XN000022-1973-05-11 — Page 4

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Friday, May 11, 1973

To enable the District Court to deal adequately with such cases,

the District Court (Amendment) Bill 1973 raises, from five to seven years the

maximum sentence which may be imposed by a District Judge.

Another Bill, the Public Order (Amendment) Bill 1973, repeals

and replaces the section in the ordinance dealing with the offence of

possession of an offensive weapon in a public place, and widens the scope

of the powers of punishment available to the courts when dealing with

persons convicted under this section.

The main changes are:

To permit a person over 13 but under 17 years to be sentenced to corporal punishment or to detention in

a training centre, if there is no room for him in a

detention centre, as alternatives to imprisonment or

a detention centre order.

To allow persons aged 17 or over to be sentenced

to corporal punishment, as an alternative to imprisonment

or a detention order.

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