HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 18 May 1988
1439
objection was that the relevant regulation infringed article 19 of the Interna- tional Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
During the meetings of the ad hoc group studying the interim measure, a number of my hon. Colleagues supported the relevant regulation but only on the basis that it was a temporary measure. And they stated then that before they would support the proposed Bill-which is now before Members-they would have to be satisfied that it would not contravene article 19. Since then, the ad hoc group, chaired by the hon. YEUNG PO-kwan, has had numerous meetings on this Bill, and much improvement has been made thereto. There was also unanimity achieved in not wishing to see article 19 being infringed by clause 10(2)(c) of this Bill which gives the power of political censorship to the censor.
The hon. YEUNG Po-kwan's motion to amend is taken word for word from a counter proposal by the Administration during a meeting with the ad hoc group on 20 April 1988. The proposal appeared to be an improvement on the ad hoc group's own proposal to the Administration which was objected to by the Administration until that very meeting, when it put forward its own counter proposal. At first blush, the Administration's proposal appeared to be un- objectionable in that it requires the censor to take into account article 19.
I did not then see the full significance of the inter-play between clause 10(2)(c) which confers a power on the censor to ban a film on the ground that its exhibition would seriously damage good relations with other territories, and the hon. YEUNG PO-kwan's proposed clause 10(3)(d) which provides that the censor shall take into account article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (which deals with the principle of freedom of expression). However, I am now convinced that a combination of the two subsections will not ensure that the censor's new powers, or his exercise thereof, will not infringe article 19.
That being so, the enactment of clause 10(2)(c) and clause 10(3)(d) as proposed by the hon. YEUNG Po-kwan will be in contravention of article 19.
My proposed amendment requires the censor to comply with article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Indeed, I do not claim originality of this formula because it was based on a joint representation of the Hong Kong Bar Association and the Law Society of Hong Kong. In proposing my amendment, I am greatly indebted to the legal profession in Hong Kong, and I am happy to take up their cause as I find myself in complete agreement with it.
Now that it is the avowed intention of Members of the ad hoc group, includ- ing the hon. YEUNG Po-kwan, that the power of political censorship given to the censor must not infringe article 19, it is difficult to see why my formula is not preferred to the hon. Mr. YEUNG Po-kwan's.
Let me give to Members an illustration of how the censor will discharge his duties if clause 10(2)(c) is enacted together with clause 10(3)(d). Assume the