112550-1927-Supplementary-Bills-read-a-first-time--Printers-and-Publishers-Prisons-Amendment-Volunteer-Amendment-Railways-Amendment — Page 10

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in the case of proceedings before a magistrate at least the scheme of a general statement followed by an exception will have the effect, under section 28 of the Magistrates Ordinance, of throwing on the defendant the onus of proving the exception. The term

'printed document" is defined in section 2.

20. As section 6 begins with a general reference to every printed document, a further exception of documents printed out- side the Colony is necessary. This is provided by sub-section (6). It is true that this exception provides a possible loophole, but the same remark applies to the old section, and in the new section the onus will be on the defendant.

21. Section 7 of the new Ordinance replaces section 11 of Ordinance No. 4 of 1886. The chief differences in the new section are as follows :-

(a) If the name of the employer is Chinese it must be given

in Chinese characters.

(b) The offence is left to the ordinary penalty under the

Ordinance.

22. Section 8 of the new Ordinance provides for powers of search, seizure and forfeiture.

23. The provisions of sections 13 to 17 of Ordinance No. 4 of 1886 do not appear in the new Ordinance. They provide that the printer or publisher of a newspaper must give a bond in the sum of $1,200 conditioned that he will pay any fine or penalty imposed on him, or any person acting for him in his absence, by reason of any conviction for libel, and also that he will pay all damages and costs recovered for libel published in the newspaper. So far as civil actions for libel are concerned the amount of the bond is quite inadequate, and in many cases it would be sufficient to pay only a portion of the costs. The provision seems unnecessary in the case of criminal proceedings because of the powers of arrest which exist in criminal cases. Another objection is that the pro- vision refers only to libel, whereas a much more serious case is that of sedition. The bond provisions have therefore been aband- oned. Section 9 of the new Ordinance simply provides that the proprietor, printer, publisher and editor of any newspaper shall be liable criminally for any illegal matter contained in any issue of the newspaper, and that the printer of any other document shall similarly be liable for any illegal matter contained in such document. The accused will not be liable under this section if he proves that the matter in question was printed without his autho- rity, consent or knowledge and that the printing thereof did not arise from want of due care or caution on his part.

24. Section 10 provides that any civil or criminal process addressed to the proprietor, printer, publisher or editor of any newspaper shall be deemed to be duly served if left with an adult at, or sent by post to, the reisgtered address of the office of the newspaper.

25. Section 11 is taken practically verbatim from section 6 of Ordinance No. 5 of 1839 of the Ordinances of Ceylon. It requires a copy of every edition of every newspaper, signed by the printer or publisher, to be delivered to the Registrar of Newspapers. The copy so delivered is to be evidence in any legal proceedings against the printer, publisher, proprietor and editor of the newspaper. The copies so delivered are to be paid for by the Government. The only substantial difference between the section in the bill and the section in the Ceylan Ordinance is that in the bill the delivered copy of the newspaper is to be evidence against the editor as well as against the printer, publisher, and proprietor. The Ceylon Ordinance does not refer to editors.

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