TNAG-1859-FCO40-2634-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-memoranda-and-minutes-of-me-1989 — Page 47

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

18 October 1989

香港立法局

一九八九年十月十八日

43

Question on the Second Reading of the Bill put and agreed to.

Bill read the Second time.

Bill committed to a Committee of the whole Council pursuant to Standing Order 43(1).

REGISTRATION OF PERSONS (AMENDMENT) BILL 1989

THE SECRETARY FOR SECURITY moved the Second Reading of: "A Bill to amend the Registration of Persons Ordinance."

He said: Sir, I move that the Registration of Persons (Amendment) Bill 1989 be read a Second time.

The purpose of the Bill is to deter the deliberate misuse of identity cards. The two main proposed amendments to the Registration of Persons Ordinance are: first, to make it an offence for a person to have in his custody or possession, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, an identity card relating to another person; and second, to make clear the offence of unlawful transfer of an identity card to another person.

Under existing legislation the possession, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, of an identity card relating to another person, is not an offence. Using it, however, is an offence under the Registration of Persons Regulations. A loophole therefore exists when persons cannot be prosecuted who are found with identity cards belonging to others in their possession, and there is no evidence of their having used those cards. This is clearly undesirable and it is therefore proposed in clause 4(b) of the Bill to make possession also an offence. The opportunity is also taken to impose heavy penalties as a deterrent against such activities.

Unlawful transfer of an identity card belonging to another person is at present punishable under the Registration of Persons Regulations. The opportunity is therefore taken in clause 2 to clarify the meaning of "transfer", and to make it an offence in the second section of 7AA under clause 5 of the Bill to transfer an identity card unlawfully to another person.

As a tidying-up exercise, the various existing offences of the use and transfer of an identity card belonging to another person without lawful authority or reasonable excuse will be transferred from the regulations to the main Ordinance.