14
PTAAEO
BACKGROUND
CONFIDENTIAL
Public Order (Amendment) Ordinance
1.
Following a review of legislation on the press, in March 1987
the Hong Kong Government repealed the outmoded and very seldom used
"Control of Publications Consolidation Ordinance". However it was
considered necessary, Hong Kong being such a small and densely populated place, to retain one provision making it an offence to
spread false news likely to cause public alarm or disorder. This
provision was transferred to become Section 27 of the Public Order
Ordinance. The provision is in no sense a new one, having been part of the laws of Hong Kong for many years.
2. The retention of the provision gave rise to considerable criticism, both in Hong Kong and abroad. The Hong Kong Government
have now announced that the operation of the Ordinance will be reviewed at the end of the year. This would be an opportunity to drop the provision.
Film Censorship
3. A draft Film Censorship Bill was published in April 1987 to put the vires of existing arrangements beyond legal doubt. Following extensive consultation an amended bill was published in
November 1987. After a further period for comment it was introduced
into the Legislative Council on 9 March 1988. It was passed by
LegCo on 18 May 1988, with five Councillors voting against it and two abstaining.
4.
The Film Censorship Ordinance provides that the censor will take a number of matters into consideration in deciding whether a
film is suitable for exibition, the most controversial being the likelihood that the exhibition of the film would seriously damage good relations with other territories.
5. The Ordinance includes a recent amendment put forward by the
Hong Kong Government providing that Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (which deals with the
CONFIDENTIAL