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Amid heightened state action towards haze-linked firms, the government will be tabling legislative amendments on an urgent basis to sharpen the THPA\u2019s legal teeth and give the specialist assessment framework legal force. If passed, the amendments would make it an offence for companies to refuse to appoint assessors or fail to cooperate fully with their investigations.<\/span><\/p>\n The panel, comprising experts with experience in <\/span>cross-border inquiries and investigations<\/span>, will be advised by law firm Davinder Singh Chambers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Companies identified by the government may be directed to appoint, at their own expense, assessors from the panel to examine their operations, corporate relationships and supply chains.<\/span><\/p>\n Coordinating Minister for National Security K Shanmugam on Oct 19 said Singapore “will <\/span>use every legal and regulatory lever at our disposal<\/span> to exert pressure where it matters” on companies suspected of causing the haze yet refuse to cooperate.<\/span><\/p>\n Mr Tan said of the move: “The desired outcome is not necessarily prosecution success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe overarching objective is to demonstrate to the region that our government has the will and means to enforce the desired behaviour to prevent haze and pollution in Singapore.”<\/span><\/p>\n Ahead of the tabling of the amendment Bill, CNA spoke to legal experts about what has stalled prosecutions for over the years, what legal changes are needed to overcome existing barriers, and how Singapore can bring every lever it has to bear\u00a0so errant firms are held accountable.<\/span><\/p>\n Noting that the THPA in its current form is already broad in scope, legal experts said the law is not limited to the holders of Indonesian concessions behind the haze-causing fires and other companies that directly cause the fire.<\/span><\/p>\n “An entity that condones another\u2019s fire-causing conduct, for instance by permitting it to occur, is also caught (under Section 2(3)),” said Mr Mark Mangan, partner at law firm Lindsay Francis & Mangan.<\/span><\/p>\n This means that the law can also apply to <\/span>parent entities participating in the management of a firm<\/span> that occupies the plot of affected land, said Mr Kenneth Pereire, managing director of KGP Legal LLC.<\/span><\/p>\n That said, however, liability for a company does not arise simply out of a corporate relationship, said Mr Tan of RHT Law.<\/span><\/p>\n “Liability of a parent or other related entity is not automatic merely because of its corporate relationship and would depend on the statutory requirements being established,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n In other words, a company’s liability must be proven under the law, and not be assumed automatically based on its corporate link to an entity responsible fora haze-related act.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nEXISTING LAW ALREADY ESTABLISHES LIABILITY<\/h2>\n
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