There are as many reasons for disallowing a meeting or refusing a
Some examples are:
licence.
(a) An application to license a procession in which a film company wished to re-enact a protest march and a riot was refused because of the inadvertent alarm that might have been caused;
(b) A meeting to be held on the pavement of the main street in one of the busiest shopping areas at a peak time was refused because of the congestion that would have resulted; and
(c) A procession by primary school children along the hard shoulder of a motorway was refused on road safety grounds.
There have been no complaints about the disallowance of processions.
70.
The general guidelines under which use of amplification equipment, other than hand-held loud hailers, might be banned are:
(a) If the meeting is being held in a public place in close proximity to
a residential area at any time; or
(b) If the meeting is being held in a public place in close proximity to office buildings during business hours; or
(c) If the meeting is held in a private place adjacent to or in a residential area, after 11 p.m.; or
(d) If the meeting is being held in a public place that is not a designated place for the holding of public meetings and other members of the public will be using parts of that place for other purposes during the proposed meeting time.
The licensing officer will not apply these guidelines rigidly. His instructions require him to consider all relevant circumstances of place, time and type of meeting before determining limitations and prohibition on the use of amplification equipment.
71. Further information was also requested by the Human Rights Committee on an incident which took place on International Women's Day, 16 March 1988 (CCPR/C/SR.857, para. 64).
72.
The view of the Commissioner of Police was that the event in question was not a procession, which is simply an organized movement from one place to another for a common purpose, but a mixture of a public meeting, where views are expressed on a matter of public concern, and an "entertainment" involving singing, dancing and plays or sketches.
73. The Commissioner of Police remains of the view that Statue Square (which is in the central district of Hong Kong) generally, but particularly on a Sunday afternoon, is not a suitable venue for such a "celebration" - there are too many people there using it for other purposes. Victoria Park in Causeway Bay and other areas have been designated as suitable for public meetings, and if the application had been made earlier the Commissioner would have refused the licence and suggested that the celebration be held in a