2
In going through the events leading to the Third
Reading of this Bill, there are two points that I wish to
address which, in my opinion, the public ought to know and
ought to know them clearly. First of all, I was involved in
receiving a representation on human freedom and civil rights with regard to Clause 8 which states the Regulation of
Admittance to Precincts of the Chamber. It seems that the
people who made this representation have a misconception that
the Legislative Council wants to impose restrictions to limit
the entrance of the general public to the council Chamber which
would be an infringement of human freedom and civil rights. I
immediately recalled what the UMELCO delegation went through
last May in entering the Parliament in London. Firstly, we had
to apply for entrance. Upon obtaining an entrance ticket, we
had to go through security checks. We could not take any notes
on the House of Commons Debate on the most important subject
closest to our hearts the future of Hong Kong. Because of
the importance of this subject, we all tried to take some notes
on what the MPS were saying during the Debate but we were
stopped by the ushers. In particular, Mrs Selina CHOW had an
argument with one of the ushers on how important it was for her
to take notes on what the MPs said. But you can guess that she
did not get very far if she wanted to stay in the public
gallery. These are the house rules that one must obey if one
wishes to attend the proceedings of the UK Parliament.
opinion, Clause 8 is merely house rules. I have asked the
people who made the representation if it would be acceptable to
them if we implemented the rules of the UK Parliament.
met with silence.
In my
I was
In addition, people in the legal profession are
concerned about Clause 8 (3) that your powers, Sir, as President
of this Council, are far too wide in scope for the purpose of
maintaining the security of the precincts of the Chamber,
ensuring the proper behaviour and decorum of persons therein and for other administrative purposes, issue such administrative instructions as you may deem necessary or