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Thursday, July 6, 1972
Pleadings made by litiganta not legally represented should be accepted in either English or Chinese, but for the purpose of appeals and in case of discrepancy, the English version should prevail;
Statutory forms, and government licences and certificates which are prescribed by law in both English and Chinese, should be equally authoritative;
All statements should be taken down in the language in which they are made and in case of discrepancy, the original should prevail;
The spokesman explained that the individual recommendations of the
Legal Sub-Committee of the Chinese Language Committee had been considered by
the Chief Justice, the government departments and professional bodies concerned.
The Secretary for Home Affairs, as the Chinese Language Authority, will
be responsible for putting into effect the recommendations in the Report other
than those which are the direct concern of the Judiciary, for which the Judiciary
itself will be responsible.
The spokesman said that implementation of the recommendations will
depend very much on how quickly additional staff can be recruited.
He added that at present it was more practicable to concentrate on
publishing booklets on ordinances affecting the daily life of the public rather
than to attempt to translate all the laws of Hong Kong.
However, special arrangements will be made to publish in both English
and Chinese important bills and ordinances which are of wide public interest.
The spokesman also disclosed that the Chinese Language Authority is
finalizing plans for the recruitment and training of the staff required to carry
out the recommendations of the Chinese Language Committee.