ELECTIONS (CORRUPT AND ILLEGAL
CONDUCT) ORDINANCE
- (a) the name and address of the printer; and
- (b) the date on which it was printed; and
- (c) the number of copies printed.
(4) A person must, not later than 7 days after publishing a printed election advertisement, furnish 2 copies of the advertisement to the appropriate returning officer.
(5) If a printed election advertisement is published in a registered local newspaper, the duty to comply with subsection (4) is on the person who seeks to place the advertisement in the newspaper.
(6) A person who contravenes subsection (1) or (4) commits an offence and is—
- (a) if tried summarily, liable on conviction to a fine at level 5 and to imprisonment for 1 year; or
- (b) if tried on indictment, liable on conviction to a fine of $200,000 and to imprisonment for 3 years.
(7) A returning officer must keep each copy of statutory declaration or an election advertisement lodged with the officer under this section for 6 months after the date on which the result of the relevant election is published and may then destroy it or dispose of it in some other manner.
(8) Subject to subsection (5), any person who authorizes the publication of an election advertisement is taken to have published the advertisement for the purposes of this section.
(9). A performance report published by an incumbent candidate during an election period is an election advertisement for the purposes of this section.
35. Court may grant relief in certain circumstances if election advertisements do not meet requirements
(1) A person who publishes a printed election advertisement without complying with section 34(1) or (4) may apply to the Court for an order under subsection (2).
(2) On the hearing of an application made under subsection (1), the Court may make an order allowing the publication which would, but for this section, constitute an offence under section 34, be excepted from the relevant requirements under that section and relieving the applicant from the penalties imposed by that section, but only if the Court—
- (a) is satisfied that—
- (i) the non-Compliance was due to inadvertence, an accidental miscalculation or any reasonable cause and was not due to bad faith; and
- (ii) where the Court requires notice of the application to be given in Hong Kong, the notice has been given; and
