TNAG-1604-FCO40-2211-Future-of-Hong-Kong-annual-reports-to-Parliament-on-Hong-Kon-1988 — Page 44

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societies. Legislation is being drawn up to tighten the laws

governing illegal gambling, drug abuse and the nuisances

associated with prostitution. And a computerised criminal

information system is being introduced to improve the ability of the

Police to combat triad activities and other serious crimes.

Particular attention is being paid to the rising proportion of crimes being committed by young offenders. Steps being taken include the improvement and refining of sentencing policy for young offenders to improve their chances of rehabilitation and the closer

involvement of schools in tackling the problem through, for

instance, the use of specially compiled teaching materials. District Boards and District Fight Crime Committees are also paying closer attention to juvenile offences in their areas.

(d)

71.

Public Order and Censorship

There was considerable controversy and comment in Hong Kong, particularly in the media, over the enactment in March 1987 of the

Public Order (Amendment) Ordinance. This Ordinance was part of a package which repealed all but one of the strict provisions

applicable to the media which, although rarely if ever invoked, had

been on the local statute book since 1951. During the debate the

Hong Kong Government made it clear that the provision being

retained, which makes it an offence to publish false news likely to

cause public alarm or disorder unless the publisher can show that he

had reasonable grounds for believing the news was true was a

measure of last resort which could only be used in very limited

circumstances. The Hong Kong Government have also made it clear

that they would monitor the effects of the Ordinance and would review its provisions should it become necessary to do so. In the meantime, the Hong Kong media have remained as outspoken and free from government interference as ever.

72.

Another item which occasioned keen debate was the draft Film

Censorship Bill which was published for public consultation in April

1987. The practices of film censorship have been long standing. The

purpose of the Bill is to recast the existing system for the

classification and censorship of films to bring it in line with the standards currently expected by the Hong Kong community. It

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