Chapter 12: Legislation
DURING the year, forty eight Ordinances and a considerable amount of subsidiary legislation were enacted. The majority of the Ordinances amended the existing law and only notes on the more important legislation are set out below.
Buildings (Amendment) Ordinance. The revision of the Buildings Legislation which commenced with the passing of the Buildings Ordinance, 1955, together with three sets of regulations made thereunder was virtually completed by the enactment of the Buildings (Amendment) Ordinance and a further six sets of regulations. The amending Ordinance considerably revises the principal Ordinance to improve the administrative provisions and extends its scope to cover private streets and access roads, lift and escalator works and drainage works.
Business Registration Ordinance. The Business Regulation Ordinance of 1952 was repealed and replaced by this Ordinance. The main objects of the 1952 Ordinance, namely, to oblige businesses to disclose details of their partners for the information of the Inland Revenue Department and the public and to raise revenue, are preserved. But the annual fee has been reduced from $200 to $25 and certain small or dormant businesses, although still required to register, are no longer required to pay any fee.
Clean Air Ordinance. The Clean Air Ordinance makes provision for the control of smoke (which includes dust and obnoxious vapours) in the Colony. Industry in Hong Kong is expanding and it is to the advantage of the Colony to set up machinery for the control of smoke and other forms of air pollution before the resulting problems become more complex. The smoke control is designed primarily to ensure the safety of aircraft and to protect the public against the general health dangers which can arise from the volume of smoke emitted from crowded industrial or residential areas. This Ordinance is not identical to the United Kingdom Clean Air Act, although the main objects of the two