Legislative Council

LC Paper No. LS 252/98-99

Object(s) of the Bill

To adapt certain Ordinances and subsidiary legislation to bring them into conformity with the Basic Law and with the status of Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

LegCo Brief Reference

2. S/F(13) to HAB/CR/1/19/45 issued on 30 June 1999 by the Home Affairs Bureau.

Date of First Reading

3. 14 July 1999.

Comments

4. A list of the Ordinances and subsidiary legislation affected by the Bill is at Annex A. A summary of the proposed amendments is at Annex B. The Bill seeks to revise the Ordinances and subsidiary legislation dealing mainly with laws of wills and succession.

5. If enacted, the Bill, except certain provisions of the Probate and Administration Ordinance (Cap. 10) relating to resealing of grants of probate and letters of administration in other countries and the Non-Contentious Probate Rules (Cap. 10 sub. leg.) relating to the requirement for the Registrar of the High Court to satisfy himself that the testator has literate knowledge of the Chinese and English languages under certain circumstances, will take retrospective effect from 1 July 1997 to ensure that there is consistency in the interpretation of all laws on and after 1 July 1997. The retrospective effect will not apply to provisions involving criminal offences or penalties. The aforementioned provisions of the Probate and Administration Ordinance and the Non-Contentious Probate Rules will come into operation at the beginning of the day on which the Ordinance, upon enactment, is published in the Gazette.

Public Consultation

6. There has not been any public consultation on the Bill.

Consultation with the LegCo Panel

7. No consultation with any LegCo Panel on the details of the Bill has been carried out.

Conclusion

8. We are satisfied that the proposed amendments are technical in nature. Subject to Members' view, the Bill is ready for resumption of Second Reading debate.

Encl

Prepared by

Lam Ping-man, Stephen
Assistant Legal Adviser
Legislative Council Secretariat
2 September 1999

LS/B/112/98-99

Annex A

Item No.	Ordinances and subsidiary legislation
1.	Probate and Administration Ordinance (Cap. 10) and its subsidiary legislation
2.	Wills Ordinance (Cap. 30)
3.	Intestates' Estates Ordinance (Cap. 73)
4.	Hong Kong War Memorial Pensions Ordinance (Cap. 386)