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Other Provisions
Mr President, I have dealt so far with those provisions in the Court of Final Appeal Bill which concern the three main questions that have been raised on the agreement reached with the Chinese side on 9 June. I would now like to take Members through the other principal provisions of the Bill.
Part 1 of the Bill sets out the provisions for the establishment of the Court. The appointments of the Chief Justice and of the other Court of Final Appeal judges are provided for in Clauses 6 to 9, which provide that those appointments shall be made by the Governor (the Chief Executive as from 1 July 1997) in accordance with the recommendation of an independent commission. This commission will be known as the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission.
Clause 12 prescribes the qualifications of the Chief Justice and the other judges of the Court of Final Appeal. These are based on the existing qualifications for appointment to the Supreme Court, and incorporate additional qualifications suggested by both the legal profession and the Preliminary Working Committee.
The tenure of office of the Chief Justice and other judges of the Court of Final Appeal is provided for in Clause 14. The term of office of a permanent judge, including the Chief Justice, may be extended beyond retirement age for a maximum of two terms of 3 years each; and each term of office for a non-permanent judge is to be for 3 years. The term of office of a Chief Justice may be extended by the Governor (the Chief Executive as from 1 July 1997) in accordance with the recommendation of the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission. The term of office of any other judge may be extended by the Governor (once again the Chief Executive as from 1 July 1997) in accordance with the recommendation of the Chief Justice.
Parts II and III of the Bill set out the provisions in respect of civil appeals and criminal appeals, respectively. These are based on the established principles and practices of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Some of these provisions have been amended to take into account the comments of the Law Society and the Bar Association when the draft Bill was sent to them at the end of last year. I would here like to express my appreciation to those two bodies for their helpful comments on many technical aspects of the Bill.
Part IV contains miscellaneous provisions, including the transitional provisions under Clause 49 to which I referred earlier. Clauses 38-48 provide for the making of rules, the setting up of the Registry, the appointment of the Registrar and the regulation of the sittings and business of the Court of Final Appeal. These provisions are in line with current court practices in Hong Kong.