To ensure that the Tribunal is consistent in its decisions, the Court of
of Appeal should deal with points of law only, and not on fact or on the application of principles of law to particular cases. To allow otherwise could lead to a contrary, but parallel, body of decisions from the Court of Appeal.
The 18-year' age restriction for 'indecent material is considered too inflexible and unduly limiting. The Tribunal should have the power to 'fine tune' this classification in appropriate cases.
(c) Since it is the intention to restrict the Tribunal's power to the classification of material as obscene and violent material, material which treat the Establishment with contempt, or which extol crime under section 3(3)(a) of the ordinance should be excluded from the scope of the Tribunal.
(d)
(e)
(£)
an
The Tribunal's order should act as injunction, allowing seizure and retention until further order, but allowing immediate destruction is considered too draconian.
The Tribunal's scope should be extended to deal with videotapes in due course.
A defendant should be entitled, as of right, to have a reconsideration of his material previously ruled obscene after three years, if he sees fit.
a
Notwithstanding the above, the Chief Justice is opposed to the creation of specialist tribunals in principle, whether within or outside the Judiciary, to deal with a limited
of jurisdiction. area
In his view, the ordinary courts are fully capable of dealing with wide range of work. To remove any jurisdiction from them may imply a lack of confidence in their ability to deal with it. He suggests that it is time to reinforce public confidence in the court system, not to erode it. The Chief Justice considers that the establishment of specialist tribunals to deal with a limited class of crime would seem to set an undesirable precedent, which might be bitterly regretted in the future. He is of the view that there are now sufficient Cantonese-speaking magistrates for all such cases to be dealt with by
local magistrate, who could be assisted by assessors drawn from a panel, and that it would be possible to arrange for these cases to be dealt with swiftly, if this were thought to be necessary.
a
CONFIDENTIAL