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THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 11TH JANUARY, 1873.

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Convictions.

VII. Whenever any Person shall be convicted before the Supreme Punishment Court of any Offence against the Provisions of this Ordinance, if of Whipping it shall be proved that the Offender has been previously convicted on second and either before the Supreme Court or before two Magistrates sitting subsequent together, of an Offence under the same or any other Section of this Ordinance, it shall be lawful for the Court, in its Discretion, to direct that, in addition to the Punishment herein before prescribed, the Offender, if a Male, be once, twice, or thrice publicly or privately whipped subject to the Provisions contained in Section I of Ordinance No. 3 of 1868; and all the Provisions of Section XCIV Form of of Ordinance No. 7 of 1865 relating to the Form of Information for Information a subsequent Offence and Proceedings thereon, shall apply to and Proceed- Offences punishable under this Ordinance.

ings.

VIII. This Ordinance shall not come into Operation until Her Suspending Majesty's Confirmation thereof shall have been proclaimed in the Clause. Colony by the Governor.

Statement of Objects and Reasons:

The Provisions of this Ordinance are intended to repress certain offences and abuses which there is reason to believe are of frequent occurrence among the lower classes of the Chinese Population of this Colony, viz., the buying and selling of women and girls and their forcible or fraudulent abduction or detention for the purposes of prostitution. Also the decoying away under false pretences, or the abduction by force or intimidation, of persons for the purposes of Chinese Emigration. All the offences defined by this Ordinance, are in a great measure ejusdem generis, and are made punishable alike by imprisonment with or without hard labor for a period not exceeding two years; and power is given to the Supreme Court, whenever previous convictions are proved, to direct the offender, if a male, to be whipped under the Provisions of Ordinance No. 3 of 1868. It is proposed that this Ordinance should not come into force until Her Majesty's confirmation of it has been received, aud therefore the usual Suspending Clause to that effect has been inserted.

JULIAN PAUNCEFOTE, Attorney General.

An Ordinance enacted by the Governor of Hongkong, with the Advice of the Legislative Council thercof, to abolish Minimum Punishments on Summary Convictions before Magistrates.

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1873.]

HEREAS by various Ordinances of the Colony a Minimum as well as a Maximum Amount of Fine or Term of Ini- prisonment is prescribed by Way of Punishment for certain Offences triable summarily before the Magistrates; and whereas it is expedient to confer upon the Magistrates the Power of awarding, in their Discretion, à lesser, and in certain Cases, a nominal Punishment for such Offences: Be it enacted by the Governor of Hongkong, with the Advice of the Legislative Counci! thereof, as

follows:-

any

Title.

Preamble.

Whenever any Person shall be convicted upon a Summary Trial Minimum before a Magistrate, of an Offence against the Provisions of Punishments Ordinance or Law now in Force in the Colony whereby a Minimam on Summary Amount of Fine or Term of Imprisonment is prescribed by Way Convictions

of Punishment for such Offence, it shall be lawful for the Ma- gistrate, if he shall in his Discretion think fit, to award a lesser Amount of Fine or Terin of Imprisonment than that prescribed by Way of Minimum Punishment as aforesaid, or to award, in certain Cases, a merely nominal Punishment, anything in such Ordinance or Law contained to the contrary notwithstanding.

Statement of Objects and Reasons.

By this Ordinance, it is proposed to abolish generally all enact- ments providing Minimum Punishments for offences triable summarily before Magistrates. In cases of a first offence, or where there are mitigating circumstances, it is very desirable to leave the amount of punishment (below the maximum limit) to the entire discretion of the Magistrate. Examples of the Restric- tion which it is intended to abolish may be found in the "Victoria Registration Ordinance," the "Harbor and Coasts Ordinance," and others; there have been instances in which Magistrates have been reluctantly compelled either to dismiss the case without any punishment at all, or to inflict a graver punishment than the circumstances of the case seemed to justify. This Ordinance, therefore, will give greater latitude to the Magistrates, and is intended as a just measure of relief.

JULIAN PAUNCEFOTE,

Attorney General,

abolished.

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