### News Agencies Registration Regulations 《通訊社註冊規例》

11. Fees for search inspection and extract from news agency register
Any person may search and inspect any news agency register on payment of $43 for every such search and inspection, and any person may require an extract from any news agency register to be certified by the Registrar on payment of $165 for every such extract.
(L.N. 94 of 1988; L.N. 56 of 1993; L.N. 214 of 1994; L.N. 103 of 2005; L.N. 55 of 2014; L.N. 181 of 2016)

12. Copies of particulars
The Registrar shall—
(a) upon the registration of a news agency following the furnishing under regulation 4 of particulars specified in Form 1 in the Schedule; and
(b) upon the furnishing under regulation 6 of substituted particulars specified in Form 2 in the Schedule,
send by post a copy of Form 1 or Form 2, as the case may be, to each person named therein.
(L.N. 94 of 1988)

13. Registration fees, etc.
(1) A fee of $1,090 shall be payable on registration under regulation 3.
(2) An annual fee of $920 shall be payable for every year other than the first during which such registration remains in force and shall become due on the anniversary of the day upon which the registration was effected.
(3) A fee of $140 shall be payable on every occasion upon which substituted particulars are furnished under regulation 6.
(L.N. 94 of 1988; L.N. 56 of 1993; L.N. 214 of 1994; L.N. 103 of 2005; L.N. 55 of 2014; L.N. 181 of 2016)

### News Agencies Registration Regulations 《通訊社註冊規例》

14. Exemption
(1) The Registrar may exempt any news agency from all or any of the provisions of these regulations.
(2) Any person seeking exemption of a news agency under paragraph (1) who is aggrieved by a decision of the Registrar under that paragraph may appeal by way of petition to the Chief Executive who— (34 of 1999 s. 3)
(a) may regard such petition as being complete for the purposes of considering the appeal; and
(b) may confirm, vary or reverse such decision or substitute therefor such other decision or make such other order as he may think fit.
(3) The right of appeal provided by paragraph (2) shall not be exercisable by any person after the expiration of 7 days from the notification to him in writing of the Registrar’s decision.
(L.N. 94 of 1988)

15. Offences and penalties
Any person who contravenes regulation 3, 4, 5, 6 or 9 shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine at level 1 and to imprisonment for 6 months.
(G.N.A. 27 of 1954; L.N. 94 of 1988; E.R. 5 of 2021) 

### Registration of Local Newspapers Ordinance 《本地報刊註冊條例》

1. Short title
This Ordinance may be cited as the Registration of Local Newspapers Ordinance.
(Amended 15 of 1987 s. 3)

2. Interpretation
In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires—
address (地址) in the case of an individual means his residence or usual place of business, and in the case of a corporation means the head office of such corporation within Hong Kong; (Amended 15 of 1987 s. 4)
contravene (違反) includes a failure to comply;
editor (編輯) means the chief editor if there are more editors than one, and includes any person acting as chief editor or performing any of the usual functions of a chief editor;
local newspaper (本地報刊) means a newspaper printed or produced in Hong Kong; (Replaced 15 of 1987 s. 4)

newspaper (報刊) means any paper or other publication and any supplement thereto available to the general public which—
(a) contains news, intelligence, occurrences or any remarks, observations or comments in relation to such news, intelligence, or occurrences or to any other matter of public interest; and
(b) is printed or produced for sale or free distribution and published either periodically (whether half-yearly, quarterly, monthly, fortnightly, weekly, daily or otherwise) or in parts or numbers at intervals not exceeding 6 months; and
(c) does not comprise exclusively any item or items specified in the Schedule; (Replaced 15 of 1987 s. 4)

printed document (印刷文件) includes every piece of paper, cloth or other similar material, bearing any words, pictures or signs which were or appear to have been wholly or partly produced by any mechanical, electrical or other copying process in Hong Kong and the collection of such pieces of paper, cloth or other material in any bound or other permanent form but does not include—
(a) any document solely intended and solely used for a bona fide and ordinary commercial, professional, social or administrative purpose; or
(b) any other document issued or used by any public body; (Replaced 15 of 1987 s. 4. Amended 51 of 1988 s. 2)

proprietor (東主) includes lessee;
public body (公共機構) has the same meaning as it has in the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Cap. 201); (Added 51 of 1988 s. 2)
Registrar (註冊主任) means such officer as may be appointed by the Chief Executive to act as registrar of newspapers, and includes any person appointed by the Chief Executive to act as deputy registrar of newspapers. (Amended 34 of 1999 s. 3)

### Registration of Local Newspapers Ordinance 《本地報刊註冊條例》

7. Registration of local newspapers
(1) Every local newspaper shall be registered in accordance with regulations made under section 18.
(1A) No local newspaper shall be registered under subsection (1) by a name which is identical with the name by which another local newspaper is already registered. (Added 51 of 1988 s. 3)
(2) The proprietor of any local newspaper may at any time give notice to the Registrar that he desires the registration of that local newspaper to cease and the Registrar shall, on the receipt of such notice, cancel the registration of that local newspaper which shall cease to be registered from the date of such cancellation.
(Replaced 15 of 1987 s. 6)

11. Unlawful to furnish incorrect particulars
Where any particular is by this Ordinance or by any regulation made thereunder required to be furnished and any particular furnished by way of compliance with such requirement is incorrect, the person who certified the correctness of such particular shall be deemed to have committed an offence against this Ordinance unless he proves—
(a) that he believed that the particular furnished was correct; and
(b) that he could not with the exercise of reasonable diligence have discovered its incorrectness.

12. Certified extract from local newspaper register to be admissible in evidence
In any proceedings whatsoever against the proprietor, printer, publisher or editor of any local newspaper, it shall be lawful for the complainant or plaintiff to put in any entry in or certified extract from any register of local newspapers kept by the Registrar in accordance with regulations made under section 18, either— (Amended 15 of 1987 s. 8)
(a) as evidence of the truth of the matters stated in such entry or extract; or
(b) as evidence that the particulars appearing in such entry or extract were furnished and certified by the informant by whom they purport to have been furnished and certified.

13. Presumption as to printer
In any proceedings whatsoever it shall, unless the contrary is proved, be presumed that the person whose name appears in any local newspaper or other document as the printer of that local newspaper or other document is in fact the printer.
(Replaced 15 of 1987 s. 9)