Hong Kong Regulations

NON-LOCAL HIGHER AND PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION (REGULATION) RULES - SECT 3

Publication of advertisements

(1) No person shall publish, or cause to be published, for distribution to or
general reception by the public in Hong Kong any advertisement with respect to
a registered course or an exempted course, or any part thereof, unless-

   (a)  there is stated clearly in the advertisement-

        (i)    in the case of a registered course or any part thereof, the
               registration number (if any) of the course as set out in the
               certificate of registration issued in respect of the course
               under section 10(9) of the Ordinance;

        (ii)   in the case of an exempted course or any part thereof, that the
               course is an exempted course; and

   (b)  the advertisement contains-

        (i)    if the advertisement is in the English language only, a
               statement which reads "It is a matter of discretion for
               individual employers to recognize any qualification to which
               this course may lead";

        (ii)   if the advertisement is in the Chinese language only, a
               statement which reads
               "個別僱主可酌情決定是否承認本課程可令學員獲取的任何資格";

        (iii)  in any other case, both of the statements set out in
               subparagraphs (i) and (ii).

(2) No person shall publish, or cause to be published, for distribution to or
general reception by the public in Hong Kong with respect to a
regulated course or a purely distance learning course, or any part thereof,
any advertisement which contains any statement or representation which is
false or misleading in a material particular as to-

   (a)  whether or not the course is-

        (i)    a regulated course;

        (ii)   a registered course;

        (iii)  an exempted course;

        (iv)   a purely distance learning course;

   (b)  any recognition in respect of any qualification to which the course or
        any part thereof may or is claimed to lead;

   (c)  any employment or remuneration opportunities which may be or are
        claimed to be open to persons studying or completing the course or any
        part thereof.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), a person who contravenes subsection

(1) or (2) commits an offence and is liable on conviction-

   (a)  in the case of contravention of subsection (1), to a fine at level 3;

   (b)  in the case of contravention of subsection (2), to a fine at level 4
        and to imprisonment for 6 months.

(4) Where a person is charged for contravention of subsection (3) in respect
of an advertisement, it shall be a defence for such person to prove-

   (a)  that he carried on the business of publishing or arranging for the
        publication of advertisements, that he received the advertisement for
        publication in the ordinary course of business, and that at the time
        he published the advertisement he had no reason to believe that the
        contravention would occur by reason of the publication of the
        advertisement; or

   (b)  that he took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to
        avoid the contravention.