8.
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
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Section 7 of this Ordinance has already been referred to
in paragraph 3 above. It substitutes a new section for the present penalty section.
9. Section 8 of this Ordinance adds five new sections to the principal Ordinance. The proposed new section 20 provides that in any prosecution under section 6 of the principal Ordinance the magistrate may convict of common assault if he fails to find as a fact that the girl in question was a mui tsai. It is possible that he has this power already under section 22 of the Magistrates Ordinance, 1890, but it is considered desirable in this case to place the matter beyond all doubt.
10. The proposed new section 21 deals with onus of proof, and provides that in every prosecution under the principal Ordinance it shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed that the girl in question was a mui tsai in the employment of the accused at the time of the alleged offence, and that this onus will not be discharged by mere proof that the girl was described in any transaction by some term other than mui tsai. This may appear drastic, but the difficulties of proof are enormous. In order to prove that a girl is a mui tsai it might be necessary to prove some payment made years ago, outside the Colony, and in the absence of the girl herself. On the other hand, the accused should find it easy to prove the real status of any girl in his household, and the burden is therefore less heavy than it might appear. The provision that the onus will not be discharged by mere proof that the girl was described in some transaction by some term other than mui tsai is inserted because of the practice of describing a mui tsai as an adopted daughter. If the girl was in fact used as a domestic servant, and if money had been paid to secure her services as such, no doubt the magistrate would hold that she was a mui tsai, even though a document was produced in which she was called an adopted daughter. Of course under the main part of the section the magistrate would have to find that the girl was a mui tsai unless there was evidence to the contrary sufficient to discharge the onus laid on the accused by the section.
11. The proposed new section 22 will enable the magistrate to estimate the age of a mui tsai even though no evidence is called on the point. Such a provision is obviously necessary. Precedents in principle may be found in section 27 of Ordinance No. 4 of 1897, and in section 1 (3) of the Street Betting Act, 1906, and section 141 of the Education Act, 1921.
12.
Section 32 of the Protection of Women and Girls Ordin- ance, 1897, provides that "No parent or person acting in the place of a parent who has voluntarily parted with a girl for the purpose of adoption into another family, or who has received money for parting with the custody of such girl for any purpose, shall be
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