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Increase of fines under Urban Council Ordinance
Following is the speech by the Secretary for Recreation and Culture, Mr T H Chau, in moving the resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance 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 maximum fines stipulated in the Urban Council Ordinance, the Regional Council Ordinance and the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance and their relevant subsidiary legislations and to convert them as appropriate into a standard scale.
Section 100A(1) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance 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, 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 the existing fines is therefore necessary. Both the Urban Council and the Regional Council have reviewed the relevant Ordinances under their purview relating to Urban Council, Public Health and Municipal Services and Regional Council matters. I now propose on their behalf to revise 67 items of statutory maximum fines under three Ordinances, fifty-four By-laws and ten Regulations as set out in the Order Paper.
All maximum fines at or below $100,000 after adjustment will be converted to the appropriate level of fines on the standard scale. However, a daily fine or a daily penalty below $100,000 after adjustment will continue to be expressed in money terms as this is expressly specified in the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) (NO.2) Ordinance 1994.
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