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Wednesday, August 30, 1972
LITTER OFFENDERS GIVEN THREE DAYS TO APPEAR IN COURT
An amendment which allows a greater period of time before a person
has to appear in court on litter charges was approved by the Legislative
Council this afternoon.
The Acting Attorny General, the Hon G.R. Sneath, moved the
amendment during the committee stage of the Magistrates (Amendment) Bill
1972 which is concerned with the "Clean Hong Kong" campaign.
Under the original draft of the legislation a person handed
a statutory notice for being a suspected litter offender had to appear
before a named magistracy within 24 hours of the handing over of the notice.
However, the amendment approved by the Council today provides that
the date to be specified in the notice will be not less than three clear
days after it has been handed to the person concerned.
Another amendment also allows a magistrate to permit a representative
to appear on behalf of a person who has been served with a notice. This
will only apply where the representative satisfies the magistrate that
he is authorised to enter a plea of guilty and is himself able to pay any
fine imposed.
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