435
2. Section 11 of the Principal Ordinance is amended by Amendment the repeal of the words "where a Magistrate is empowered of Ordinance to make an order for the payment of money or otherwise " in the first and second lines of sub-section (2) thereof.
No. 3 of 1890, s. 11: 11 & 12 Vict., c. 43. s. 2.
of Ordinance
3. Section 14 of the Principal Ordinance is amended by Amendment the repeal of the words "in any case where he is em- No. 3 of powered to make an order for the payment of money or 1890, s. 14: otherwise" in the eighth, ninth and tenth lines of sub-sec- 11 & 12 tion (1) thereof.
Vict., c. 43. s. 13.
sections 2 and 3 to
4. The provisions of sections 2 and 3 of this Ordinance Provisions of shall apply to every summons issued after the commence- ment of this Ordinance notwithstanding that such summons apply to may relate to something done or omitted before the com- every sum- mencement of this Ordinance.
"" for
mons issued after the
commence. ment of this Ordinance.
Amendment
5. Section 80 of the Principal Ordinance is amended by the substitution of the words "two hundred and fifty the figures "100" in the seventh line of sub-section (1) 1890, s. 80.
thereof,
of Ordinance No 3 of
S. 4.
6. Where a magistrate has authority under any enact- Power to fine ment, whether past or future, to impose imprisonment of in all cases. any description for an offence, and has not authority to 42 & 43 impose a fine for that offence, a magistrate may not with- Vict., c. 49, standing, if he thinks that the justice of the case will be better met by a fine than by imprisonment, impose a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars, provided that the magistrate shall not impose on the offender, in default of payment of the fine, any greater term of imprisonment than that to which such offender would have been liable under the enactment authorising the said imprisonment.
7. Ordinance No. 28 of 1913 is amended by the inser- Amendment tion of the word "Further" before the word "Amend- of Ordinance
in the second line of section thereof.
No. 28 of
ment
1913. s. 1.
Objects and Reasons.
Clauses 2 and 3 of this Bill are to enable a magistrate to proceed ex parte upon the failure of the defendant to appear in answer to his summons. The effect of these clauses will be to assimilate the law on this point to that in force in England.
Clanse 4 is inserted in order to make it clear that the above two clauses will apply to all summonses issued after the commencement of the Ordinance whether the offence was committed before or after that date.
Clause 5 proposes to raise the maximum fine to $250 in the case of indictable offences tried summarily. This is in order to assimilate the maximum fine in this class of case to the maximum fine adopted in clause 6 in accordance with the law in force in England.
Clause 6 is intended to give a magistrate power in all cases to impose a fine instead of imprisonment. It is taken from the Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1879. The magistrates in Hongkong already have power to fine in most cases, but a few cases exist in which they have not. Examples are the offence of unlawful pawning and the offences punishable under the Vagrancy Act, 1824.
Clause 7 is intended to assign to Ordinance No. 28 of 1913 a different short title from that of Ordinance No. 3 of 1913.
J. H. KEMP,
Attorney General.
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