· 3-
"At the EGM tomorrow (December 8), members of the Bar Association will have a clear choice: to support the establishment of a CFA before 1997 on the basis of the 1991 JLG agreement or to vote for a policy that would ensure a judicial vacuum at the highest level, with no guarantee about the nature of the CFA eventually set up by the SAR. The Government has no doubt that the former is in the best interests of the people of Hong Kong. Indeed a recent opinion poll shows that the majority of the people of Hong Kong would like, the CFA to be established before 1997 and accept the 1991 agreement. We therefore hope that members of the Bar will give careful consideration to the wider implications of the motion put forward by the Bar Council when they discuss it at the EGM."
end/Wednesday, December 7, 1994
Seizure of medical reports
Commenting on an article in the South China Morning Post edition today (Wednesday), Mr Anthony Au-Yeung, Commissioner of Inland Revenue, confirmed that it had been necessary for his staff to seize the patient records in order to establish details of Dr Shiu's income.
"Experience has shown us that many Hong Kong doctors do not issue receipts but record details of charges on individual patient cards," he explained.
"Consequently, attendance records may not provide sufficient information to establish accurately the amount of income earned by a doctor. Often, individual patient cards are the only reliable source of information about income earned.
"My department would be quite happy to go through a doctor's patient cards without removing them from his office. But that requires the co- operation of the doctor.
"Whilst we accept that the relationship between a doctor and patient is confidential, this does not mean that a doctor can prevent the department from obtaining details of his income simply because the information is recorded on patient records.