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mendment refining the definition of newspaper and substituting a revised Schedule.
I shall now turn to the Public Order (Amendment) Bill
1986. This Bill introduces 2 new Sections, 27 and 28. New
Section 28, which replaces Section 30, is non-controversial. It is based upon Section 51 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 of the United Kingdom and specifically deals with the problem of bomb
hoaxes.
The new Section 27 reproduces Section 6 of the Control of Publications Consolidation Ordinance which is to be repealed. Section 6 relates to the publication of false news which is likely to alarm public opinion or disturb public order.
As Members are aware, opposition to new Section 27 has been gathering momentum during the past 2 weeks. I shall not repeat what has been reported by the media, but shall concentrate on the formal as well as informal discussions within the Group and with the Administration.
One area where the Group was able to reach consensus was that the section should not be aimed only at the press since it is intended to be included in the Public Order Ordinance. Representations by journalists on this point was duly conveyed to the Administration. This argument was accepted by the Government as logical and a committee stage amendment to this effect will be moved by the Chief Secretary.
Another areas where consensus was reached was the deletion of 'maliciously' in subsection 1 and 'malice' in subsection 2. Members felt that there was a conceptual difference between 'maliciously' in subsection 1 and 'malice' in subsection 2. The former means ill will whereas the latter means negligence. The deletion will be effected by a committee stage amendment.