54
Presumptions are provided in sub-section (9), (10)
(a)
and (11).
Sub-section (11) is made general with
a view ic libel actions.
20. Section 12 of Ordinance No. 4 of 1886 applied to every
"newspaper, peper, or bock intended to be distributed or made public". No doubt the phrase "intended to be distributed
co made public" was meant to apply to newspapers and papers
as well as to books in spite of the punctuation.
objection to this phrase was the doubt as to the meaning of
the word "distributed". Obviously, a document would not be
The
printed at all unless the copies were intended to be dis-
-tributed to some persons. That being so, the word might
have had the effect of excluding from the section a document
issued by a society to its members. This, however, is one
of the classes which it is most desirable to bring under the
section. The new section, therefore, attacks the problem
in a different way. It begins by a general application to
every printed document, and in sub-section (E) it excepts
documents "solely intended and solely used for a bona fide
and ordinary commercial or professional or social purpo 38,
provided that such document as printed contains no seditious
or political matter whatacever". In crier to meet the point
that a document issued by a society to its members would be
a document used for a social purpose, the section goes on to
provide that "a document used for the purposes of a society,
club or other organization shall not be deemed to be used
for a social purpose". It will be noticed that in the case
of proceedings before a magistrate at least the scheme of a
general statement followed by an exception will have the
effect, under section 28 of the Magistrates Ordinance, of
throwing on the defendant the onus of proving the exception.
The term "printed document" is defined in section 2.
21.