Legislative Council

LC Paper No. LS 255/98-99

Object(s) of the Bill

To adapt certain Ordinances and their 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. EMBCR 2/3/3231/88 issued in July 1999 by the Education and Manpower Bureau.

Date of First Reading

3. 14 July 1999.

Comments

4. A list of the Ordinances and subsidiary legislation affected by the Bill and a summary of the proposed amendments in the Bill are at Annexes A and Brespectively. Members may note that all of the Ordinances set out at Annex A relate to schools and education.

5. The Bill does not seek to introduce any change in policy. The proposed amendments are essentially technical drafting changes to individual ordinances.

6. Section 9(1)(a) of the Education Ordinance (Cap. 279) exempts from that Ordinance any school entirely maintained and controlled by the Crown in right of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and the owners, managers, teachers and pupils of such schools. According to the LegCo Brief, the Administration proposes to adapt this provision at a later stage after further review of the legal issues involved.

7. Section 24 of the Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation Ordinance (Cap. 1150) provides that the Council shall not be regarded as a servant or agent of the Crown or as enjoying any status, immunity or privilege of the Crown. The Bill proposes to adapt the reference of "Crown" to "State". A similar adaptation has been proposed in the Adaptation of Laws (No. 16) Bill 1999 and Members of the House Committee have decided to set up a Bills Committee to study it in detail.

8. 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.

9. The Administration has been asked to consider whether the adaptation proposed in section 4 of Schedule 17 of the Bill should take retrospective effect. That section proposes to repeal the reference to "English" in section 12(1)(a) of the English Schools Foundation Ordinance (Cap. 1117) which prescribes that contracts on behalf of the Foundation shall be made under the common seal of the Foundation if required by English law to be under seal. "Law", as defined in section 3 of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1), means any law for the time being in force in, having legislative effect in, extending to, or applicable in, Hong Kong. The Administration has also been asked to clarify whether such definition applies, and whether the Foundation has executed any contract since 1 July 1999 that is required by English law to be under seal but is not so required under any law applicable to Hong Kong.

Public Consultation

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

Consultation with the LegCo Panel

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

Conclusion

12. The Legal Service Division is seeking clarification from the Administration on points mentioned in this Report. It is recommended that resumption of Second Reading debate of this Bill should take place after the Bills Committee on the Adaptation of Laws (No. 16) Bill 1999 has made its report so that any recommendations by that Bills Committee could be considered in the context of this Bill.

Encl

Prepared by

Wong Sze-man, Bernice
Assistant Legal Adviser
Legislative Council Secretariat
21 September 1999

LS/B/120/98-99

Annex A

Item No.	Ordinances
1.	Education Ordinance (Cap. 279) and its subsidiary legislation
2.	Non-local Higher and Professional Education (Regulation) Ordinance (Cap. 493)
3.	Chater Masonic Scholarship Fund Ordinance (Cap. 1007) and its subsidiary legislation
4.	Diocesan School and Orphanage Incorporation Ordinance (Cap. 1017)
5.	Morrison Scholarships Fund Ordinance (Cap. 1037)
6.	St. Joseph's College Incorporation Ordinance (Cap. 1048)
7.	St. Stephen's College Incorporation Ordinance (Cap. 1049)
8.	Institute of the Marist Brothers of the Schools Incorporation Ordinance (Cap. 1065)
9.	Portuguese Community Education and Welfare Foundation Incorporation Ordinance (Cap. 1071)
10.	Education Scholarships Fund Ordinance (Cap. 1085)
11.	Hong Kong Tramways Educational Trust Fund Ordinance (Cap. 1091)
12.	Munsang College Incorporation Ordinance (Cap. 1094) and its subsidiary legislation
13.	Director of Education Incorporation Ordinance (Cap. 1098)
14.	Council of Heep Yunn School Incorporation Ordinance (Cap. 1099)
15.	St. Paul's College Council Incorporation Ordinance (Cap. 1102)
16.	Council of St. Paul's Co-educational College Incorporation Ordinance (Chapter. 1104)
17.	The English Schools Foundation Ordinance (Cap. 1117)
18.	The St. Stephen's Girls' College Council Incorporation Ordinance (Cap. 1121)
19.	Diocesan Boys' School Committee Incorporation Ordinance (Cap. 1123)
20.	Council of the Diocesan Girls' School Incorporation Ordinance (Cap. 1124)
21.	Diocesan Preparatory School Council Incorporation Ordinance (Cap. 1125)
22.	Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation Ordinance (Cap. 1150)

Annex B

A. Amendments

B. Repeals

1. Section 7 of Schedule 10 of the Bill proposes to repeal "of the Colony" when referring to the general revenue in section 21 of the Education Scholarships Fund Ordinance (Cap. 1085).

2. Section 3 of Schedule 12 of the Bill proposes to repeal "the Colony of" when referring to Hong Kong in Rule 9(2) of the Munsang College Rules (Cap. 1094 sub. leg.).

3. Section 12(1)(a) of the English Schools Foundation Ordinance (Cap. 1117) prescribes that contracts on behalf of the Foundation shall be made under the common seal of the Foundation if required by English law to be made under seal. Section 4 of Schedule 17 of the Bill proposes to repeal the reference to "English".

Notes:

¹   Section 24 of the Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation Ordinance (Cap. 1150). See paragraph 7 of the Report for comments.

²   Section 4(d) of the Council of Heep Yunn School Incorporation Ordinance (Cap. 1099), section 4(1)(e) of St. Paul's College Council Incorporation Ordinance (Cap. 1102), section 4(d) of the Council of St. Paul's Co-educational College Incorporation Ordinance (Cap. 1104) and section 4(d) of The St. Stephen's Girls' College Council Incorporation Ordinance (Cap. 1121) -

Under these provisions, the relevant corporations have the power to invest moneys on deposit in any bank in Hong Kong or elsewhere within the British Commonwealth, or in Hong Kong or British Commonwealth government bonds, or on mortgage of any land, buildings, messuages or tenements in the Colony, or in or on debentures, debenture-stocks, stocks, funds, shares, or securities of any corporation or company carrying on business in Hong Kong or elsewhere within the British Commonwealth. References to the British Commonwealth are repealed for the purposes of section 2A(2)(b) of Cap.1 which specifies that provisions conferring a privilege on the British Commonwealth countries shall have no further effect.