To amend the law relating to contempt of court and to regulate the publication of reports of judicial proceedings in such manner as to prevent injury to public morals.
(Amended 14 of 1973 s. 2)
[15 April 1955]
(Format changes—E.R. 1 of 2017)
This Ordinance may be cited as the Judicial Proceedings (Regulation of Reports) Ordinance.
In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires—
court (法庭) means any court, tribunal or person having by law power to hear, receive and examine evidence on oath; court sitting in private (非公開法庭) means any court sitting in camera or in chambers; [cf. 1960 c. 65 s. 12(3) U.K.] judicial proceedings (司法程序) and proceedings (法律程序) mean proceedings before any court.(Added 14 of 1973 s. 2)
It shall not be lawful to print or publish, or cause or procure to be printed or published—
(Repealed 68 of 1995 s. 6)
in relation to any judicial proceedings for dissolution of marriage, for nullity of marriage, or for judicial separation, any particulars other than the following, that is to say— (Amended 80 of 1997 s. 85)
the names, addresses and occupations of the parties and witnesses;
a concise statement of the charges, defences and counter-charges in support of which evidence has been given;
submissions on any point of law arising in the course of the proceedings, and the decision of the court thereon;
the summing-up of the judge and the finding of the jury (if any) and the judgment of the court and observations made by the judge in giving judgment. (Amended 68 of 1995 s. 6)
Any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a fine at level 3 and to imprisonment for four months: (Amended E.R. 5 of 2021)Provided that no person, other than a proprietor, editor, master printer or publisher, shall be liable to be convicted under this section.
A prosecution under this section shall not be instituted except by or with the consent of the Secretary for Justice. (Amended L.N. 362 of 1997)
Nothing in this section shall apply to the printing of any pleading, transcript of evidence or other document for use in connection with any judicial proceedings or the communication thereof to persons concerned in the proceedings, or to the printing or publishing of any notice or report in pursuance of the directions of the court; or to the printing or publishing of any matter in any separate volume or part of any bona fide series of law reports which does not form part of any other publication and consists solely of reports of proceedings in courts of law, or in any publication of a technical character bona fide intended for circulation among members of the legal or medical profession.
(Amended 14 of 1973 s. 2)
A person shall not be guilty of contempt of court on the ground that he has published any matter calculated to interfere with the course of justice in connexion with any proceedings pending or imminent at the time of publication if at that time, having taken all reasonable care, he did not know and had no reason to suspect that the proceedings were pending, or that such proceedings were imminent, as the case may be.
A person shall not be guilty of contempt of court on the ground that he has distributed a publication containing such matter as is mentioned in subsection (1) if at the time of distribution, having taken all reasonable care, he did not know that it contained any such matter as aforesaid and had no reason to suspect that it was likely to do so.
The proof of any fact tending to establish a defence afforded by this section to any person in proceedings for contempt of court shall lie upon that person.
(Added 14 of 1973 s. 2)
[cf. 1960 c. 65 s. 11 U.K.]
The publication of information relating to proceedings before any court sitting in private shall not of itself be contempt of court except in the following cases, that is to say—
where the proceedings relate to the wardship or adoption of an infant or wholly or mainly to the guardianship, custody, maintenance or upbringing of an infant, or rights of access to an infant;
subject to subsection (1A), where the proceedings are brought under the Child Abduction and Custody Ordinance (Cap. 512); (Added 16 of 2014 s. 23)
where the proceedings are brought under Part II, IV or IVA of the Mental Health Ordinance (Cap. 136); (Amended 46 of 1988 s. 33)
where the court sits in private for reasons of national security during that part of the proceedings about which the information in question is published;
where the information relates to a secret process, discovery or invention which is in issue in the proceedings;
where the court, having power to do so, expressly prohibits the publication of all information relating to the proceedings or of information of the description which is published.
The publication of a judgment, in which the identity of a person referred to is kept anonymous, of a competent court in proceedings under the Hague Convention is not of itself contempt of court if—
none of the parties to those proceedings objects to that publication; and
the court has made an order authorizing that publication. (Added 16 of 2014 s. 23)
Without prejudice to subsection (1), the publication of the text or a summary of the whole or part of an order made by a court sitting in private shall not of itself be contempt of court except where the court, having power to do so, expressly prohibits the publication.
Nothing in this section shall be construed as implying that any publication is punishable as contempt of court which would not be so punishable apart from this section.
In subsection (1A)—
Hague Convention (《海牙公約》) means the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction signed at The Hague on 25 October 1980. (Added 16 of 2014 s. 23)(Added 14 of 1973 s. 2)
[cf. 1960 c. 65 s. 12 U.K.]