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The Bill will continue the protection given by the Act to submarine cables landed in the territories of Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection of Submarine Cables. This includes submarine cables landed in Hong Kong and this will continue to be the case after 30 June 1997. The Bill provides that persons who deliberately break or damage such a cable are liable unless they come within the scope of certain defences. Where any offence under the Bill is committed by means of a vessel, the master of a vessel is deemed to be in charge of and navigating it unless some other person can be shown to have been so.
Clause 3 establishes that the Convention will continue to have the force of law.
Clause 4 makes it an offence for persons to damage submarine cables landed in the territory of Contracting Parties to the Convention (including Hong Kong). Certain defences, such as showing that the action which led to the damaging of the submarine cable was necessary to avoid injury, loss of life or of a vessel, are provided under clause 5.
Mr President, with these words I commend the Bill to this Council.
End
Hong Kong Institute of Education (Amendment) Bill 1996
Following is a speech by the Secretary for Education and Manpower. Mr Joseph W P Wong, in moving Committee Stage Amendment to the Hong Kong Institute of Education (Amendment) Bill 1996 in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Mr President,
I move that clause 10 of the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) (Amendment) Bill 1996 be amended as set out in the paper which has been circulated to Members. Clause 10 proposes to repeal the whole of section 22(3) in the Ordinance so as to relieve the HKIEd of the requirement for gazetting its rules.
We have subsequently received legal advice that repealing section 22(3) of the Ordinance altogether may give rise to a legal argument that the intention is to turn the rules made by the HKIEd Council into subsidiary legislation for the purpose of section 34 of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance. This is because subsection 22(3) expressly specifies that rules made under that section shall not be treated as subsidiary legislation.