THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 1989
BILINGUAL DRAFTING PROGRAMME SET TO BEGIN
*
ALL NEW PRINCIPAL ORDINANCES
PASSED AFTER TOMORROW {FRIDAY,
APRIL 7) WILL BE ENACTED IN ENGLISH AND CHINESE WITH BOTH TEXTS BEING EQUALLY AUTHENTIC.
THE LAW DRAFTSMAN OF THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT, MR JAMBS O'GRADY Q.C.. TOLD A PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY (THURSDAY) THAT BY ORDER OF THE GOVERNOR A NOTICE WOULD BE PUBLISHED TOMORROW TO BRING INTO OPERATION SECTION 3 OF THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES (AMENDMENT) ORDINANCE 1987.
THIS PROVIDES THAT ALL NEW PRINCIPAL ORDINANCES, I.E. ORDINANCES WHICH ARE NOT AMENDMENTS то OTHER ORDINANCES, MUST BR ENACTED IN BOTH OFFICIAL LANGUAGES.
"THIS IS AN HISTORIC OCCASION IN THE HISTORY OF HONG KONG.
"THE PURPOSE IS TO PROVIDE A MEANS SO THAT THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG WILL HAVE THE LAWS OF HONG KONG IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE WHILE, AT BOTH TEXTS THE SAME TIME, THERE WILL CONTINUE TO BE AN ENGLISH TEXT. WILL HAVE EQUAL STATUS, MR O'GRADY SAID.
HE SAID THAT THE ONLY EXCEPTION WAS WHERE THE GOVERNOR
BECAUSE IT REQUIRED A BILL TO BE PRESENTED IN ONE LANGUAGE ONLY
WAS URGENT AND PRESENTATION IN BOTH LANGUAGES WOULD CAUSE DELAY.
THE LAW DRAFTSMAN SAID THE SECURITIES AND FUTURES COMMISSION BILL, WHICH WAS GAZETTED ON JANUARY 13, 1989 FOR PRESENTATION TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL IS EXPECTED TO BE THE FIRST ORDINANCE ENACTED BILINGUALLY.
AND SUBJECT TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL'S APPROVAL, OTHER BILLS
THIS SESSION LIKELY TO BE ENACTED BILINGUALLY IN
INCLUDE THE DRUG TRAFFICKING (RECOVERY OF PROCEED9} BILL AND THE OPEN LEARNING INSTITUTE OF HONG KONG BILL.
THE MR O'GRADY SAID THERE WERE TWO ASPECTS TO
BILINGUAL LAWS
PROJECT.
WHICH IS
ONE WAS THE ENACTMENT OF NEW LEGISLATION BILINGUALLY NOW SET TO BEGIN. THE OTHER WAS THE TRANSLATION AND PROMULGATION OF AUTHENTIC CHINESE TEXTS OF EXISTING ORDINANCES THAT WERE CONTAINED THE 31 VOLUMES OF THE LAWS OF HONG KONG.
IN
BILINGUAL
AND
AND
LAUNCHING OF THE ON THE FIRST ASPECT, HE SAID THE DRAFTING PROGRAMME WAS THE CULMINATION OF CAREFUL PLANNING PREPARATION IN THE LAW DRAFTING DIVISION OF THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT IN OMELCO.
LEGISLATIVE DRAFTING IN CHINESE BEGAN ON A TRIAL BASIS IN
SINCE THEN, 1987 WITH A SERIES OF "DUMMY RUNS"
A SERIES OF DUMMY RUN BILLS HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED BILINGUALLY IN THE GAZETTE.
JUNE
EIGHT
/ALTHOUGH EVENTUALLY