TNAG-0194-FCO40-230-Emergency-legislation-and-Public-Order-ordinance-discussions-1969 — Page 169

COMMENTS

ON

PUBLIC ORDER (AMENDMENT) BILL.

8/2

The attached Bill has been prepared to take into account

some of the criticisms of the Public Order Ordinance which were made

by the Hong Kong Branch of Justice in their Report on it. The Bill

also enacts, with modification, some provisions which are at present

contained in Emergency Regulations but which are considered to be needed

in permanent legislation. Account has, of course, also been taken of

the Secretary of State's Saving Despatch No. 406 of 27 June, 1968.

References to "the Note" are to the Note by the Attorney General on the

Justice Report; this Note was forwarded to the Secretary of State's

Legal Adviser on 16 February, 1968 and is referred to in Saving Despatch

No. 406.

2.

The definition of "meeting" in section 2 of the principal

Ordinance is replaced. In paragraph 4 of the Note it was proposed to

exclude from this definition meetings convened or held "for the purpose

of carrying out any duty or exercising any power imposed or conferred

by any Ordinance". This has been done by paragraph (ii) of the new

definition.

As suggested in paragraph 6 of the Note, the definition is

also amended to make it clear that it is intended to cover only meetings

where there is a degree of organization; the word "held" has been deleted

and "organized" substituted therefor. Paragraph (b) of the new definition

is designed to make it clear that organization of a group in public,

without any prior planning, will make that group into a meeting for the

purposes of the Ordinance.

3. Paragraph 5 of the Note agreed that the definition of "offensive

weapon" should be amended by deleting the words "or suitable". However,

the Commissioner of Police has objected very strongly to this, on the

grounds that in Hong Kong the commonest offensive weapons used are the

cargo hook and the mineral water bottle, neither of which are "made" or

"adapted" but both of which are eminently "suitable" for causing injury.

In this connection, the following extract from the judgment of Goddard L.C.J.