194
HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
(Chapter 319). One of the principal objects of the new Ordinance is to give to the University a greater degree of autonomy. The need for this was pointed out in a report made in 1953 by Sir Ivor Jennings and Dr. D. W. Logan in which they put forward the view that the Hong Kong Government had inevitably played a greater part in the management of the University and in the moulding of policy than would have been considered appropriate in England, Ceylon or Malaya.
The principal changes effected by this Ordinance are as follows. The only ex-officio members of the Court are now the members of the Council, the members of the Senate and the Registrar. The powers of the Court have been reduced and the powers of the Council and the Senate have been increased.
Resettlement. The legislation which provided for the resettle- ment and clearance of squatters was contained in a series of regula- tions made under the Emergency Regulations Ordinance (Chapter 241). The legislation was in need of revision and this has been achieved by the enactment of the Resettlement Ordinance, No. 16. The Ordinance has made no substantial change in the existing legislation, but has simplified resettlement procedure, given statu- tory authority to existing practice of the Resettlement Department and recognized the status of the occupants of the multi-storey resettlement blocks, built and owned by the Crown, as tenants of the Crown, a status which was already recognized from a legal point of view.
Holding of Land by Charities. The object of the Charities (Land Acquisition) Ordinance, No. 23, is to prevent the accumulation of excessive areas of land in the hands of charitable bodies and thereby to ensure that the best use and development is made of such land. The Ordinance provides that a charitable body shall not hold or acquire land except under a licence from the Governor, and ensures compliance with this restriction by providing that if any land is held or acquired by a charitable body in contravention of the provisions of the Ordinance, this land shall be liable to forfeiture, which will be effected by means of the Crown Rights (Re-entry) Ordinance (Chapter 126) as if the right of re-entry had arisen by reason of the breach of a covenant in a Crown lease. The Ordinance does not, however, prevent a charitable body from investing its funds in mortgages, but contains provisions