Hong Kong

Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance (Cap. 390), s. 22

Effective 1987-09-01 · Applies to private

Section 22(1) of the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance makes it an offence to publish any indecent article to a person who is a juvenile, whether or not the publisher knows that it is an indecent article or that the person is a juvenile. A juvenile is a person under the age of 18 years. A thing is indecent if by reason of indecency it is not suitable to be published to a juvenile.

A person publishes an article if, among other acts, the person distributes, circulates, sells, hires, gives or lends it to the public or a section of the public.

Section 22(2) gives a defence where the article is classified as a Class I article, where the person charged inspected an identity card or passport purporting to be the juvenile's and believed on reasonable grounds that the juvenile was not a juvenile, or where the article was published in compliance with conditions imposed by a Tribunal.

Section 28 also makes it a defence to a charge under Part IV, which includes section 22, that a Tribunal finds the publication was intended for the public good as being in the interests of science, literature, art or learning, or any other object of general concern. The penalty is a fine of $400,000 and imprisonment for 12 months on a first conviction, and a fine of $800,000 and imprisonment for 12 months on a second or subsequent conviction.

Source: Full text of law