pany delivered to him for registration relate to a company being formed with the object of circumventing or evading the provisions of the Societies Ordinance, to withhold registration of the same pending receipt of the instructions of the Governor in Council with respect there- to, and, if the Governor in Council so orders, to refuse registration. The Ordinance also empowers the Governor in Council to order the Registrar to strike off the Register of Companies any company which would, if it were a society registered under the Societies Ordinance, be liable to have its registration under that Ordinance cancelled by the Registrar of Societies. Special provisions are made for the winding up by the Official Receiver of any company so struck off the Register of Companies. Under Section 16 the Ordinance was to remain in force only until 31st December, 1959 subject to the proviso that the Legislative Council might by resolution extend its duration for not more than a year at a time. By resolution dated 9th December, 1959 the Legislative Council extended the duration of the Ordinance to 31st December, 1960.
Marriages
84. The Marriage (Amendment) Ordinance, 1960, amended the Marriage Ordinance (Cap. 181). Its principal provisions have already been mentioned in Part VI of this Report,
Births and Deaths
85. The Births and Deaths Registration (Amendment of First Schedule) Regulations, 1959, and those of 1960, added Mui Wo and Queen Mary Hospital respectively to the list of Death Register Offices in the First Schedule to the Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance (Cap. 174).
Move to New Offices
PART XI
MISCELLANEOUS
86. The year was noteworthy for the move of all Branches of the Department except the Marriage and Births and Deaths Registries to the 11th floor of the West Wing of the new Central Government Offices in Lower Albert Road. This severed a link between the Land Office and the Supreme Court which had existed since 1883 when the Land Office was transferred to the old Supreme Court Building in Queen's Road Central. When the Court moved to its present building in 1910 the Land Office moved with it, and for 50 years the Land Office occupied the north end of the ground floor facing the Cenotaph. Here, too, before
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