44
The proposed requirement to publish the Court's rulings in both the English and Chinese press will also have cost implications on the Judiciary. The costs of implementing the above proposals would be partly off-set by the fees to be imposed in the case of voluntary applications for
classification.
Public reaction
45
Since the submission to the Council last November, the general public has been awaiting the outcome of further consultations with the Judiciary and the Attorney General's Chambers on
on a refined proposal. The public and the media are broadly aware that the proposed scheme of control
of control would be firmly grounded in the judicial process with community involvement in the rulings on obscenity as well as the intention to impose access and sale conditions on certain "adult" magazines.
46
are
serve
The majority of the public is expected to support the
express an new proposals and
interest in the type of lay persons who
to be appointed to
on the panel of assessors. It is expected that armchair critics and the media will welcome the decision to amend the title of the Ordinance to reflect that its scope is restricted to publications of an obscene and violent nature. Some members of the press and the legal profession will be relieved to note that the 'tribunal' proposal, once wrongly cited as part of the so-called 'hidden agenda', is now formally discarded in favour of
favour of a judicial
system.
47
Teachers, social workers and parents will welcome the proposal to legislate against the sale of indecent material to persons below the age of 18, and restrict its availability away from newspaper stands. In this regard, newspaper hawkers will feel aggrieved by the decision to forbid the selling of such publications on the ground that there should be no discrimination against them as a separate class of vendors. They may also argue that they may not be aware of the legal notices publishing the interim rulings of the Court and that the maximum fine is unduly heavy for them. A small sector of the public may suggest that the Government should go further by licensing s ex shops for selling publications and sexual artifacts. There may also be protests from some who are opposed to any form of censorship.
48
aware
one step indecent
to
The majority of the public are expected, however, support the new proposals and express an interest in the type of lay persons who are to be appointed to serve on the panel
of assessors.
CONFIDENTIAL