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W(B)L 51-7406
CONFIDENTIAL
was inappropriate for funeral gatherings; and
that the period of seven days which was required
under this Section to elapse between an applica-
tion for a licence and the holding of the meet-
ing was much too long in the case of funerals.
Clause 4 of the Bill accordingly amends the
Section by reducing the period of notice required
from seven to two days in the case of a funeral
procession; the Clause also exempts funeral
meetings and meetings held for social purposes
in a restaurant, from the need to be licensed
at all. These amendments represent a definite
amelioration of the provisions of the existing
Section; but there remains some doubt whether
it would always be practicable to apply for a
licence to hold a funeral procession two days
before such procession; and it is considered
that the Commissioner of Police's powers under
Section 7 (4) to refuse such a licence are too
wide and in some cases inappropriate in relation
to funeral processions. The Governor has
accordingly been asked to give further considera-
tion to these aspects.
(b) Paragraph 4 &
Section 11 (2) of the Ordinance confers on
a police officer of or above the rank of
Inspector the power to prevent, stop or dis-
perse public processions or meetings if such are
"in his opinion likely to cause or lead to a
breach of the peace". "Justice" objected to
the words underlined on the grounds that they
conferred an absolute discretion on the police
which could not be challenged in the courts.
Clause 6 of the draft Bill is accordingly
designed to remedy this situation by deleting
/ the
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CONFIDENTIAL
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