26 July 1990
Mr Clive Soley (Hammersmith): To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on civil and political rights in Hong Kong of the recent prosecutions under the Summary offences Ordinance.
No 114 W
MR LENNOX-BOYD
It would not be appropriate to comment on the
details of specific cases at this stage since the matter is
sub-judice pending the outcome of current court hearings.
But it would not be right to view the current controls on the
use of loudspeakers in public and the public collection of
money as an infringement of civil liberties.
These laws are
of long standing and are widely understood, and supported, in
the community. It should be noted that the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provide that the
exercise of the right to freedom of expression and of
peaceful assembly may be subject to restrictions necessary,
inter alia, for the respect and protection of the rights and
/...freedoms
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