Legislative Council

LC Paper No. LS 253/98-99

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. CSO/ADM CR 11/3231/97(98) Pt. 2 issued on 8 July 1999 by the Administration Wing, Chief Secretary for Administration's Office.

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 adapt the Private Bills Ordinance (Cap. 69), Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap. 382) and its subsidiary legislation, and the Legislative Council Commission Ordinance (Cap. 443).

5. If enacted, the Bill 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.

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 still seeking clarification from the Administration regarding certain technical points. Members are recommended to defer decision on the Bill pending our further report.

Encl

Prepared by

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

LS/B/115/98-99

Annex A

Item No.	Ordinances
1.	Private Bills Ordinance (Cap. 69)
2.	Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap. 382) andits subsidiary legislation
3.	Legislative Council Commission Ordinance (Cap. 443)

Annex B

Notes:

¹   Section 1 of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance.

²   Section 2 of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance.

³   Various places in the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance.

⁴   Section 14(2) of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance. Section 14 concerns privileges of a witness lawfully ordered to attend to give evidence or to produce any paper, etc. before the Council or a Committee. Section 14(2) provides that-

"No person, other than a public officer acting with the consent of the Governor, shall before the Council or a Committee-

(a) give any evidence, or

(b) produce any paper, book, record or document,

relating to the correspondence concerning-

(i) ... ; or

(ii) the responsibilities of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom otherwise than with respect to the administration of Hong Kong by its Government …".

⁵   Section 22 of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance. It provides that the powers of the President under the Ordinance shall be supplementary to any powers conferred on him by Letters Patent or Royal Instructions.