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[THE ATTORNEY GENERAL] Public Order (Amendment) Bill-
second reading
charged with having an offensive weapon in his possession at a public meeting. Clause 21 gives a similar defence to a charge of carrying an offensive weapon during a curfew. These changes are necessary because the definition of offensive weapon is in wide terms and would include articles which have ordinary uses, such as choppers or knives.
Clause 10 amends section 15 so as to ensure that a person taking part in the organization of a meeting, which is prohibited by the Commissioner of Police under that section, will only be guilty of an offence if he does so after such a prohibition has been issued. On the present wording, it could be argued that the organizer was guilty of an offence even though he had done nothing after the prohibition was issued.
The definition of an unlawful assembly in section 18 is altered by clause 11 so as to require a disorderly intimidating, insulting or provocative element in the conduct of an assembly before it becomes unlawful under that section. Clause 12 makes it clear that the offence of riot, which perhaps may be described as an unlawful assembly which becomes violent, will arise only when preceded by the disorderly type of unlawful assembly under section 18, and not by the kind of assembly which is made unlawful under section 12.
Clause 13 makes it clear that a man will not commit the offence of forcible entry, under section 23, if he enters his own premises forcibly if they are in the possession of his servant or agent.
Section 25 makes it an offence to take part in any fight in a public place. Since this would strictly include a boxing match, the section will in future apply only to unlawful fights.
Under section 26, a man is guilty of proposing violence at a public gathering if he makes a statement, or behaves in a manner, which is likely to incite or induce a person to various kinds of violent behaviour. Clause 15 amends this section, so as to apply an objective test in deciding whether the accused has committed the offence.
Part V of the Ordinance, which deals with intimidation and intimidating assemblies, has been extensively altered by clauses 17, 18 and 19. Clause 17 repeals and replaces the section which deals with intimidation. The new section is narrower in its scope than the present one, which is wide enough to include behaviour which is not criminal in the usual sense of the term. Clauses 18 and 19 repeal the offences of intimidating assembly and of organizing and intimidating assembly which are thought to be unnecessary, since a person who takes part in an intimidating assembly can be charged with taking part in an unlawful assembly.