For Information
on 27 June 1996
LEGCO PANEL ON RECREATION AND CUTURE
Enforcement of the Control of Obscene and
Indecent Articles Ordinance
At the meeting of the LegCo Panel on Recreation and Culture on 23 May 1996, Members discussed the enforcement of the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance (COIAO). This paper provides further information on aspects of this issue over which Members have expressed concern. These include the role and manpower resources of the designated agencies in enforcing the law and the adequacy of the COIAO in dealing with the current situation.
2. Under the COIAO, the Police, Customs & Excise Department (C&ED) and the Television & Entertainment Licensing Authority (TELA) are the three designated agencies to enforce the COIAO. The need to have three designated enforcement agencies reflects the practical need for a division of responsibilities among them which is compatible with their functions, manpower resources and expertise. The roles of these three agencies in the enforcement of the COIAO are as follows :
(a) The Police
Each of the 19 Police districts has Special Duties Squads (SDSs) whose responsibilities include the enforcement of the COIAO. Depending on the crime situation in the district, SDSs conduct regular operations (sometimes jointly with TELA) against COIAO breaches in the districts, e.g. raids at retail outlets involving the publication and sale of obscene articles.
(b) C&ED
This department is mainly responsible for import control and copyright protection. C&ED deals with COIAO breaches at entry points and during copyright enforcement operations. Frequently, such operations lead to the seizure of large amounts of obscene articles e.g. CD-ROMS/VCDs at entry points and other premises used as storage and distribution centres.
(c) TELA
TELA is mainly responsible for monitoring articles published or displayed. It issues summonses and follows up on those prosecutions which do not require arrests and investigations by the Police. Monitoring and prosecutions relating to indecent articles published in newspapers, magazines and comic books have been undertaken solely by TELA.
3. The enforcement statistics at the Annex underlines the division of responsibilities among the three enforcement agencies as described above. In brief, TELA, with its dedicated monitoring staff, concentrates more on section 24 offences, i.e. publishing indecent articles not complying with statutory requirements. Enforcement efforts of the Police and C&ED are mainly focused on section 21 offences i.e. obscene articles found at retail/wholesale outlets or entry points. We do not see any operational justification to change the present enforcement role of these agencies as provided in the COIAO.
4. Before April 1996, there were a total of 16 TELA officers on enforcement duties. Among them, 10 were responsible for outdoor inspections. Through stepped up monitoring and prosecutions, we had tackled effectively the main concern of the community, namely, indecent comic books. The contents of indecent comic books are now more toned down and their publications follow the statutory warning notices.
5. To meet the renewed thrust under the amended COIAO, TELA has further increased the number of its enforcement staff. Since April 1996, an additional team of four inspectors has been created. TELA now has 20 staff engaged in COIAO enforcement duties. Among them, 14 are engaged in regular outdoor inspections and monitoring duties. Other than prosecution actions, TELA also conducts frequent joint operations with the Police in the districts (at least once a week). These joint operations aim at most serious breaches at the retail level involving arrests, seizures and further Police investigations. Such an arrangement has been working well and there is a close working relationship among the enforcement agencies.
6. The COIAO was amended in July 1995 and the amendments were brought into force in October 1995. The amended legislation has raised the maximum penalties for breaches relating to the publication of indecent articles from $200,000 to $400,000 ($800,000 for repeated offences). It also requires Class II (indecent) articles to be sealed in wrappers and with statutory warning notices. These provisions have helped newsvendors and parents in identifying indecent publications which should not be sold or read by juveniles. In this respect, the amended COIAO has been effective in tackling the problem of easy access to indecent comic books/publications by young persons.
7. Practical experience demonstrates clearly that the present provisions of COIAO have provided an adequate framework to tackle the COIAO breaches. The Administration considers that the enforcement authorities have accorded appropriate resources and priority in enforcing the COIAO and taking out prosecutions whenever possible. It is also considered that, other than our enforcement efforts, appropriate sentencing by the Court in the prosecution cases is also important. To reflect the concern of our community particularly over the lewd contents of some newspaper supplements/articles, TELA has asked the Legal Department to apply for a review of some sentences handed down by the court relating to indecent newspaper articles. Four such review cases are pending court hearing. TELA will continue with its task of closely monitoring court sentences on indecent articles and would not hesitate to ask the court to review its sentences as and when necessary.
8. The three designated agencies will continue to work closely in enforcing the COIAO by adhering to their respective enforcement role. In particular, TELA, albeit a civilian department, will continue with the following efforts :
- closely monitoring articles published or displayed and undertaking related prosecutions;
- conducting joint operations with the Police in the districts for more serious offences involving raids at retail outlets, arrests and seizures; and
- in consultation with the Legal Department, seeking a review of court sentences on offences relating to indecent articles.
9. To keep the enforcement strategy and tactics under regular review, TELA, the Police and C&ED have agreed to set up an additional co-ordination forum in the form of quarterly meetings (to be convened by TELA) to review trends in COIAO breaches and enforcement priorities of the respective agencies. Through specially planned operations and co-ordination among the three enforcement agencies, no efforts will be spared in enforcing the COIAO. The concerns of the community cannot be addressed solely by enforcement actions. We believe that there is an important role for parents to exercise guidance on their children. Also, the publishing industry including newspapers should be encouraged to exercise self-regulation.
Broadcasting, Culture and Sports Branch
Government Secretariat
June 1996
Annex
|
|
s.21
|
s.22
|
s.23
|
s.24
|
s.27
| Total
|
|---|
|
TELA
|
Prosecution
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
24
|
0
|
27
|
|
Conviction
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
15
|
0
|
19
|
|
Police
|
Prosecution
|
144
|
1
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
151
|
|
Conviction
|
102
|
1
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
109
|
|
Customs
|
Prosecution
|
17
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
17
|
|
Conviction
|
16
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
16 |
COIAO Nature of Offence
s.21 - Publishing obscene articles
s.22 Publishing indecent articles to juveniles
s.23 Displaying indecent matters
s.24 Publishing indecent articles not complying with statutory requirements
s.27 Publishing indecent articles not complying with OAT conditions
Last Updated on 12 Aug, 1998
