Legislative Council
LC Paper No. CB(2)119/98-99
Ref : CB2/PL/AJLS
Legislative Council Panel on Administration of Justice and Legal Services
Minutes of Meeting held on Tuesday, 14 July 1998 at 4:00 pm in Conference Room B of the Legislative Council Building
Members Present:
Hon Jasper TSANG Yok-sing, JP (Deputy Chairman)
Hon James TO Kun-sun
Hon Mrs Miriam LAU Kin-yee, JP
Hon Ambrose LAU Hon-chuen, JP
Hon Emily LAU Wai-hing, JP
Members Absent:
Hon Margaret NG (Chairman)
Hon Albert HO Chun-yan
Hon Martin LEE Chu-ming, SC, JP
Clerk in Attendance:
- Mrs Percy MA
- Chief Assistant Secretary (2) 3
Staff in Attendance :
- Mrs Justina LAM
- Assistant Secretary General 2
- Mr Paul WOO
- Senior Assistant Secretary (2) 3
I. Election of Chairman and Deputy Chairman
In accordance with the election procedure circulated to members on 11 July 1998 in Appendix IV of LC Paper No. CB(2) 30/98-99, the Clerk called for nominations for the presiding Member.
2. Mrs Miriam LAU was nominated by Ms Emily LAU and the nomination was seconded by Mr James TO. Mrs Miriam LAU accepted the nomination. There being no other nomination, the Clerk declared that Mrs Miriam LAU was elected as the presiding Member.
II. Election of Chairman
3. Mrs Miriam LAU took the chair and called for nominations for the chairmanship of the Panel.
4. Miss Margaret NG, who was not present at the meeting, was nominated by Mr James TO. Mr TO stated that Miss NG's acceptance of the nomination had been obtained prior to the meeting. The nomination was seconded by Ms Emily LAU. There being no other nomination, the presiding Member declared that Miss Margaret NG was elected as Chairman of the Panel.
III. Election of Deputy Chairman
5. Mrs Miriam LAU called for nominations for the deputy chairmanship of the Panel.
6. Mr TSANG Yok-sing was nominated by Ms Emily LAU and the nomination was seconded by Mr James TO. Mr TSANG accepted the nomination. There being no other nomination, the presiding Member declared that Mr TSANG Yok-sing was elected as Deputy Chairman of the Panel. In the absence of Miss Margaret NG, the Chairman, Mr TSANG Yok-sing then took the chair.
IV. Schedule of meetings for the 1998-99 session
7. After discussion, the meeting agreed that subject to the concurrence of Miss Margaret NG, the Chairman, future meetings of the Panel would be nomally held on the third Tuesday of each month at 4:30 pm in Conference Room B of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Building and that the next Panel meeting would be held on Tuesday, 15 September 1998 at 4:30 pm.
(Post-meeting note: Miss Margaret NG, the Chairman, agreed to the schedule of meetings for the 1998-1999 session)
V. Discussion items for next meeting
(List of issues to be considered by the Panel in Appendix attached)
| 8.Members discussed the list of issues to be considered by the Panel, which had been tabled at the meeting, and decided that the following items should be discussed at the next Panel meeting - | Clerk |
- Review of ordinances binding on the Government
The Secretary for Justice would be invited to brief the Panel on the progress of the review of the 17 ordinances which were binding on the SAR Government but not on relevant PRC subordinate organs;
- Legal aid policy review
The Administration would be requested to advise the Panel on the result of the Legal Aid Policy Review 1997, the public consultation of which ended on 16 March 1998; and
- Study on an independent legal aid authority
The Administration and representatives from the Legal Aid Services Council (the Council) would brief the Panel on the recommendations of a consultancy study commissioned by the Council, which was completed in May 1998, to assess the feasibility and desirability of establishing an independent authority for the administration of legal aid services in Hong Kong.
9.There being no other business, the meeting ended at 4:20 pm.
Legislative Council Secretariat
28 July 1998
