COMMON GAMING HOUSES (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

5.56 p.m.

The Minister for Labour and Law (Mr K. M. Byrne): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

The primary object of this Bill, Mr Speaker, Sir, is to save the time of the Court by making it unnecessary, in cases where a game, method, device, scheme or competition is known to be a public lottery, for the Court to record the detailed evidence to show that it is a public lottery. At present, for example, where a man is charged with assisting in carrying on a chap ji ki lottery, it is necessary for a witness to give evidence to show in detail how a chap ji ki lottery is run so as to show that chap ji ki is a public lottery. This would appear to be necessary even though chap ji ki has been held to be a lottery in a number of cases in the High Court and in the subordinate Courts and although the magistrate, for example, who tries the case may from his own experience of trying such cases know how a chap ji ki lottery is run.

This Bill will enable the Court to take judicial notice that a game, method, device, scheme or competition is a public lottery. Power is given to the Minister to declare any game, method, device, scheme or competition to be a lottery, and the Court is required to accept the evidence of a police officer not below the rank of Sergeant that a document produced before it is a lottery ticket or an account, memorandum or record of stakes or wagers in or relating to a public lottery, as presumptive evidence of that fact. The reason why it is necessary to allow a police officer of the rank of Sergeant to give such evidence is that the gambling experts of tie Police Force are at present of the rank of Sergeant.

The opportunity has been taken to increase the term of imprisonment for which a person can be sentenced under section 4 of the Common Gaming Houses Ordinance from 12 months to 3 years. This removes the anomaly of a person who is sentenced to pay a fine of $6,000 under section 4 of the Ordinance being liable in the event of non-payment of the fine to imprisonment in default of only six months. The period for which a person can be bound over under section 21 of the Ordinance has also been increased from one year to three years.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

5.59 p.m.

Mr Rajah: Mr Speaker, Sir, when I read this Bill for the first time, I had some doubts about one of the subsections of clause 2, that particular subsection which enables the Minister to gazette a game, method, device, scheme or competition as a lottery to be an irrebuttable presumption in Court. I felt that this would be a subsection which could be used to give the Minister, if I may put it in this way, a competitive jurisdiction with the ordinary Courts of the country. But after listening to the Minister, I will not raise any objection if the whole point and purpose of this amendment is merely to enact in a general way that a particular game is a public lottery. This would, therefore, mean that some of the complicated and rather difficult evidence which is now required to prove, shall I say, a game of chap ji ki need not be led in evidence. Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like an assurance from the Minister for Labour and Law that if he is to use these powers under this proposed subsection, he would gazette in general terms rather than in particular ones. May I explain myself. If the Minister wishes to use this subsection, he could say that a particular kind of game, say, football, in general shall be a public lottery but he will not use these powers to say that a game of football played on a particular day, on a particular ground and between two particular teams is a lottery. Mr Speaker, Sir, it seems to me that the subsection as it now stands could enable the Minister to do both these things or either one of them. I can appreciate the difficulty of the Minister for Labour and Law, and I can appreciate why he wants this subsection, because I know that the proving of chap ji ki is a very tricky matter in Court and sometimes people get away with it because of the difficulty of proving it. If I can have the Minister's assurance that this subsection will only be used in general cases to declare a game or a competition to be a lottery and will not be used in such a way as to make it easy for the prosecution. Let me explain. Supposing a case is put up to the Prosecutor's Department after investigation and the Prosecutor after investigation says, "Well, you know, it is very difficult, this way, that way. We might get a conviction or we might not." So the matter is put up to the State Advocate-General who then approaches the Minister for Labour and Law and says, "Look, Mr Minister, this chap is a crook, you know. He must be put in, but if we take him into Court, his clever lawyers might get him out. Therefore, will you gazette this particular game or this particular competition to be a lottery?" Whereupon, the Minister gazettes it and the man is then brought in to Court. The Court is then faced with a Gazette order which declares it to be a game which by virtue of this subsection is an irrebuttable presumption of law. In those circumstances, all that the Court is left with is to convict him and fine him or sentence him according to law. If I can have the assurance of the Minister for Labour and Law that this will not take place, I will not raise any further objection.

Mr Byrne rose -

Mr Speaker: I do not know whether any other Member wishes to speak. No? Mr Minister, in reply.

Mr Byrne: Mr Speaker, Sir, I will say here and now that it will never be my intention to declare a friendly game of mahjong in which the Member for Farrer Park indulges in his own private home -

Mr Rajah: I do not play mahjong.

Mr Byrne: -to be a private lottery. It is clearly apparent from this Bill that the purpose of the amendment to the Ordinance is to enable the Courts to take judicial notice of games such as chap ji ki which are generally known to be public lotteries.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole Assembly.

Assembly immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill.-[Mr Byrne].

Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read the Third time and passed.