Ordinance
violated
the
Covenant on
Civil and
Political
rights
The Ordinance is made up of nine parts.
The first part is the interpretation of legal terms; the
second part is on the control of organizations; and the
third part is on the control of meetings and processions.
The remaining six parts are concerned with specific
conditions like riots, intimidation offensive weapons,
and on the 'rights' and 'duties' of the Police.
Interpretation
of termS
broad and
The following discussion will concern
mainly the first three parts. A short briefing will be
given on each part and then, it will be pointed out how
the law itself violates the spirit of individual articles
in the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights which U.K. has signed.
PART I (clause 2)
1
This part is concerned with the interpretation
of legal terms used in the Ordinance. Definitions of
some teras are as follow:
vague
A
Meeting' means any
means any gathering or assembly of persons oonvened or organized for any purpose; or if not previously convened or organized, at which any person assumes or attempts to assume control or leadership.
'Public meeting' means any meeting held
or to be held in a public place.
• Public place' means any place to which
for the time, being, the public or any section of the
public are entitled to have access, whether on payment
or otherwise; and in relation to any meeting, includes any place which is or will be, on the occasion and for
the purposes of such meeting, a public place.
'Public procession' means any procession
ia, to and from a public place.
A
'Public gathering' means a public meeting,
a public procession and any other meeting, gathering or
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