- 15 -
The establishment of a Legal Aid Services Council will be far from a cosmetic change, as some critics have suggested. On the contrary, it will represent a significant policy change. It will provide a greater and more direct opportunity for public participation in legal aid administration and policy formulation and will thereby enhance the independence of legal aid administration. Some people have argued that we should go further and dis-establish the Legal Aid Department. The Administration is not convinced that this is the best way forward, but we are not ruling it out. Once the Legal Aid Services Council is established, we will ask the Council to examine the feasibility and desirability of this option.
End/Wednesday, October 18, 1995
Bill to amend anti-corruption laws introduced
A Bill seeking to make legislative amendments needed in order to implement the recommendations in the report of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Review Committee published in December last year was introduced into the Legislative Council today (Wednesday).
The Bill is similar to the Prevention of Bribery (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 1995 which lapsed at the end of the last legislative session. However, there is a difference in the Chinese text, reflecting the fact that an authentic Chinese text of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance has since been gazetted.
Moving the second reading of the Prevention of Bribery (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 1995 today, the Attorney General, the Hon Jeremy Mathews, said the Bill was an essential step in reaffirming the ICAC's mandate in the light of present day circumstances and the changing expectations of the people of Hong Kong 20 years after the establishment of the ICAC.
Mr Mathews said in promoting the Bill, the Government's objectives were to strike a balance between two potentially conflicting views held in the community: that the ICAC needs to have sufficient powers to be effective in the continuing battle against corruption; and that it should be more accountable and transparent in the use of those powers.