TNAG-0259-FCO40-295-Legislation-for-prevention-of-bribery-in-Hong-Kong-1970 — Page 162

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5. By section 9 of the principal Ordinance, every licensee of a licence obtained under section 7 shall be present at the public meeting or public procession from the first assembly to the final dispersal thereof, and shall comply with any police directions regarding such meeting or procession throughout the period of assembly, conduct and dispersal thereof and the period of one hour following the final dispersal thereof. It is now felt that these conditions can cause problems when the licensee is un- avoidably absent from the meeting. Accordingly, clause 5 pro- poses to amend section 9 by providing a defence for a licensee who is absent from a meeting by reason of illness or other unavoidable cause. Furthermore, the requirement that police directions be complied with during the period of one hour after the final dispersal of a meeting or procession is deleted.

6. Clause 6 amends subsection (2) of section 11 so as to oblige a police officer, when exercising the powers conferred by the subsection, to act only on reasonable belief.

7. Clause 7 makes it clear that paragraph (a) of section 12(2) applies only to meetings or processions for which a licence is required under section 7. Also, subsection (3) is amended so as to afford to a person charged with an offence under the subsection the defence of lawful authority or reasonable excuse; this is intended to confer protection on any innocent bystander who becomes unintentionally involved in an unlawful assembly.

8. Clause 8 widens the scope of section 13 so as to make it an offence to distribute or display threatening, abusive or insulting posters with intent to provoke a breach of the peace, or whereby a breach of the peace is likely to be caused.

9. Section 14 is amended so as to enable a person charged with possessing an offensive weapon at a public meeting or procession to plead "lawful authority or reasonable excuse" as a defence. (Clause 9).

10. Subsection (3) of section 15 is amended in such a way as to ensure that only those who promote, direct, organize or manage a prohibited public gathering after the issue of the pro- hibition by the Commissioner of Police shall be guilty of an offence under that subsection. (Clause 10).

11. The definition of an unlawful assembly in section 18 is altered by clause 11 to show that there must be a disorderly element in the conduct of an assembly before it becomes un- lawful. Clauses 11 and 12 also make it clear that sections 18 and 19 apply only to assemblies which are unlawful by virtue of section 18, and not to assemblies deemed unlawful by section 12.