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Wednesday, November 18, 1970
With the support of his unofficial colleagues, he proposed that
at the committee stage the words "advantage," "entertainment," and "benefit"
be deleted.
The Hon. Oswald Cheung asked whether it had not been due to oversight
that Section 10, as drafted, extended beyond Crown servants to the wider
field of public servants. The phrase "official emoluments" suggested that
the more limited category had been intended.
He had personal doubts about enacting this section of the Bill,
and would have been content with the existing provisions of Section 12 of
the Anti-Corruption Ordinance that in criminal proceedings a Court might take into account possession by the accused of resources disproportionate to his
known source of income.
Representations In Writing
He drew attention to a sub-section of Section 10 giving a person under investigation an opportunity of making representations in writing to
the Attorney General.
In his view, to preserve the value of that safeguard, it should
be enacted that these written representations be not admissible in evidence
if a prosecution was subsequently made, unless the accused consented.
Of Section 26, he thought to confer a right on the prosecution to
comment on the failure of the accused to give evidence was "going too far."
He felt it would be sufficient to retain the present rule giving a Court the
right to make such comment. He suggested this section be dropped out altogether.
/The Hon.
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