Legislative Council

LC Paper No. CB(1) 911/98-99

Ref : CB1/BC/8/98

Paper for the House Committee meeting on 26 February 1999

Further report of the Bills Committee on
Film Censorship (Amendment) Bill 1998



Purpose

This paper further reports on the deliberations of the Bills Committee on Film Censorship (Amendment) Bill 1998, subsequent to its first report to the House Committee on 5 February 1999.

Deliberations of the Bills Committee

Updated term to describe any form of visual moving images

2. To address members' concern on whether the existing provisions of the Film Censorship Ordinance are capable of dealing with new forms of media, such as VCD, DVD and CD-ROM, and whether an updated term which can encompass all different forms of visual moving images is required, the Administration has reviewed the Ordinance and proposed further technical amendments to sections 9(3A), 13(4C) and 29A(1)(a) to keep abreast with the advancement in technology. The Administration has confirmed that the term "laserdisc", which has been proposed to be added to the said provisions, would include VCD, DVD and CD-ROM.

Committee stage amendments

3. The full set of Committee stage amendments (CSAs) to be moved by the Administration are in the Appendix.

Recommendations

4. The Bills Committee recommends that, subject to the CSAs to be moved by the Administration, the Second Reading debate on the Bill be resumed on 10 March 1999 as previously reported.

Advice sought

5. Members are invited to note the deliberations of the Bills Committee and support the recommendation at paragraph 4 above.



Legislative Council Secretariat
23 February 1999