TNAG-0194-FCO40-230-Emergency-legislation-and-Public-Order-ordinance-discussions-1969 — Page 77

NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN

W(B)L 51-7406

CONFIDENTIAL

the words "in his opinion" and substituting the

words "if he reasonably believes that the same

is".

However, the Governor has asked if this

amendment may be dropped because the Commissioner

of Police has argued strongly that the test of

reasonable belief would place a very heavy burden

on police officers when deciding whether a parti-

cular meeting might reasonably be expected to

lead to a breach of the peace. It is not con-

sidered that the Commissioner's argument should

be accepted because:

(i) the principle involved in this amendment

has already been accepted by the Governor

in relation to a similar amendment to

Section 3 of the Ordinance by Clause 3 of

the draft Bill;

(ii) the police officer concerned must be of

Derefore

or above the rank of Inspector and experienced enough to take decisions of this nature without undue chifficulty i (iii) the police officer has the backing of the

indemnity provided by Section 53 of the

Ordinance.

(c) Paragraph 5 1

Section 12 (3) of the Ordinance makes it an

offence if anyone "forms or continues to form

part of any unlawful assembly. "Justice"

criticised the inclusion of these words on the

grounds that they made it possible for an inno-

cent bystander, who had been caught up in an

unlawful assembly, to be guilty of an offence

although he may have had no guilty intent.

Clause 7 (b) of the Bill amends Section 12 (3)

of the Ordinance by making it a defence for an

accused person to show that he did not know that

it was an unlawful assembly.

However, the pro-

posed amendment would not cover the case of an

/ innocent

CONFIDENTIAL