20
-
The Bill amends the Supreme Court Ordinance to enable solicitors to be appointed as recorders and to give the Chief Justice the power to appoint temporary deputy registrars and temporary assistant registrars.
The Bill also amends the Jury Ordinance to abolish the requirement that the Registrar of the Supreme Court must state to the court or the judge his reasons for excusing a person from attending on a jury.
The opportunity is also taken to amend provisions in two security-related ordinances and to repeal five others. They are obsolete, anomalous, or have long fallen into disuse.
The Bill proposes to repeal the Secretary of State for Defence (Succession to Property) Ordinance. The Ordinance provides for the control and succession of property vested in the Secretary of State for Defence. The building lot covered in the Ordinance was sold in 1969 and the provisions are no longer required.
The Air Armament Practice Ordinance, which permits practice bombing in Sai Kung, is wholly outdated. Such activities ceased in 1966. Since then Sai Kung has been built up and extensively developed for recreational use. Bombing exercises of the sort regulated by the Ordinance cannot practically be undertaken in modern Hong Kong. The Bill proposes to repeal this Ordinance.
It is also for the same reason that the Defences (Firing Areas) Ordinance should be updated. The British garrison have not used the Basalt Island range since approximately 1985. All naval gunfire exercises now take place in international waters south of Hong Kong. No practice has taken place in the torpedo range for at least 30 years, while the three minesweeping ranges have not been used since at least 1984. They are now located across major shipping channels which would preclude their reactivation. The Bill proposes to update the references to firing areas in this Ordinance.
The Defence Works Protection Ordinance is substantially similar to section 1 of the Official Secret Act 1911 which prohibits the sketching of prohibited places for any purpose prejudicial to the safety and interests of the State. The localising legislation for the 1911 Act is being drafted and discussed in the Joint Liaison Group. The Ordinance is redundant, and the Bill proposes to repeal it.
The Compulsory Service Ordinance and the China Fleet Club Incorporation Ordinance are obsolete. The former was suspended by the Governor in Council in 1961. At present, service to all our auxiliary forces is entirely on a voluntary basis and we do not envisage that such service will ever be made compulsory again. The China Fleet Club closed down in 1992 and its Trustees wound up by the court in 1993. The Ordinance is therefore no longer needed. The Bill proposes to repeal these two Ordinances.