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HK needs Court of Final Appeal before 1997
It would be in the best interests of Hong Kong to stand by the commitment to establish the Court of Final Appeal (CFA) before 1997 on the basis of the 1991 agreement, the Chief Secretary, Mrs Anson Chan, said tonight (Thursday).
In order to ensure the smooth operation of the new CFA and to allow it to develop its own body of jurisprudence, it must be set up by mid-1996, she added.
That means the CFA Bill have to be enacted by the end of July when this Legco session ends.
Spelling out the reasons for the need to set up the CFA before 1997 at a dinner of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, Mrs Chan said Hong Kong would have a judicial vacuum for the last few months before June 30, 1997 if the CFA was not set up before 1997.
In that case, new cases will not have time to be considered by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and then for the year or two after that date that it will take the Special Administrative Region Government to enact a bill and then set up the court. Perhaps as long as two to three years in all.
"All this would mean a lack of continuity at the top of the judicial system, that would inevitably undermine confidence among both the Hong Kong public and international investors.
"We are already aware that some potential investors are now taking the unusual step of ensuring that their contracts are not subject to the jurisdiction of the Hong Kong courts.
"This is not a situation that we welcome," she said.
Another reason for setting up the CFA before 1997 is that the Government does not want to deprive litigants of their right to appeal against decisions of the Appeal Court, Mrs Chan explained. Privy Council decisions, almost by definition, produce important points of law that affect the whole of the legal and judicial system in Hong Kong.
She told the gathering of industrialists that a commercial dispute that was not settled could mean additional costs to them.
"No responsible Government should subject litigants to such a predicament," she said.