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The Chief Justice has now made rules setting out the procedure in applying for dismissal of charges contained in a notice of transfer, the procedure on the notification of the application, the manner in which the application is to be determined and the procedure on the notification of the determination. The rules also provide for the right of a defendant to make an application through his or her legal representative.
The approval of the rules to-day will complete the necessary preparations for the reforms contained in the Ordinance. I intend to bring the Ordinance into operation next month.
Mr President, I beg to move.
End
Motion to increase fines in immigration related legislation
Following is the speech made by the acting Secretary for Security, Mrs Carrie Yau, in moving a resolution to amend Section 100A(1) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance so as to increase the amount of fines in immigration related legislation in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Mr President,
I move the resolution standing in my name in the Order paper.
The motion before Members seeks to increase the statutory fines in immigration related legislation to restore their real value.
Section 100A(1) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) provides that the Legislative Council may, by resolution, amend any Ordinance so as to increase the amount of any fine specified in that Ordinance.
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.