On 20/05/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 20/05/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 20/05/2013.
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PART IX
The Public Service
102.
—(1) For the purposes of this Constitution and except as hereinafter in this Part provided, the public services shall be —
(a)
the Singapore Armed Forces;
(b)
the Singapore Civil Service;
(c)
the Singapore Legal Service; and
(d)
the Singapore Police Force.
(2) Except as otherwise expressly provided by this Constitution, the qualifications for appointments and conditions of service of persons in the public services may be regulated by law and, subject to the provisions of any such law, by the President.
103. Except for the purposes of Articles 112, 114 and 115, and except where the context otherwise requires, in the interpretation of this Part —
(a)
“public service” does not include service otherwise than in a civil capacity;
(b)
“public office” does not include the following offices:
(i)
the office of the Chief Justice;
(ii)
the office of the Attorney-General;
(iii)
the office of Judge of the Supreme Court;
(iv)
the office of member of the Public Service Commission or the Legal Service Commission;
(v)
the office of any police officer below the rank of Inspector; or
(vi)
any office the remuneration of the holder of which is calculated on a daily rate,
and “public officer” shall be construed accordingly.
104. Except as expressly provided by this Constitution, every person who is a member of the public service shall hold office during the pleasure of the President.
105.
—(1) There shall be a Public Service Commission which shall consist of a Chairman and not less than 5 and not more than 14 other members, each of whom shall be appointed in writing under the hand of the President, if the President, acting in his discretion, concurs with the advice of the Prime Minister.
(2) The Chairman shall be a citizen of Singapore.
(3) The President may, from time to time, if he, acting in his discretion, concurs with the advice of the Prime Minister, appoint one or more Deputy Chairmen from among the members of the Public Service Commission.
(4) Before tendering his advice as to the appointment under clause (3) of a Deputy Chairman, the Prime Minister shall consult the Chairman of the Public Service Commission.
(5) Every Deputy Chairman appointed under clause (3) shall hold office for such period as may be specified in the terms of his appointment and shall cease to be Deputy Chairman if he ceases to be a member of the Public Service Commission.
(6) A person appointed to be a member of the Public Service Commission shall thereafter be ineligible for appointment to any public office.
(7) At any meeting of the Public Service Commission, 3 members who shall include either the Chairman or one of the Deputy Chairmen, and may include both of them, shall form a quorum. If the quorum is present, the Commission shall not be disqualified for the transaction of business by reason of any vacancy among its members, and any proceeding of the Commission shall be valid notwithstanding that some person not entitled to do so took part therein.
(8) Before assuming the duties of his office, the Chairman and every other member of the Public Service Commission shall take and subscribe before the Chief Justice or some other Judge of the Supreme Court the appropriate Oath for the due execution of his office in the form set out in the First Schedule.
106.
—(1) A person shall not be appointed to be a member of the Public Service Commission if he is, and shall cease to be a member if he becomes —
(a)
a public officer;
(b)
an employee of any corporation incorporated by or under the provisions of any law for the time being in force in Singapore other than the Companies Act (Cap. 50) or any corresponding previous written law;
(c)
a Member of Parliament or a duly nominated candidate for election as such Member;
(d)
a member of any trade union or of any body or association affiliated to a trade union; or
(e)
the holder of any office in any political association.
(2) Clause (1) (b) shall not apply to any person who is a member of the teaching staff of any university established by or under any written law.
107.
—(1) Subject to Article 106, every member of the Public Service Commission shall, unless he earlier resigns his office by writing under his hand addressed to the President or is removed therefrom under this Article, hold office for a period of 5 years from the date of his appointment, but shall be eligible for reappointment:
Provided that a member, other than the Chairman, may be appointed to hold office for any shorter period of not less than 3 years.
(2) If the Prime Minister, or the Chairman of the Public Service Commission after consulting with the Prime Minister, represents to the President that a member of the Public Service Commission ought to be removed from office for inability to discharge the functions of his office (whether arising from infirmity of body or mind or any other cause) or for misbehaviour, the President shall, if he, acting in his discretion, concurs with that representation, refer that representation to a tribunal consisting of the Chief Justice and 2 other Judges of the Supreme Court nominated for that purpose by the Chief Justice and shall, if that tribunal so recommends, remove that member from office by writing under his hand.
(3) The tribunal constituted under clause (2) shall regulate its own procedure and may make rules for that purpose.
108.
—(1) The Chairman and other members of the Public Service Commission shall be paid such salary and allowances as may, from time to time, be determined, and such salary and allowances shall be charged on and paid out of the Consolidated Fund.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the terms of service of the members of the Public Service Commission may either —
(a)
be prescribed by or under any law made under this Constitution; or
(b)
(in so far as they are not prescribed by or under any such law) be prescribed by the President.
(3) The terms of service of any member of the Public Service Commission shall not be altered to his disadvantage during his continuance in office.
(4) For the purposes of clause (3), in so far as the terms of service of a member of the Public Service Commission depend upon his option, any terms for which he opts shall be taken to be more advantageous to him than any for which he might have opted.
109.
—(1) There shall be a Secretary to the Public Service Commission who shall be a person who is a public officer and who shall be appointed by the President in accordance with the advice of the Commission.
(2) The Secretary to the Public Service Commission shall be responsible, in accordance with such instructions as may be given to him by the Chairman of the Commission, for arranging the business for, and keeping the minutes of, the meetings of the Commission and for conveying the decisions of the Commission to the appropriate person or authority and shall have such other functions as the Chairman may, from time to time, direct.
110.
—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, it shall be the duty of the Public Service Commission to appoint, confirm, emplace on the permanent or pensionable establishment, promote, transfer, dismiss and exercise disciplinary control over public officers.
(2) The promotion of public officers shall be on the basis of official qualifications, experience and merit.
(3) No public officer shall be dismissed or reduced in rank under this Article without being given a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
(4) Subject to the provisions of Article 110D, no member of any of the services mentioned in Article 102(1) (b) to (d) shall be dismissed or reduced in rank by an authority subordinate to that which, at the time of the dismissal or reduction, has power to appoint a member of that service of equal rank.
(5) In clause (1) —
“appoint” does not include an appointment to act in an office for 2 months or less;
“transfer” does not include transfer without a change of rank within a department of the Government.
Education Service Commission
110A. [Repealed by Act 11/98]
Police and Civil Defence Services Commission
110B. [Repealed by Act 11/98]
Provisions applicable to Education Service Commission and Police and Civil Defence Services Commission
110C. [Repealed by Act 11/98]
110D.
—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Article, the President may, on the advice of the Prime Minister and by order published in the Gazette, establish one or more personnel boards to exercise all or any of the powers and functions of the Public Service Commission under Article 110.
(2) The order under clause (1) shall specify the powers and functions to be exercised by a personnel board and the class or classes of public officers in respect of which those powers and functions may be exercised except the following:
(a)
the power to dismiss and exercise disciplinary control over all public officers of any grade in Division I; and
(b)
all powers of the Public Service Commission in relation to public officers in the Administrative Service and Administrative Service (Foreign Service Branch) who hold appointments of and above the significant grade (as defined in Article 111A(1)) in those Services, including the power to nominate officers for appointment or promotion to that grade,
and any power of appointment specified in the order as to be exercised by a personnel board shall not include a power to dismiss any person so appointed.
(3) Where the President has by order established a personnel board under clause (1) for the purpose of exercising any of the powers or functions of the Public Service Commission, such power or function —
(a)
may be exercised by such personnel board notwithstanding anything in Article 110(1) and (4); and
(b)
shall, so long as it remains a power or function to be exercised by the board pursuant to such order, cease to be exercisable by that Commission except to the extent permitted under clause (4).
(4) Subject to regulations made under clause (7), any person aggrieved by any decision of any personnel boardmay, within such time and in such manner as may be prescribed, appeal to the Public Service Commission, and the decision of the Commission shall be final.
(5) Subject to clause (6), a personnel board which is established to exercise any power over officers in Division I shall consist of such persons as the President may, on the advice of the Prime Minister, appoint except that the President may, acting in his discretion, refuse to make any such appointment if he does not concur with the advice of the Prime Minister.
(6) A person shall not be appointed to be a member of a personnel board if he is, and shall cease to be a member if he becomes —
(a)
a Member of Parliament or a duly nominated candidate for election as such Member;
(b)
a member of any trade union or of any body or association affiliated to a trade union; or
(c)
the holder of any office in any political association.
(7) The President may by regulations —
(a)
provide for matters relating to the appointment of members of personnel boards;
(b)
prescribe the procedure to be followed by the personnel boards in the exercise of their powers and functions;
(c)
prescribe the manner of appeals under clause (4); and
(d)
modify the application of clause (4) by providing that appeals under that clause shall be made first to such person or persons as may be appointed by the President but without prejudice to the right to appeal thereafter to the Public Service Commission.
(8) Nothing in this Article shall affect any direction or delegation issued before 1st October 1994 by the Public Service Commission under Article 116(3), and this Article shall not apply to any power or function of these Commissions so long it forms the subject of any such direction or delegation.
111.
—(1) There shall be a Legal Service Commission, whose jurisdiction shall extend to all officers in the Singapore Legal Service.
(2) The Legal Service Commission shall consist of —
(a)
the Chief Justice, as President;
(b)
the Attorney-General;
(c)
the Chairman of the Public Service Commission;
(d)
a Judge of the Supreme Court nominated generally or specially by the Chief Justice; and
(e)
not more than 2 members of the Public Service Commission nominated generally or specially by the Chairman of the Public Service Commission.
(3) Subject to the provisions of any existing law and to the provisions of this Constitution, it shall be the duty of the Legal Service Commission to appoint, confirm, emplace on the permanent or pensionable establishment, promote, transfer, dismiss and exercise disciplinary control over officers in the Singapore Legal Service.
(4) The Legal Service Commission may delegate to any officer in the Singapore Legal Service or to any board of such officers appointed by it any of its functions under clause (3) in respect of any grade of service, and that officer or board shall exercise those functions under the direction and control of the Legal Service Commission.
(5) The person who is Secretary to the Public Service Commission shall be Secretary to the Legal Service Commission.
111A.
—(1) The President may, by notification in the Gazette, designate as significant a grade each in the Administrative Service Scheme of Service and the Administrative (Foreign Service) Scheme of Service (referred to in this Article as the significant grade), and such notification may be subsequently amended to designate as significant any other grade in those Schemes of Service not lower than the grade first so designated.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision in this Constitution, any appointment or promotion of a public officer to the significant grade shall be made by the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, from public officers nominated by the Public Service Commission.
112.
—(1) The law applicable to any pension, gratuity or other like allowance (referred to in this Article as an award) granted to any public officer or to his widow, children, dependants or personal representatives shall be that in force on the relevant day or any later law not less favourable to the person concerned.
(2) For the purposes of this Article, the relevant day is —
(a)
in relation to an award made before 16th September 1963, the date on which the award was made;
(b)
in relation to an award made after 16th September 1963, to or in respect of any person who was a public officer before that date, the date immediately before that date; and
(c)
in relation to an award made to or in respect of any person who first became a public officer on or after 16th September 1963, the date on which he first became a public officer.
(3) For the purposes of this Article, where the law applicable to an award depends on the option of the person to whom it is made, the law for which he opts shall be taken to be more favourable to him than any other law for which he might have opted.
113.
—(1) Where under any written law any person or authority has a discretion —
(a)
to decide whether or not any award shall be made; or
(b)
to withhold, reduce in amount or suspend any such award that has been made,
that award shall be made and may not be withheld, reduced in amount or suspended unless the Public Service Commission or the Legal Service Commission, as the case may be, concurs in the refusal to grant the award or, as the case may be, in the decision to withhold, reduce in amount or suspend it.
(2) Where the amount of any award that may be made to any person is not fixed by law, the amount of the award to be made to him shall be the greatest amount for which he is eligible unless the Public Service Commission or the Legal Service Commission, as the case may be, concurs in the making of an award of a smaller amount.
(3) In this Article, “award” has the same meaning as in Article 112.
114.
—(1) Pensions, gratuities and other like allowances granted in respect of the public service shall be charged on and paid out of, in the first instance, the Pension Fund established by the Pension Fund Act (Cap. 224A) and, if that Fund is deficient, the Consolidated Fund.
(2) Notwithstanding clause (1), the Legislature may by law provide that any pension, gratuity or other like allowance granted in respect of public service otherwise than in a civil capacity may be paid out of another Government Fund in lieu of the Pension Fund and the Consolidated Fund.
115.
—(1) Notwithstanding any provision of this Constitution relating to the circumstances in which a public officer may vacate his office, any public officer may, with the consent of the Government (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld), relinquish his office for the purpose of transfer to some other public office or to an office in any other public service, and if he so relinquishes his office, his claim to any pension, gratuity or other like allowance shall not thereby be prejudiced.
(2) For the purposes of this Article, “other public service” has the meaning given to it by the Pensions Act (Cap. 225) as in force immediately before 15th September 1963.
116.
—(1) Subject to the provisions of any written law for the time being in force in Singapore, the President may make regulations for all or any of the following matters:
(a)
the division of public offices into Divisions and Services;
(b)
the prescribing of Schemes regulating the recruitment, service and promotion of members of such Services; and
(c)
the conduct and discipline of the public service.
(2) The Public Service Commission may, subject to the provisions of this Constitution, regulate its own procedure and make rules for that purpose, and may, in connection with the discharge of its functions, confer powers and impose duties on any person or any authority of the Government.
(3) The Public Service Commission may, by directions in writing and subject to such conditions as it thinks fit, delegate any of its functions under Article 110(1) to any member of the Commission, to any public officer or other person, or to any board consisting of public officers and other persons appointed by it or to any person who is a member of a panel appointed by the Commission for the purposes of representing the public in any disciplinary proceedings in respect of any grade of the public service and that member, officer, board or person shall exercise those functions under the direction and control of the Public Service Commission.
Validation of acts done and rules made by Public Service Commission
117. [Omitted (as the Article has had its effect]
118. Parliament may by law provide for the exercise of other functions by the Public Service Commission.