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MR MARTIN LEE: Sir, I move the motion standing in my name on the Order Paper but first of all I wish to declare my
interest in this matter. I am the President of Studio One, the 4 Film Society of Hong Ltd., it is a purely honorary position.
This motion is to amend the Film Censorship Regulations 1987,
made under the Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance, Chapter 172, by deleting Regulation 3 A, paragraph 7, the effect of which is to revoke the power of the censor to refuse to approve the exhibition of a film when he is of the opinion that the showing of the film in a public place "would damage good relations with other
territories."
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And for the sake of convenience, I will refer to this paragraph as the "good relations" clause in the rest of my speech. I intend to divide my speech into three parts dealing with the
following matters.
(1)
Bill 1987 is
(2)
Why is this motion necessary when the Film Censorship still pending;?
Political censorship of films; and
(3) The incompatibility of the "good relations" clause with Article 19 of the international covenant on civil and political rights.
First, the timing of the motion. Sir, I think that I owe it to my hon
colleagues in this Council to explain to them why I think it necessary to move this motion to delete what has 25 been called an interim measure when the Film Censorship Bill 1987
is still being considered by the public. My reasons are as follows: First, this is a matter of principle as it concerns a fundamental freedom, namely, the freedom of expression. I therefore feel that the loss of such a freedom even for one day is one day too many
and I urge my hon
colleagues to ask themselves this question. What will we think if it is suggested that we must surrender one of our basic rights for one week or even one day? For example, the right not to be unlawfully arrested. Will any of us in these circumstances say that as this is only for a short duration we should not make a fuss about it.
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Secondly, during one of our earlier ad hoc meetings with