CONFIDENTIAL
Polic
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definite amelioration of the provisions of the existing Section; but there remains some doubt whether it would always be practicable to apply for a licence to hold a
funeral procession two days before such procession; and it is considered that the Commissioner of Police's powers under Section 7 (4) to refuse such a licence are too wide and in some cases inappropriate in relation to funeral processions. The Governor has accordingly been asked to
give further consideration to these aspects.
Paragraph 4:
Section 11 (2) of the Ordinance confers on a police
officer of or above the rank of Inspector the power to
prevent, stop or disperse public processions or meetings
if such are "in his opinion likely to cause or lead to a
breach of the peace". "Justice" objected to the words
underlined on the grounds that they conferred an absolute
discretion on the police which could not be challenged in the courts. Clause 6 of the draft Bill is accordingly
designed to remedy this situation by deleting the words
"in his opinion" and substituting the words "if he
reasonably believes that the same is". However, the
Governor has asked if this amendment may be dropped because the Commissioner of Police has argued strongly that the test of reasonable belief would place a very
heavy burden on police officers when deciding whether a
particular meeting might reasonable be expected to lead
to a breach of the peace. It is not considered that the Commissioner's argument should be accepted because:-
(i) the principle involved in this amendment has
already been accepted by the Governor in
relation to a similar amendment to Section 3
of the Ordinance by Clause 3 of the draft
Bill;
(ii) the police officer concerned must be of or
above the rank of Inspector and therefore experienced enough to take decisions of this
CONFIDENTIAL
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