The Chairman said that in response to some Members queries about why Wanchai had been chosen for launching the pilot scheme to restrict the display of publicity materials to specifically designated spots, he had raised the matter with the Chief Secretary on 15.4.96. The Chief Secretary explained that although there were no public housing estates in Wanchai, it was chosen because it was currently suffering from a proliferation of publicity materials. The Administration would brief the Panel on Information Policy on details of the scheme at its next meeting on 3.5.96.

Dr John TSE Wing-ling was concerned about the efficient implementation of the proposed scheme by the District Lands Offices which appeared to have a manpower resource problem. In addition, in the absence of clear guidelines and criteria for approving applications for display of materials, it would be difficult to make an accurate assessment of the pilot scheme.

Mr Albert HO suggested that an additional district, preferably one with public housing estates, should be included in the pilot scheme.

The Chairman agreed to reflect Mr HOs suggestion to the Chief Secretary. Meanwhile, issues raised by Dr TSE and Mr HO would be referred to the Panel on Information Policy for further deliberation.

(Post-meeting note : The Chairman raised the subject with the Chief Secretary on 22.4.96.)

(b) Report by the Panel on Transport - Public Bus Services (Amendment) Bill 1996

Mrs Miriam LAU, chairman of the Panel on Transport, reported that the Panel had held a special meeting on 16.4.96 to enable Mr LAU Chin-shek, Member-in-charge of the Bill, to brief the Panel. Representatives from the Administration and the four

bus companies who had made representations on the Bill were also invited to the meeting. The bus companies, and in particular the Kowloon Motor Bus Co. Ltd, objected to such a proposal. The Administration was also against the proposed Bill, as the Government did not have a right to unilaterally change the terms of the franchise. The bus companies said that in the event that the Bill was passed with provisions contravening those stipulated in the franchise, they would reserve the right to claim compensation for any loss suffered. Members present at the meeting had not taken a stand on whether or not they supported the Bill.

As the Panel had concluded its deliberation on the policy aspects of the Bill, Members agreed that the Bills Committee set up to study the Bill could now be activated.

(c) Report by the Panel on Security - Immigration (Amendment) Bill 1996

The Chairman referred Members to LegCo Paper No. LS 120/95-96 from the Legal Adviser and an information paper prepared by the Administration tabled at the meeting (Appendices I & II).

Mr James TO, chairman of the Panel on Security, reported that at the special meeting held on 17.5.96, Members had discussed the Administrations proposal that the Bill receive all three readings at the sitting on 24.4.96. Majority of the Panel members did not support the adoption of the one-sitting procedure for the Bill but agreed that the Bill should be accorded priority for scrutiny. The Secretary for Security had advised the Panel that the Administration would not adopt the one-sitting procedure unless with Members support.

Referring Members to his paper, the Legal Adviser said that he could not recommend that the Bill receive all three readings at the sitting on 24.4.96 as proposed by the Administration. He made the following comments :

as a general principle, Members should only adopt the unusual procedure of passing a bill at one sitting if such procedure was justified on urgency grounds and that there were no complicated issues in the bill;
the question of the Bills consistency with Article 9 of the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights which guaranteed that no one should be subjected to arbitrary detention, and the Administrations related comments on this point, needed to be examined further;
Members should be given sufficient time to scrutinise the Bill and to consider proposed amendments, if considered necessary;
while there were precedents for the one-sitting procedure, these were related to volatile situations such as the stock exchange closure and collapse of a bank.

Members noted that a number of organizations such as the Refugee Concern Hong Kong, Human Rights Commission and Hong Kong Bar Association would make submissions on the Bill shortly.

After discussion, Members present agreed not to support the one-sitting procedure, but to accord priority for scrutiny of the Bill. On the suggestion to impose a deadline for completing the scrutiny, the meeting agreed that, while the scrutiny should be proceeded with expeditiously, Members should be allowed sufficient time to study the Bill and receive representations.

Having regard to Members view, the Chairman suggested that, pending introduction of the Bill into LegCo on 24.4.96 and referral of the Bill to the House Committee on 26.4.96, a Subcommittee under the House Committee should be set up immediately to study the Bill. As two Bills Committees were reporting back to this meeting, one of the two vacant slots could be reserved for this Bill. When the Bills Committee was formed at the next meeting, it would take over the work of the Subcommittee. Members agreed. The following Members agreed to join the Subcommittee : Miss Emily LAU Wai-hing, Mr James TO Kun-sun, Mr CHAN Kam-lam, Mr Albert HO Chun-yan, Mr Bruce LIU Sing-lee and Mr Lawrence YUM Sin-ling. Mrs Miriam LAU said that Mrs Selina CHOW who was absent at the meeting would also like to join the Bills Committee.

In response to Miss Emily LAU, the Legal Adviser said that a Subcommittee of the House Committee would enjoy the same power and privilege as a Bills Committee, as provided for under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance.

In response to Mr Bruce LIU, the Chairman explained that under Standing Order No 45(2), notice for proposing amendments to a bill should be given not less than seven clear days before the

day on which the Bill was to be considered in Council. In the event that resumption of the Second Reading debate on the Bill was to take place on 1.5.96, the leave of the President to dispense with the notice requirement would be required.

(d) Non-Chinese ethnic minorities in Hong Kong

The Chairman said that with Members agreement at the last meeting, he had explored the possibility for ExCo and LegCo Members to jointly pursue certain issues of common interest for coverage in the House of Lords debate on Hong Kong. While the Executive Council had taken no particular position on the matter, a few ExCo Members were concerned about the progress of the granting of British citizenship to the non-Chinese ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. The Chairman suggested and Members agreed that he would send on behalf of the House Committee a letter to all members of the House of Lords requesting them to consider raising the following issues in the debate to be held on 24.4.96 :

Vietnamese migrants;
British citizenship for Hong Kong British subjects;
British citizenship for non-Chinese ethnic minorities; and
Progress of the Private Members bill for granting of British citizenship to wives and widows of ex-servicemen.

Members noted that the letter would be sent to UK by fax on 22.4.96 and that such issues were covered in the Position Paper for the Members delegation to London in February 1996.

(Post-meeting note : The letter was sent to members of the House of Lords via London Office on 22.4.96.)

(3) Legal Advisers report on the subsidiary legislation to be tabled in the Legislative Council on 24.4.96 (gazetted on 12.4.96)

(LegCo Paper No. LS 117/95-96)

Members agreed to support the subsidiary legislation.

(4) Position report on Bills Committees and Subcommittees

(LegCo Paper No. CB(2) 1029/95-96)

Members noted that two Bills Committees had completed their work and agreed to activate the Bills Committee to study the Public Bus Services (Amendment) Bill 1996 and to reserve the remaining slot for the Immigration (Amendment) Bill 1996.

Noting that only 13 Bills had been passed in this session, Mr LEE Wing-tat was concerned about the slow progress of the Bills Committees.

The Chairman said that he had requested the Chief Secretary to provide the Administrations legislative programme for the remainder of this session. He also appealed to the Bills Committees in action to try their best to complete their study as soon as possible.

(5) Further Business for the LegCo sitting on 24.4.96

(a) Bill - 1st and 2nd Readings

Immigration (Amendment) Bill 1996

The Chairman said that the Bill would be introduced into LegCo on 24.4.96 and considered by the House Committee on 26.4.96. The Bills Committee that would be formed to study the Bill would take over the work of the Subcommittee.

(b) Bill - resumption of debate on 2nd Reading, Committee Stage and 3rd Reading

Medical Registration (Amendment) (No 2) Bill 1995

Members noted that they agreed to support the Bill at the last meeting on 12.4.96.

(6) Business for the LegCo sitting on 1.5.96

(a) Questions

(LegCo Paper No. CB(3) 664/95-96)

20 questions (six oral and 14 written) had been tentatively scheduled.

(b) Statement

No statement had been notified.

(c) Government Motion

No motion had been notified.

(d) Bills - 1st and 2nd Readings

(i) Gas Safety (Amendment) Bill 1996

(ii) Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill 1996

(iii) Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No 2) Bill 1996

(iv) Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No 3) Bill 1996

(v) Business Registration (Amendment) Bill 1996

(vi) Estate Duty (Amendment) Bill 1996

(vii) Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill 1996

(viii) Motor Vehicles (First Registration Tax) (Amendment) Bill 1996

(ix) Air Passenger Departure Tax (Amendment) Bill 1996

(x) Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 1996

(xi) Dutiable Commodities (Amendment) (No 2) Bill 1996

The Chairman advised that the above Bills would be introduced into LegCo on 1.5.96 and considered by the House Committee on 3.5.96.

(e) Bills - resumption of debate on 2nd Reading, Committee Stage and 3rd Reading

(i) Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Loan Fund (Amendment) Bill 1996

(ii) Legal Aid Services Council (No 2) Bill

The Chairman said that Members had agreed to support the above Bills at the meetings on 15.3.96 and 29.3.96 respectively.

(f) Motion debate on "Indebtedness of police officers" - to be moved by Mr Ambrose LAU Hon-chuen

(g) Motion debate on "Elderly policy" - to be moved by
Dr LEONG Che-hung

The Chairman advised Members that the deadline for giving notice to the above motions was 24.4.96, and that the usual speaking time arrangement should apply.

(7) Advance information on motion debates for the LegCo sitting on 8.5.96

(a) Motion debate on "Broadcasting policy" - to be moved by
Mr Albert CHAN Wai-yip

Members noted the wording of the motion tabled at the meeting (Appendix III).

(b) Motion debate on "Review of major advisory and statutory bodies" - to be moved by Mr Bruce LIU Sing-lee

Members noted the wording of the motion.

The Chairman advised Members that the deadlines for giving notice of, and amendments to, the above motions were 23.4.96 and 1.5.96 respectively.

(8) Reports by Panels/Bills Committees/Subcommittees

(a) Report by the Bills Committee to study the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No 3) Bill 1995

(LegCo Paper No. CB(2) 1042/95-96)

Dr HUANG Chen-ya, chairman of the Bills Committee said that, subject to the Committee Stage amendments to be moved by the Administration, the Bills Committee recommended that the Bill should have its Second Reading debate resumed on 1.5.96. Members agreed.

(b) Report by the Bills Committee to study the Cost in Criminal Cases Bill

(LegCo Paper No. CB(2) 1035/95-96)

Mr Albert HO Chun-yan, chairman of the Bills Committee reported on the deliberations of the Bills Committee. Apart from the amendments to be moved by the Administration, he would move on behalf of the Bills Committee an amendment to delete the wasted costs provisions. He urged Members, especially those who were not solicitors or barristers, to support the proposed amendment. Members agreed to the resumption of the Second Reading debate on the Bill on 1.5.96.

In response to the Chairman, the Legal Adviser said that Members who were solicitors and barristers might wish to consider the question of declaring interests. Although solicitors were already liable to wasted costs orders, the Bill did address all legal professionals including solicitors.

(9) Any Other Business

(a) Proposed meeting with the Rt Hon Robin Cook, Shadow Secretary of State for Commonwealth and Foreign Affairs

The Chairman said that he had been advised by Government House that Mr Robin Cook would like to have an one-hour open meeting with all LegCo Members at 11:30 a.m. on 1.5.96. He sought Members view on the matter. Mr James TO and Mr Edward S T HO said that the matter had been raised when the earlier delegation to London and Brussels met Mr Cook in London.

Members agreed to meet Mr Cook in the format proposed and to request the Public Works Subcommittee to reschedule its next meeting to facilitate Members attendance.

Members discussed the topics to be raised with Mr Cook and agreed that these should be similar to those discussed with the Prime Minister at the meeting on 4.3.96. The order of the topics and the Member who would raise the first question on each topic would be as follows :

The Labour Partys policy towards Hong Kong vis-à-vis that of the Conservative Party (Dr LEONG Che-hung),
Vietnamese migrants (Mrs Selina CHOW);
British citizenship (Miss Emily LAU Wai-hing);
Provisional legislature and related issues (Mr SZETO Wah);
Human rights issues (Mr Albert HO Chun-yan); and
The case of Mr XI Yang, Ming Pao Daily News reporter jailed in China (Mrs Elizabeth WONG)

To facilitate discussion, Mr James TO suggested and Members agreed that the LegCo London Office be requested to provide some background information to Members on the Labour Partys policy on the topics raised.

Miss Emily LAU also suggested to ask Mr Cook whether he was aware of any proposed visit to Hong Kong by Mr Tony Blair, Labour Party Leader.

(b) Seeking the early release of Ming Pao Daily News reporter
XI Yang

Referring to her note, Miss Emily LAU sought Members view on what could be done by LegCo to seek the early release of Mr XI, in the light of experience in Messrs AU Wing-cheung and WONG Chuen-mings case.

In response to Mr LEUNG Yiu-chung, the Chairman briefed Members on the actions taken by LegCo Members on Mr XIs case since his sentence to imprisonment in April 1994. These included writing to the Chinese and British Governments in the name of the Panel on Information Policy and the House Committee respectively, raising the case at meetings with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the UK Government, passing a motion in Council urging the Chinese Government to release Mr XI as soon as possible and raising of LegCo questions by individual Members.

Mr IP Kwok-him said that Mr XIs case was different from that of Messrs AU and WONG as the judicial process of the former had been exhausted. While his party was concerned about Mr XIs deteriorating health and had raised the matter with Mr LU Ping, the Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, he did not consider it appropriate for LegCo to seek the early release of Mr XI which was tantamount to interference with the judicial system of China. It would be more appropriate to leave it to individual members of the community to take whatever action they deemed necessary to further pursue Mr XIs case.

Mr IPs view was echoed by Mr CHIM Pui-chung and
Mr CHAN Kam-lam. Mr CHAN said that Members might wish to consider "bail for medical treatment on humanitarian grounds" as a possible option.

In response to Mr James TO on whether the procedure of "bail for medical treatment" was properly provided in the Chinese law, the Legal Adviser agreed to provide the information to Members.

(Post-meeting note : LegCo Paper No. CB(2) 1101/95-96 issued on 24.4.96 refers.)

Mr CHENG Yiu-tong said that Members should be specific on what they intended to achieve. He was of the view that to seek early release of Mr XI was different in nature from the request for Mr XI to be granted bail for medical treatment. Upon request of Mr XIs family, he had raised the possibility for Mr XI to be allowed on bail for medical treatment on humanitarian grounds with the Chinese authorities about one month ago, and a reply was awaited.

Miss Emily LAU said that the term "early release" could have a liberal interpretation. She was concerned whether Mr XI would be agreeable to being released on bail for medical treatment if Members decided to pursue this course of action. The Chairman said that this should not be a consideration since Mr XIs view could not be obtained.

Some other Members were supportive of the option to request that Mr XI be released on bail to seek medical treatment and suggested to further pursue the case by writing to both the British and Chinese Governments. Mr LO Suk-ching suggested that any correspondence sent in this connection should be issued in the name of individual Members, not the House Committee.

Mr Howard YOUNG said that pending the Legal Advisers advice on the nature of the arrangement for "bail for medical treatment", he could not agree to any proposal for LegCo to pursue the case by writing to any foreign governments at this stage.

After further discussion, the Chairman suggested that subject to the agreement of the majority of Members present, he would, on behalf of the House Committee, make a request for Mr XI to be allowed on bail for the purpose of seeking medical treatment on humanitarian grounds by :

writing to Mr Malcolm Rifkind, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of UK Government, and Mr Qian Qichen, Vice Premier and Foreign Minister of China, who would be meeting each other in The Hague, on the following day;
(Post-meeting note : The letters were sent on 19.4.96.)
writing to Mr Qiao Shi, Chairman, Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress; and
(Post-meeting note : The letter was issued on 24.4.96.)
requesting the Chief Secretary to raise the case with Mr LU Ping when she next met him.
(Post-meeting note : The Chairman raised the subject with the Chief Secretary on 22.4.96.)

The above three items were put to vote and carried.

24 Members voted for items (i) and (ii), 5 against and 4 abstained :

For : Mr SZETO Wah, Mr Edward HO, Mr Albert CHAN Wai-yip, Mr CHEUNG Man-kwong, Mr Frederick FUNG, Mr Michael HO, Miss Emily LAU, Mr LEE Wing-tat, Mr LI Ka-cheung, Mr Fred LI, Mr James TO, Mr LEE Cheuk-yan, Mr Albert HO, Dr LAW Cheung-kwok, Mr LAW Chi-kwong, Mr LEE Kai-ming, Mr LEUNG Yiu-chung, Mr Bruce LIU, Mr MOK Ying-fan, Mr SIN Chung-kai, Mr TSANG Kin-shing, Dr John TSE, Mrs Elizabeth WONG and Mr Lawrence YUM.

Against : Mr Howard YOUNG, Mr CHAN Kam-lam, Mr David CHU, Mr IP Kwok-him, Mr Ambrose LAU.

Abstained : Mr CHAN Wing-chan, Miss CHAN Yuen-han, Mr CHENG Yiu-tong and Mr LO Suk-ching.

20 Members voted for item (iii), 2 against and 2 abstained:

For : Mr SZETO Wah, Mr Edward HO, Mr Albert CHAN, Mr CHEUNG Man-kwong, Mr Frederick FUNG, Mr Michael HO, Miss Emily LAU, Mr LEE Wing-tat, Mr Eric LI, Mr Fred LI, Mr James TO, Mr Howard YOUNG, Mr LAW Chi-kwong, Mr LEE Kai-ming, Mr LEUNG Yiu-chung, Mr Bruce LIU, Mr MOK Ying-fan, Dr John TSE, Mrs Elizabeth WONG and Mr Lawrence YUM.

Against : Mr Ambrose LAU, Mr LO Suk-ching.

Abstained : Miss CHAN Yuen-han, Mr CHENG Yiu-tong.

(c) Briefing by the Financial Secretary on 2.5.96

The Chairman said that the Financial Secretary would conduct a briefing for Members on the 1997/98 Budget from 9:00 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. on 2.5.96, before the consultation sessions with individual groups of Members. In view of some Members comments made at the last briefing by the Financial Secretary, he sought Members view on the format of the forthcoming briefing. Members agreed that it should be open to the public.

The meeting ended at 4:30 p.m.

Legislative Council Secretariat
24 April 1996

Last Updated on {{PUBLISH AUTO[[DATE("d mmm, yyyy")]]}}

Legislative Council House Committee (1995/96 Session)

Minutes of 23rd meeting held in the LegCo Chamber of the Legislative Council Building on Friday, 19 April 1996 at 2:30 p.m.

(1) Confirmation of the minutes of the last meeting held on 12.4.96

(2) Matters arising

(a) Display of publicity materials in public places