Joint Public Order Regulation (Amendment) Act 1989

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1. Amendment of section 1 of the Joint Public Order Regulation.
2. Amendment of section 2 of the principal Act.
3. Insertion of new section 2B in the principal Act.
3A. Amendment of section 4 of the principal Act.
3B. Amendment of section 5 of the principal Act.
4. Amendment of sections 4, 5, 6, 9 and 14 of the principal Act.
5. Replacement of section 7 of the principal Act.
6. Replacement of section 8 of the principal Act.
7. Insertion of sections 8A and 8B in the principal Act.
8. Replacement of section 10 of the principal Act.
9. Amendment of section 13A of the principal Act.
10. Repeal of section 13B of the principal Act.
11. Amendment of section 14 of the principal Act.
12. Amendment of section 17 of the principal Act.
13. Insertion of new section 17A in the principal Act.
14. Replacement of the schedule to the Act.
15. Commencement.
SCHEDULE

1. Section 1 of the Joint Public Order Regulation No. 11 of 1974 (principal Act) is amended -

(b) by the repeal of the definition of 'police force' and the substitution of the following definition:-

"'police force' means the Vanuatu Police Force established under the Police Joint Regulations No. 7 of 1980".

(a) in subsection (1) by the repeal of paragraph (b) and the substitution of the following paragraph:-

"(b) any uniform, distinctive dress or emblem by members or adherents of any organization or association whether incorporated or not, specified or described in such order, when it appears to him that members of that organization or association are organized or trained or equipped for the purpose of displaying of physical force in promoting any political or other object, or in such a manner as to arouse reasonable apprehension that they are organized, trained or equipped for that purpose";

(b) in subsection (3), in paragraph (a), by the substitution for the words 'subsection (1)(b)(i) or (ii)' of the words 'subsection (1)(b)'.

3. The following new section is inserted after section 2A of the principal Act:-

(a) are organised, trained, drilled or equipped or wear any uniform, distinctive dress or emblems for the purpose of enabling them to be employed in such a manner that such employment usurps or tends to usurp the functions of the police force; or

(b) are organised, trained, drilled, dressed or equipped either for the purpose of enabling them to be employed for the use or display of physical force in promoting any political object, or in such manner as to arouse reasonable apprehension that they are organised and either trained or equipped for that purpose,

any member or adherent of such association and any person who takes part in the control or management of the association or in so organising or training any such members or adherents shall be guilty of an offence:

Provided that, in any proceeding against any person charged with the offence of taking part in the control or management of such an association as aforesaid, it shall be a defence to that charge for him to prove that he neither consented to nor connived at the organisation, training or equipment of members or adherents of the association in contravention of the provisions of this section.

(2) The importation of any uniform, distinctive dress or emblem or any other clothing signifying the usage as referred to in subsection (1)(a) above is prohibited and any such article imported may be seized and detained and any person who so imports such article shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) No prosecution shall be instituted under this section without the consent of the Attorney General."

(a) in the marginal note of that section, by the substitution for the words "commit capital offences" of the words "commit murder"; and

(b) in paragraph (a) in subsection (1) of that section, by deleting the words "or any offences punishable with death".

3B. Section 5 of the principal Act is amended in subsection (1), by repealing subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of that subsection.

4. Sections 4, 5, 6, 9 and 14 of the principal Act are amended, by the substitution for the words 'appropriate authority', wherever those words occur in those sections, of the word 'Minister'.

5. Section 7 of the principal Act is repealed and the following section is substituted:-

7. (1) No procession, parade, assembly or demonstration shall be held in a public place except under the authority of a permit issued, under this section.

(2) An application for a permit to hold, convene or organise a procession, parade, assembly or demonstration in a public place, shall be made in the prescribed form to the Minister not less than 7 days and not more than 30 days before the intended date of such procession, parade, assembly or demonstration.

(3) An application referred to in subsection (2) shall state the following particulars:-

(b) whether application is in respect of a procession, parade, assembly or demonstration;

(d) the date upon which and the place at which the procession, parade, assembly or demonstration is intended to take place;

(e) the time at which the intended procession, parade, assembly or demonstration is to commence and its appropriate duration;

(f) in the case of a meeting, the names of persons who intend to address the meeting and the matters to be discussed at such meeting;

(g) in the case of a procession, parade or demonstration, the description of place of assembly, route, and place of dispersal;

(h) details of any band, loud speaker, banner, placard, emblem or flag wished to be used during the procession, parade, assembly or demonstrations;

(i) names and addresses of five persons who will organise or assist to organise, such procession, parade, assembly or demonstration and whose places of residence stall be within the locality concerned.

(4) A copy of the application shall be forwarded, by the applicant to the Commissioner of Police, the head of a police station (if any) within the locality concerned and the Local Government Council of such locality.

(5) The Minister may, if upon the receipt of an application made under subsection (3) of this section, is satisfied that the procession, parade, assembly or demonstration, as the case may be, is not likely to prejudice the maintenance of public order, or public safety grant a permit subject to such conditions as he may think fit.

(6) The Minister may, before granting a permit under subsection (5), require the applicant or any person concerned with the organisation or convening or holding of the procession, parade, assembly or demonstration, to furnish to the Minister, any further information, or particulars as the Minister may think necessary."

6. Section 8 of the principal Act is repealed and the following section is substituted:-

8. If the Minister considers that the proposed procession, parade, assembly, or demonstration is likely to disturb the public order, he may revoke any permit granted under section 7(5), or amend the conditions of such permit."

7. The following sections are inserted immediately after section 8 of the principal Act:-

8A. The Minister may, if it appears to him to be necessary or expedient in the interest of public safety and the maintenance of public order, at any time by order prohibit the holding of any procession, parade, assembly or demonstration, in any place, whether such place is a public place or not in the area specified in that order, or impose any condition, subject to which such procession, parade, assembly or demonstration shall be held.

8B. The Minister may, by order published in the gazette, delegate the powers conferred upon him under sections 6, 7(2), 7(5), 7(6), 8 and 17 to any public officer and thereupon such public officer shall have and exercise such powers, subject to any condition, or any direction, the Minister may think fit to impose."

8. Section 10 of the principal Act is repealed and the following section is substituted:-

(a) in the application under section 7, makes any incomplete or incorrect statement which is misleading as to the nature of the proposed procession, parade, assembly or demonstration;

(b) without having obtained a permit under section 7, or after prohibition under section 8A, issues by any means an invitation to others to take part in such proposed procession parade, assembly or demonstration;

(c) organises or takes part in a procession, parade, assembly or demonstration in respect of which a permit is not issued or revoked under this Act or which has been prohibited; or

(d) organises or takes part in a procession, parade, assembly or demonstration in which conditions or directions by which it has been restricted have not been complied with, shall be guilty of an offence"

9. Section 13A of the principal Act is amended in subsection (1) of that section, by the substitution for the words 'The President of the Republic on the advice of the Prime Minister' of the words 'The President of the Republic acting with and in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister'.

11. Section 14 of the principal Act is amended, in subsection (3) of that section by the substitution for the words '72 hours' of the words '7 days'.

12. Section 17 of the principal Act is amended by the substitution for the words 'the Minister or the appropriate authority shall cause notice' of the words 'the Minister shall cause notice'.

17A. The Minister may make regulations for the better carrying into effect of the purposes of this Joint Regulation and in particular may make regulations providing for anything that may be prescribed under this Joint Regulation."

14. The Schedule to the principal Act is repealed and the Schedule to this Act is substituted.

15. This Act shall come into force on the date of its publication in the Gazette.

Offences	Maximum punishment

1. Wearing prohibited uniform, distinctive dress or emblem (section 2(1))	imprisonment for 1 year or a fine of VT100,000 or both.

2. Unlawful importation (section 2(3))	imprisonment for 3 years or a fine of VT300,000 or both.

3. Unlawful importations or possession of a passport or a constitution (section 2A)	imprisonment for 3 years or a fine of VT300,000 or both.

4. Unlawful associations (section 2B(1))	imprisonment of 8 years or a fine of VT600,000 or both.

5. Unlawful importations (section 2B(2))	imprisonment of 8 years or a fine of VT600,000 or both.

6. Unlawful drilling (section 3(1))	imprisonment for 7 years.

7. Unlawful drill instructions (section 3(2))	imprisonment for 7 years.

8. Unlawful oaths to commit murder (section 4)	imprisonment for 3 years.

9. Other unlawful oaths to commit offences (section 5)	imprisonment for 6 years.

10. Organising or taking part in a meeting contrary to section 6(1) and section 6(2)	imprisonment for 1 year or a fine of VT100,000 or both.

11. Making incomplete or misleading statement of proposed procession etc (section 10(a))	imprisonment for 1 year or a fine of VT100,000 or both.

12. Inviting others to take part in a procession etc which has not been authorised or has been prohibited (section 10(b))	imprisonment for 2 years or a fine of VT200,000 or both.

13. Organising or taking part in a procession etc which has not been authorized by a permit or has been prohibited (section 10 (c))	imprisonment for 4 years or a fine of VT400,000 or both.

14. Organising or taking part in a procession etc in which conditions or directions restricting the same have not been complied with (section 10(d))	imprisonment for 3 years or a fine of VT300,000 or both.

15. Disturbances in public places (sections 11(a) and 11(b))	imprisonment for 3 years or a fine of VT300,000 or both.

16. Spreading false rumours etc. (section 12 (a), (b) and (c))	imprisonment for 5 years or a fine of VT500,000 or both.

17. Incitement to violence and disobedience of the law (section 13(a), (b) and (c))	imprisonment for 6 years or a fine of VT600,000 or both.

18. Being a member or acting in any manner on behalf of an unlawful organisation(section 13A)	imprisonment for 4 years or a fine of VT400,000 or both.

19. Using a vehicle, vessel or aircraft in contravention of an order made under section 14	imprisonment for 1 year or a fine of VT100,000 or both.

20. Failing to comply with signal given by police officer at road barrier under section 15(2)	imprisonment for 1 year or a fine of. VT100,000 or both.

Vanuatu Sessional Legislation

Joint Public Order Regulation (Amendment) Act 1989