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Following is a question by the Hon Li Kwok-ying and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, in the Legislative Council today (July 4):
Question:
It has been reported that tickets for activities held at venues under the Home Affairs Department or the Leisure and Cultural Services Department have recently been scalped in large volumes. As these venues are exempted from the requirement for licenses for places of public entertainment, they are not subject to regulation by the Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance (Cap. 172). The Police can take law enforcement actions only under the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) in the past two years, of the respective numbers of persons prosecuted by the Police under the Summary Offences Ordinance for scalping tickets for activities held at venues under the above two departments, as well as the number of convictions involving scalping tickets for activities held at venues other than those under the above two departments; and
(b) of the existing measures to combat the scalping of tickets for activities held at venues under the above two departments, and whether it will consider extending the scope of application of the Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance to cover such venues?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The Police do not have statistics on the numbers of persons prosecuted or convicted under the Summary Offences Ordinance for scalping tickets for activities held at venues under the Home Affairs Department (HAD) or the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), or other venues.
(b) At present, the Police will take law enforcement actions against any ticket scalping activity for activities held at venues under the HAD or LCSD mainly under the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228). If the cases involve other offences (e.g. fraudulence), the Police may also take enforcement actions under the relevant ordinances. In addition, pursuant to the Stadia Regulation (Cap. 132BY) and the Civic Centres Regulation (Cap 132F), no person shall sell any article in LCSD”¦s venues without authorisation. LCSD staff are authorised to take prosecution action against such activities or seek assistance from the Police. The Government is also examining the need for extending the scope of application of section 6 of the Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance (Cap. 172) to cover venues under the HAD and LCSD.
Ends/Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Issued at HKT 15:20
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