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Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Following is the speech by the Secretary for the Treasury, Mr K C Kwong, in moving the resolution on Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Chapter 1) in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Mr President,
I move the resolution standing in my name on the Order Paper.
The motion before Members seeks to increase the maximum statutory fines in various tax-related legislation to restore their real value.
The Criminal Procedure (Amendment)(No 2) Ordinance 1994 enacted in July 1994 introduced a scale of fines for statutory penalties not exceeding $100,000. This enables the maximum fine level to be increased from time to time by a single order by the Governor in Council to take account of inflation and hence preserve the deterrent effect of the penalties. The standard scale of fines consists of six levels, ranging from $2,000 at Level 1 to $100,000 at Level 6.
The standard scale, however, does not take account of inflation in respect of fines specified in money terms before their conversion on to the scale. A review of existing fines is therefore necessary in order to cater for past inflation since their introduction or last revision until 1994 when the scale was introduced. I have now reviewed all the Ordinances under my purview, which relate primarily to tax collection and administration. I now propose to revise sixty-one items of statutory fines under eight Ordinances and five Regulations. They fall into three categories.
First, for fines at or below $100,000 after adjustment for past inflation, they will be converted to the appropriate level of fines on the standard scale. There are 53 items in this category.
Second, for fines above $100,000 after adjustment for past inflation, they will be expressed in money terms. There are six items in this category and they all involve serious offences concerning illegal dealings in dutiable commodities, including cigarettes and diesel oil.
Third, for daily fines and fixed penalties which are also outside the scope of the standard scale, they will be adjusted for inflation and will continue to be expressed in money terms. There are two items in this category, namely a daily fine under the Air Passenger Departure Tax Ordinance and a fixed penalty under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance.