Urgent Business: Hong Kong, Freedom of Expression and 1997
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the experimental group Zuni Icosahedron. Equally, a condition may conceivably be imposed on a licence which expressly prohibits a performance containing criticisms of the leadership in China on the grounds it might damage relations with other territories.
Just such possibilities seemed all the more plausible when, for a short period in 1983, the Commissioner used his powers under Section 8 to require that the scripts of plays, as well as the lyrics of songs, be submitted to TELA for approval before a permit was granted. As it turned out, however, strong public objections forced this policy to be hastily abandoned, though there is little to prevent the Commissioner from reviving it."1
Little in the way of legal redress is presently available if the use of the permit system results in prior censorship. Appeal procedures under Section 9 (1) allow a dissatisfied party an appeal to the Governor, not to any independent body, and he may be disposed to accept, if not actually support, a decision taken within the administration.
In its review of the Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance, the Recreation and Culture Branch has reportedly recognized that provisions which permit the TELA Commissioner to use the licence mechanism to pre-censor events, at his complete discretion, are in conflict with Article 16 of the Bill of Rights.
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New proposals are under consideration to abolish the dual licensing system, which the Recreation and Culture Branch believes to be a waste of government resources. In its place would be a single licence issued by the municipal authorities concerned with safety and hygiene. The government is seen as having no other role in the prior regulation of public entertainment, not even with regard to permitting regulations on the grounds that material might be sexually explicit or violent (which, in the case of films, is not seen as conflicting with Article 16). It is proposed in the latter case that the administration should rely on taking retrospective action under laws such as the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance.
Also being considered is a plan to limit the special powers laid down in the Ordinance which allow the police to stop performances or exhibitions for any reason deemed fit. It is thought these powers should be restricted to situations in which public safety is in danger.
40 Zuni Icosahedron chose to modify a scene in which there was male nudity, and the performance was later staged. Theatre censorship was abolished completely in Britain in 1968, though live performances are still subject to obscenity laws (see J Chan, id. at 209).
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42 **
See Johannes Chan, supra note 39 at 209.
"Censorship powers may be reduced", South China Morning Post, 22 June 1992.
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