IMMIGRATION (AMENDMENT) (NO. 4) BILL
reason, in terms applied to the commission of an offence under section 1) and to activities relating to such an offence. This could have the lt that notwithstanding unlawful landing, where certain ordinary ngredients of a criminal offence e.g. knowledge, intention and capacity, cannot be established, the sanctions might not be available.
2. The principal object of this Bill, accordingly, is to make it clear that relevant sanctions in the principal Ordinance do apply in relation to unlawful landing regardless of whether the additional ingredients of a criminal offence can be established.
3. In addition the opportunity has been taken of making 3 addi- tional amendments. Clause 3(a) authorizes an immigration officer or immigration assistant to examine a person at any time if he has reason- able cause for believing that such person has landed unlawfully.
4.
Clause 6 amends section 18 of the principal Ordinance-
(a) to make it clear that a person refused permission to land in any circumstances may be removed by an immigration officer under section 18; and
(b) to provide that such removal may only be effected within 2 months of the date the person refused permission actually landed in Hong Kong (instead of 2 months of the possibly later date on which he was refused permission to land).
5.
Clause 8 introduces a new section to penalize the assisting of unauthorized entrants to remain in Hong Kong on a similar basis to that by which existing section 37D of the principal Ordinance penalizes the assisting of the passage of unauthorized entrants to and within Hong Kong.
6. The Bill has no financial or staffing implications.
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