THE HONGKONG ‘GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, JUNE 30, 1916.
be ordered.
24. The magistrate may require the Government Ana- Analysis lyst to report upon any technical point which may be in may dispute in any prosecution under this Ordinance, and may order the payment of the fees due in respect of the Ana- lyst's report by the party in fault, or out of any fine recovered from either party, or out of the proceeds of any forfeiture ordered by such magistrate.
At the hearing of any such prosecution the production of the certificate of the Government Analyst requested as aforesaid shall be sufficient evidence of the facts thereiu stated, unless the defendant requires that the Analyst should be called as a witness; but if the Analyst is called by or at the request of the defendant the magistrate may further order the defendant, if convicted, to pay a fee of 25 dollars for the attendance of the Analyst, such fee to be recoverable in the same way as a penalty imposed under this Ordinance is recoverable.
25. The magistrate may dismiss any charge or com- Vexatious plaint under this Ordinance on the ground that it is proceedings. frivolous or vexatious although the commission of an offence be proved, and when a charge or complaint is dis- missed on the ground that it is frivolous or vexatious, or when the magistrate is of opinon that such charge or com- plaint was supported by evidence false to the knowledge of the person bringing such charge, it shall be the duty of the magistrate to impose on the person bringing the same a penalty not exceeding that which the defendant would have incurred if he had been convicted, and such penalty shall be over and above any other penalties or liabilities which the said person may have likewise incurred in res- pect of his said charge or complaint or of his evidence in support thereof.
relating to cases of
seizure.
26. In any proceedings before a magistrate or on Procedure appeal, before the Supreme Court relating to the seizure of any poison, syringe or appliance the seizure whereof is authorised by this Ordinance, it shall be lawful for such magistrate and for the judges and they are hereby respec- tively required to proceed in such cases on the merits only without reference to matters of form and without inquiring into the matter or form of making any seizure excepting in so far as the manner and form of seizure may be evidence on such merits.
of informers.
27.-(1.) Except as hereinafter mentioned, no informa- Provisions tion laid under this Ordinance shall be admitted in for the evidence in any civil OP criminal proceeding, and no profection witness shall be obliged to disclose the name or address of any informer or to state any matter which might lead to his discovery; and if any books, documents, or papers which are in evidence or liable to inspection in any civil or criminal proceeding contain any entry in which any such informer is named or described or which might lead to his discovery, the court or magistrate shall cause all such passages to be concealed from view or to be obliterated so far as may be necessary to protect the informer from discovery, but no further.
(2.) But if in any proceedings before a magistrate for any offence against any provision of this Ordinance the magistrate after full inquiry into the case believes that the informer wilfully made in his information *L material statement which he knew or believed to be false or did not believe to be true, or if in any other proceeding the court or magistrate is of opinion that justice cannot be fully done between the parties thereto without the discovery of the informer, it shall be lawful for the court or magistrate to require the production of the original information and to permit inquiry and require full disclosure concerning the informer.
28. Nothing in this Ordinance shall be construed as affecting the provisions of the Opium Ordinance, 1914.
Saving of Opium Ordinance,
1914,
377
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