c) holds an office of profit;
(d) having been nominated for election to Parliament or the office of President or having acted as election agent to a person so nominated, has failed to lodge any return of election expenses required by law within the time and in the manner so required;
(e) has been convicted of an offence by a court of law in Singapore or Malaysia and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year or to a fine of not less than $2,000 and has not received a free pardon:
Provided that where the conviction is by a court of law in Malaysia, the person shall not be so disqualified unless the offence is also one which, had it been committed in Singapore, would have been punishable by a court of law in Singapore;
(f) has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of, or exercised rights of citizenship in, a foreign country or has made a declaration of allegiance to a foreign country; or
(g) is disqualified under any law relating to offences in connection with elections to Parliament or the office of President by reason of having been convicted of such an offence or having in proceedings relating to such an election been proved guilty of an act constituting such an offence.
(2) The disqualification of a person under clause (1)(d) or (e) may be removed by the President and shall, if not so removed, cease at the end of 5 years beginning from the date on which the return mentioned in clause (1)(d) was required to be lodged or, as the case may be, the date on which the person convicted as mentioned in clause (1)(e) was released from custody or the date on which the fine mentioned in clause (1)(e) was imposed on such person; and a person shall not be disqualified under clause (1)(f) by reason only of anything done by him before he became a citizen of Singapore.
(3) In clause (1)(f), “foreign country” does not include any part of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland.
See also:
Article 46-54 Singapore Constitution 1963
