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A
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
This is a proposal which has wide and solid support within the community.
A valid reason, as Mr. CHEUNG Wing-in has already pointed out, is that the Ombudsman principle has its roots deep in traditional Chinese society.
I am in favour of an Ombudsman Committee with a full-time Executive Secretary or a director with legal training.
An Ombudsman Committee consisting of responsible people who have an intimate knowledge of local conditions would be much more effective in investigating individual grievances than if an overseas recruited person were appointed as an individual Ombudsman.
And if later on an Ombudsman Committee were appointed, I would very much like to see at least two Unofficial Urban Councillors sitting on it.
I do not think it is necessary for the Hong Kong Government to wait until the Bill on the appointment of a Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (otherwise known as an Ombudsman) is passed in the House of Commons.
Social conditions here are different from those in the United Kingdom and we should enact and adopt laws and practices because they are of real benefit to our own people, and not because they have had a precedent in United Kingdom laws.
The Ombudsman Committee should be principally concerned with investigating individual grievances. With certain exceptions, such as matters normally within the competence of the courts or of semi-judicial bodies, personnel matters in Government departments, and preservation of the safety of the State, the Committee's responsibilities should cover the whole field of relationships between the private person and the Government.
This Ombudsman Committee could become an effective bridge between Councillors acting on behalf of members of the public and the Governor-in-Council in matters of individual grievances or administrative misuse of power.
Mr. Chairman, I support the motion because I feel it is a constructive measure in making our present constitutional structure a little less anachronistic than what it is already.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, I strongly support Mr. CHEUNG Wing-in's motion concerning the appointment of an Ombudsman for Hong Kong. I reiterate that the lack of democratic representation on the law-making councils of the Colony makes the need for an Ombudsman here even more pressing than that in the United Kingdom.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
657
The Ward System is a brave attempt to obtain some human rights for the ordinary citizens of Hong Kong. I am sure my colleagues will confirm that our experiences on the wards have only emphasized the need of the people in matters outside the jurisdiction of this council. The most we can do for such cases is to write a letter begging the help of the head of the department concerned; he may or may not look into the matter; in any case, he is unlikely to reverse the decisions of his own department.
If we are dissatisfied with the decisions of the Head of a Department, we may appeal to His Excellency the Governor through the Colonial Secretariat. What happens then reminds me of a rhyme we learned as children, and which I only half-remember: quoting. It goes like this:-
The King asked the Queen,
And the Queen asked the dairy-maid,
I maybe mis-
"Could we have some butter for the royal slice of bread." The question was passed down the line until it reached the sleepy cow, who supplied the milk that made the butter who said, "Oh, bother!". That, Sir, is something like the way in which our appeals work. They are passed down from the Colonial Secretariat to the head of the department, who passes them on to his second-in-command, who passes them to the junior officer who made the crucial decision in the first place, and he says, "Oh, bother. Isn't it all written down in my original report?" This answer then travels back to the top by the same route as the question came, and the frustrated councillor receives a reply which means in effect, "Oh, bother. Did not the head of the department give you the answer to your question?”
Sir, there is in this Colony NO way by which a person suffering injustice can have matters righted. I could quote case after case of gross injustice, especially in law cases where facts have been hidden or wrong information recorded. We all know the recent case of the pauper with whom even the magistrate had to express his sympathy.
When I brought up this matter of the Ombudsman-type Secretariat in this Council last March, we were told by you that and I quote:---this comparatively small council (meaning, I think, UMELCO) can oversee these matters collectively, provided they have the necessary facilities to investigate particular complaints in detail ... but if anything else is needed to assist Honourable Members, consideration will certainly be given to arranging for it".
That something else is needed should be patent to all. The Umelco office has not proved very useful, as is witnessed by the small
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