Legislative Council

LC Paper No. LS104/98-99

Paper for the House Committee Meeting of the Legislative Council on 26 February 1999

Legal Service Division Report on Adaptation of Laws (No. 3) Bill 1999

Object(s) of the Bill

To adapt certain Ordinances 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. HB(CR)5/6/17 issued by the Housing Bureau in January 1999.

Date of First Reading

3. 10 February 1999.

Comments

4. A list of the ordinances affected by the Bill and a summary of the proposed amendments are at Annex A and B respectively. Members may note that the affected ordinances are all related to housing matters. The proposed amendments are intended to be technical and drafting 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.

Public Consultation

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

Consultation with LegCo Panel

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

Recommendation

8. Some of the amendments proposed by the Bill are similar to those now being studied by the Bills Committees on earlier adaptation bills. Members may therefore wish to wait until their work has been concluded before deciding on how this Bill should be dealt with.

Prepared by
CHEUNG Ping-Kam, Arthur
Assistant Legal Adviser
Legislative Council Secretariat
22 February 1999

Annex A

List of Ordinances affected by the Adaptation of Laws (No. 3) Bill 1999

1. Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) Ordinance (Cap. 7)

2. Housing Ordinance (Cap. 283), including the Housing (Traffic Contraventions) (Fixed Penalty) Bylaw

3. The Hong Kong Institute of Housing Ordinance (Cap. 507)

4. Estate Agents Ordinance (Cap. 511)

5. Hong Kong Housing Society Incorporation Ordinance (Cap. 1059)



B. Other proposed amendments -

References implying superior status of the English language are amended to remove any such implication.

Notes:

1.References to "Crown" are adapted to refer to "Government" in the case of forfeiture of a sum of money to the Crown as penalty and in "Crown suits" in the Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) Ordinance. In provisions expressed to cover vehicles owned by the Crown and persons in the public service of the Crown in the Housing (Traffic Contraventions) (Fixed Penalty) Bylaw and where the Estate Agents Authority is expressed as not to be regarded as a servant or agent of the Crown or as enjoying any status, immunity or privilege of the Crown, the references to "Crown" are adapted to refer to the "State".

2. These terms are so amended where they appear in clauses saving the rights of the Queen etc.