TNAG-0259-FCO40-295-Legislation-for-prevention-of-bribery-in-Hong-Kong-1970 — Page 208

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The provisions of this clause would be acceptable if the penal sanction were to be removed in the case of a suspect or accused person

so that he had the right to remain silent. As previously suggested,

the clause could provide that such person could be called upon to

make a statement and that the prosecution could ask the court to

draw an inference from his or her refusal to do so.

Clause 15

No amendment of real substance has been made to this clause

although the Executive Council memorandum indicates that the Bar

Association and Law Society expressed concern about it.

Clause 15(4) exempts a Legal Adviser from any requirement under Clause 15(2) or (3) to disclose any privileged information, document, etc., which is in his possession "for the purpose of any proceedings

before a Court".

But Clause 15(2) compels a Legal Adviser to divulge any

information, whether privileged or not, which may be required undër Clauses 13(1)(b), 13(2) and 14(2). The power conferred by these latter Clauses to require the divulging of information is a very wide one and may be exercised "if the Attorney-General is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that an offence under this ordinance has been committed by any person", i.e. before any charge is laid and, consequently, before there are "any proceedings before a Court".

It would, therefore, be possible to require a Legal Adviser to divulge any privileged information before a charge is laid, i.e. before Clause 15(4) becomes operative.

It is considered that to be acceptable this clause should preserve in unequivocal terms the confidentiality of "instructions" to a legal adviser from his client.

Clause 18

This provision for the surrender of a passport as a condition of bail seems to be something that should be part of the general law

if it is to be enacted at all. Are persons suspected of corruption

/ more likely ...