- 3-
It is also fitting that this should be done
as the Legislative Council is about to move into its own premises. Until now, with the Council housed in
this Seretariat building, there has not been a building occupied exclusively by the Members of the Legislative Council. That will be no longer the case
in October when the Council moves
down from this
building and takes its place in the centre of our
city. It is. therefore necessary to have set out clearly in the law of Hong Kong the authority of the Legislative Council through its President to regulate the conduct of members of the public admitted to the
new Council Chamber, to committee rooms and to rooms
set aside for members of the public to meet members of
this Council.
We are then, concerned today with the second
reading of a Bill which seeks to assert the status of the Legislative Council under the Laws of Hong Kong. With regard to the question of the philosophy of the Bill, as the commentators would put it, I think it fair to point out that just as the provisions of the
Bill are derived from the existing law, So the philosophy of the Bill reflects the philosophy of the law. And that law is parliamentary law. It is not
the case that the Bill proposes to introduce
parliamentary law in a situation where it is not already present. The essential point that must be emphasised is that parliamentary law is now being and has long been applied in Hong Kong in respect of this
Council. I am advised and I accept that in the
context of Hong Kong this Bill is a faithful reflection of that law and the existing situation:
does not introduce new law.
it