Legislative Council

LC Paper No. LS 278/98-99

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. TBCR 1/3231/91 Pt. 3 dated 30 June 1999 issued by the Transport Bureau.

Date of First Reading

3. 14 July 1999.

Comments

4. A list of the Ordinances affected by the proposed amendments in the Bill and a summary of the amendments are at Annexes A and B respectively. Members may note that the Ordinances set out at Annex A relate to public transport. The proposed amendments are essentially technical changes to individual Ordinances.

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.

6. The Bill proposes to repeal in regulation 3(3)(a)(i) of the Peak Tramway (Safety) Regulations (Cap. 265 sub. leg.) ("the Regulations") the references to three UK institutions, namely, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Institution of Marine Engineers and the Institution of Electrical Engineers. Persons whom the Secretary for Transport ("the Secretary") may approve to be employed as surveyors of the Peak Tramways Company Limited ("the Peak Tramway") are thus limited to those who are corporate members of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers and of such other equivalent institution as may be acceptable to the Secretary. In respect of these amendments, we are seeking clarification from the Administration on whether the repealed institutions fall within the category of equivalent institutions and why the proposed repeal should take retrospective effect. We have also asked the Administration to explain why and how the references to the three UK institutions are redundant and do not conform to the status of Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

7. The Administration has given its reply to our queries and the gist of its reply is as follows:

1. The references to the UK institutions in regulation 3 of the Regulations are redundant because these institutions already fall within the category of "equivalent institutions" for the purpose of employment as surveyors by the Peak Tramway. Also, the Administration considers that there is no reason to single out the UK institutions as "equivalent institutions" after the handover given the status of Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

2. The Administration also confirms that since 1 July 1997, the Peak Tramway has not sought the Secretary's approval for the employment of surveyors. Although the proposed repeal is to take retrospective effect, the Administration considers that it does not make any difference in practice as persons who are members of any of the three UK institutions and are appointed as surveyors of the Peak Tramway would have fulfilled the requirement of regulation 3(3)(a)(i) of the Regulations.

3. The Administration has not consulted the engineering profession as the proposed repeal would not affect their interest and the qualifications to be accepted for the purpose of appointment as surveyors.

8. Other proposed amendments in this Bill are along the same lines as some of the amendments proposed in other Adaptation of Laws Bills which have been passed by the Legislative Council.

Public Consultation

9. We have also asked the Administration to clarify whether the public transport operators that may be affected by the proposed amendments have been consulted. The Administration has replied that it has not conducted a full consultation exercise on the adaptation of the seven Ordinances with the operators concerned given that the majority of the proposed adaptations are straightforward and do not affect the rights and interests of the companies concerned. However, on the few specific adaptations of certain provisions, for example, deletion of the references to the UK institutions in the Peak Tramway (Safety) Regulations, the Administration has informally discussed with the companies concerned and they did not raise any objection to the proposed adaptations.

Consultation with the LegCo Panel

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

Conclusion

11. The legal and drafting aspects of the Bill are in order. Subject to Members' views, the Bill is ready for resumption of Second Reading debate.

Encl.

Prepared by

FUNG Sau-kuen, Connie
Assistant Legal Adviser
Legislative Council Secretariat
20 September 1999

LS/B/109/98-99

Annex A

Item No.	Ordinances and subsidiary legislation
1.	Ferry Services Ordinance (Cap. 104)
2.	Tramway Ordinance (Cap. 107) and Use of Electric Power on the Tramway Rules (Cap. 107 sub. leg.)
3.	Public Bus Services Ordinance (Cap. 230) and Resolutions under section 5(3)(b) of the Public Bus Services Ordinance (Cap. 230) (L.N. 249 of 1996)- Schedule of Routes (Citybus Limited) Order (L.N. 156 of 1996) Resolution under section 5(3)(b) of the Public Bus Services Ordinance (Cap. 230) (L.N. 70 of 1997) - Schedule of Routes (North Lantau and Chek Lap Kok Airport) (Citybus Limited) Order 1996 (L.N. 439 of 1996) Resolution under section 5(3)(b) of the Public Bus Services Ordinance (Cap. 230) (L.N. 71 of 1997) - Schedule of Routes (Long Win Holdings Limited) Order 1996 (L.N. 440 of 1996) Resolution under section 5(3)(b) of the Public Bus Services Ordinance (Cap. 230) (L.N. 72 of 1997) - Schedule of Routes (New Lantao Bus Company) Order 1996(L.N. 259 of 1996)
4.	Peak Tramway Ordinance (Cap. 265) and Peak Tramway (Safety) Regulations (Cap. 265 sub. leg.)
5.	Mass Transit Railway Corporation Ordinance (Cap. 270)
6.	Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation Ordinance (Cap. 372) and Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation By-laws (Cap. 372 sub. leg.)
7.	Railways Ordinance (Cap. 519)

Annex B

A. Amendments

B. Deletions

1. Definition of "Government".⁴

2. "the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Institution of Marine Engineers, Institution of Electrical Engineers of the United Kingdom".⁵

NOTES

1 This reference appears in section 4(5) of the Mass Transit Railway Corporation Ordinance (Cap. 270). That section provides that a public officer appointed to be a member of the Board of the Corporation shall hold office at the pleasure of the Governor.

2 & 3 These two references appear respectively in section 31(1)(b) of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation Ordinance (Cap. 372) and by-law 90(c) of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation By-laws (Cap. 372 sub. leg.). Those provisions deal with passengers travelling on the Kowloon-Canton Railway from or to a destination in China and from or to the People's Republic of China.

4 "Government" is defined in section 2 of the Tramway Ordinance (Cap. 107) as "the Governor acting on behalf of Her Majesty or her assigns, or on behalf of the Government of the Colony".

5 The Bill proposes to repeal these three UK institutions as the qualifying institutions under regulation 3(3)(a)(i) of the Peak Tramway (Safety) Regulations (Cap. 265 sub.leg.) for the employment of surveyors by the Peak Tramways Company Limited.