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(Cap. 227.)
section 87A of the Magistrates Ordinance,
published as soon as practicable after it is
so permitted, shall be treated for the
purposes of subsection (1) as having been
published or broadcast contemporaneously with
the committal proceedings.".
Explanatory Memorandum.
This Bill seeks to amend the Magistrates Ordinance by
adding various provisions based on certain sections of the Criminal
Justice Act 1967.
Clause 2 will enable a representative of a corporation to
enter a plea on its behalf on the trial of any complaint or information
by a magistrate. Where a plea of not guilty is entered by a
representative the rights afforded to individual defendants under
section 16 of the principal Ordinance may be exercised by the
representative as if he were an individual defendant.
Under section 65D of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance a
defendant, when charged with an indictable offence, will not be able
to adduce evidence in support of an alibi, he gives notice of
particulars of the alibi to the prosecution. Clause 3 amends section
82 so as to require an examining magistrate to warn an accused of
this obligation.
Clause 4 is an amendment consequential upon clause 5.
Clause 5 adds two new sections to the principal Ordinance
dealing with restrictions on the reporting of committal proceedings.
New section 87A makes it an offence to publish or broadcast
in Hong Kong a report of any committal proceedings in Hong Kong, which
contains more than a limited number of permitted details, unless the