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With regard to the excess under Head 50 - Government Land Transport Agency of $371,730.58 to which I referred earlier, the Government Land Transport Administrator has advised me that the excess arose from expenditure which was urgent and unavoidable, since the Government was obliged to comply with the payment conditions stipulated in the related tenders. However, the payments were processed inadvertently without seeking the necessary prior authority for the excess at the head of expenditure level. The Government Land Transport Administrator has assured me that, with the assistance of the Director of Accounting Services, he will review his procedures to ensure better control and monitoring of expenditure to prevent the
recurrence of such incidents. In addition I shall be writing to all Controlling Officers to remind them of their responsibilities under the Public Finance Ordinance.
As a result of the savings made in various heads of expenditure and the provision made in the original estimates for additional commitments, total expenditure for the financial year 1995-96 was within the sum originally appropriated in the Appropriation Ordinance 1995 even after the supplementary appropriation sought in this Bill.
Mr President, with these remarks, I commend the Bill to Members.
End
Costs in Criminal Cases Bill
Following is the speech by the Attorney General, the Hon Jeremy Mathews, at the resumption of second reading debate on the Costs in Criminal Cases Bill in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Mr President,
I am grateful to the Chairman, the Honourable Albert HO, and Members of the Bills Committee for their careful study of this Bill. I would also like to thank the Bar Association and the Law Society for their helpful comments.
The purpose of this Bill is to reform the existing law and practice governing the award of costs in criminal cases. The Bill removes anomalies and inconsistencies by providing a fair and coherent set of principles applicable to both the defence and prosecution at all levels of criminal courts. It gives the courts the power to ensure that persons who suffer losses and expenses as a result of unjustifiable conduct on the part of their representatives or lawyers in criminal proceedings will be compensated.