RESTRICTED
For discussion
on 3rd May 1977
10MAY 1977
HK1300/2
XCR(77)118 Copy No...
MEMORANDUM FOR EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Summary Offences Ordinance (Chapter 228)
Hong Kong Airport (Regulations) Ordinance
(Chapter 292)
SUMMARY OFFENCES (AMENDMENT) BILL 1977
la
10
HONG KONG AIRPORT (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS 1977
A
B
Annexed for the consideration of Honourable Members are the Summary Offences (Amendment) Bill 1977 (Annex A) which seeks to increase the penalty for touting, and the Hong Kong Airport (Amendment) Regulations 1977 (Annex B) which provide for similar increased penalties in respect of certain offences associated with touting at the airport.
2
The practice of employing touts at the airport who press arriving visitors to accept the services or goods offered by their principals has been on the increase. This practice has been the subject of a large number of complaints both in Hong Kong and overseas and constitutes a severe blemish on the image of Hong Kong. Despite efforts by the Hong Kong Tourist Association to curb this practice by expelling those of its members who are found using the services of touts, and despite constant prosecution, touts continue to operate at the airport.
3
Under regulation 3 of the Hong Kong Airport Regulations (Chapter 292, sub.leg.) the Director of Civil Aviation is empowered to forbid entry to the airport of any person, and to order the expulsion of any person found there. Regulation 4(2) (e) of those regulations makes it an offence for any person to trade or offer services within the airport without the permission of the Director, Persons contravening regulations 3 or 4 of the Hong Kong Airport Regulations are liable to a fine of $500, while persons contravening section 6A of the Summary Offences Ordinance (Chapter 228), which makes it an offence to tout, are liable to a fine of $1,000. In neither case is there any provision for imposing imprisonment or more severe fines for second or subsequent offences and this is considered unsatisfactory in view of the fact that there are many persistent offenders.
4
A working party to consider the problem was set up, comprising representatives of the Civil Aviation Department, the Royal Hong Kong Police Force, the Government Secretariat, the Hong Kong Tourist Asso- ciation, the Hong Kong Hotels Association, the Hong Kong Association of Travel Agents, and of other bodies working in the field of tourism in Hong Kong. The view of the working party was that the ability to prosecute
C.S. 84
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