231405-1936-Supplementary-Draft-Bills--Summary-Offences-No-2-Amendment — Page 1

722

Draft Bills.

No. 8. 201. The following Bills are published for general information :—

[No. 21-6.7.36.-1.]

A BILL

INTITULED

Short title.

Amendment

No. 40 of 1932, s. 3 (17).

An Ordinance to amend further

Ordinance, 1932.

the Summary Offences

BE it enacted by the Governor of Hong Kong, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, as follows:

1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Summary Offences (No. 2) Amendment Ordinance, 1936.

2. Paragraph (17) of section 3 of the Summary Offences of Ordinance Ordinance, 1932, is amended by the substitution of the words "distributes, posts up or exhibits, or causes to be distributed, posted up or exhibited, any handbill, notice or proclamation" for the words "posts up or exhibits, or causes to be posted up or exhibited, any notice or proclamation" in the first and second lines of that paragraph.

Objects and Reasons.

1. Section 3 (17) of Ordinance No. 40 of 1932 provides that every person shall be liable to a fine not exceeding $250 who, without lawful authority or excuse, in any public place posts up or exhibits, or causes to be posted up or exhibited, any notice or proclamation in the Chinese language without the permission of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs or a District Officer. This paragraph is not to apply to Government notices.

2. The paragraph in question was taken from paragraph (13D) of section 2 (b) of Ordinance No. 22 of 1930, which was repealed by section 32 of the 1932 Ordinance.

3. A magisterial decision in 1931, under the 1930 Ordin- ance, held that the distribution of a handbill in the Chinese language was "exhibiting a notice". Since then it has been the practice to provide each distributor of handbills with a chopped copy containing the approval which he could show to any police officer.

4. A more recent magisterial decision under the 1932 Ordinance has held that the distribution of handbills was not covered by the paragraph in question.

5. The object of this amending Ordinance is to bring the distribution of handbills again within the mischief against which the paragraph is aimed.

July, 1936.

C. G. ALABASTER,

Attorney General.