UNDESIRABLE PUBLICATIONS (AMENDMENT) BILL

Considered in Committee.

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Clauses 1 to 3 inclusive ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 4 -

Mr Butterfield: Mr Chairman, Sir, I have an amendment to move to clause 4 of which I have given notice. I move,

On page 2, line 1, after "hereto" to insert "a comma and".

The purpose of this amendment, Sir, is to insert a comma after the word "importation" wherever the amendment is being made.

Question, That the words "a comma and" proposed to be inserted, be there inserted, put, and agreed to.

Clause, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 5 -

Mr Butterfield: Sir, I have given notice of two amendments to this clause. There is another for which I am indebted to the Clerk for bringing it to my attention. What I have been referred to is an amendment, which should be made to line 9, on page 2 of clause 5. That amendment, Sir, will depend on some later amendments - amendments to be made to this clause at a later stage - and I would therefore ask that it be postponed. I now proceed, Sir, to the first of the amendments which I have to move, and that is,

On page 4, line 27, after "Immigration Department to Insert "Chinese Secretariat".

The purpose of this amendment, Sir, is to include a department of the Government on which reliance is placed for the administration of powers of this kind.

The Chairman: You do require a comma, do you not, Mr Butterfield?

Mr Butterfield: I have just lost my copy of the Bill, Mr Chairman. I am very much indebted to you, Sir. I now move that there should be a comma inserted after the words "Immigration Department" and thereafter the words "Chinese Secretariat".

Question, "That a comma and the words proposed to be inserted, be there inserted," put, and agreed to.

Mr Butterfield: There is a further amendment, Sir, of which I have given notice. It is a more substantial matter than that to which I have referred just now. First of all, however, I should like to move, Sir, on page 4, line 36 of clause 5, that there should be left out the inverted commas and the second full stop, that depends on the addition of a proposed new section to be numbered 14, with the marginal note "Appeals": "Appeals. 14 (1)-Any person aggrieved by the detention of any article under the provisions of section 10 of this Ordinance or of any publication under the provisions of section 11 of this Ordinance may appeal against such detention to the Governor in Council: Provided that no such appeal shall be allowed unless notice of appeal in writing together with the reasons for appeal is given to the Governor in Council within fourteen days of the service of the notification referred to in subsection (2) of this section. (2) A Controller or an authorised officer shall notify the addressee or consignee of any article detained under the provisions of section 10 of this Ordinance or the traveller from whose person or effects any publication has been seized and detained under the provisions of section 11 of this Ordinance as the case may be of his right to appeal under the provisions of subsection (1) of this section. (3) A notification given by a Controller or an authorised officer under the provisions of subsection (2) of this section may be delivered personally or may be sent by post and the time at which a notification which has been posted would be delivered in the ordinary course of post shall be deemed to be the time of receipt of such notification and the posting thereof shall be sufficient notification. (4) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Ordinance no article or publication shall be destroyed under the provisions of this Ordinance unless its detention has not been appealed against or any appeal against such detention has been dismissed or abandoned."

I have given notice of this amendment, Sir, and, no doubt, Members will have taken the opportunity of reading the proposed addition.

All I wish to say now is that it does spring, to some extent, from the observations made by the Member for Tanjong Pagar (Mr Lee Kuan Yew) on the Second Reading. If my recollection is right, his observations were to the effect that, in the exercise of wide powers of the kind conferred by the Bill, it was desirable that there should be some check at one time or another in respect of the exercise of those powers. Those comments have been given consideration, and, as a result of that consideration, this amendment is now proposed.

Members will see that what it is designed to achieve is that persons who are aggrieved by any action taken under either of the proposed section 10 or 11 to detain matter that is objectionable, if I may so describe it, with a view possibly to its destruction, should be given an opportunity to appeal; and this proposed section provides them with an opportunity to appeal to the Governor in Council within a period of fourteen days. It also places upon the Controllers or authorised officers an obligation to notify the persons affected of their right to appeal.

Question, "That the inverted commas and the second full stop proposed to be left out, be left out," put, and agreed to.

Question, "That the new section proposed to be inserted, be there inserted," put, and agreed to.

Mr Butterfield: Mr Chairman, Sir, may I now go back to line 9 on page 2 of clause 5? This is the amendment to which I originally referred. I move, Sir,

That the word and figure "and 13" appearing in line 9 be left out, and that there should be inserted after the figure "12" a comma and then the figure "13" and the word and figure "and 14".

This amendment, Sir, is consequential on the addition of the new section 14.

The Chairman: I require that in writing, Mr Butterfield, under the Standing Orders.

Mr Butterfield: May I have a moment, Sir?

The Chairman: Yes.

Amendment handed in.

Question, "That the word and figure `and 13' proposed to be left out, be left out," put, and agreed to.

Question, "That a comma and figure '13' and the word and figure 'and 14' proposed to be inserted, be there inserted," put, and agreed to.

The Chairman: The marginal note, of course, will be amended as consequential.

Mr Butterfield: I am very much obliged to you, Sir.

Clause, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

The Schedule -

Mr Butterfield: I have an amendment, Sir, to propose to the Schedule of which I have given notice. I move, Sir, with respect to the Schedule,

On page 4, item "Section 3", to leave out "and 5" and insert a comma and "5, 7 and marginal note".

Question, "That the word and figure 'and 5' proposed to be left out, be left out," put, and agreed to.

Question, "That a comma and figures and words "5, 7 and marginal note" proposed to be inserted, be there inserted," put and agreed to.

The Schedule, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Bill reported, with Amendments.

Third Reading

Mr Speaker: Third Reading, what day?

Mr Butterfield: Now, Sir, I beg to move, Sir, "That the Bill, as amended, be now read the Third time."

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill, as amended, accordingly read the Third time.