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Bill to revise administration of justice provisions
The Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 1997 will be gazetted tomorrow (Friday) and introduced into the Legislative Council on January 22, 1997.
The Bill seeks to revise, improve or repeal a number of legislative provisions relating to the administration of justice and other matters which contain colonial connotations or are obsolete.
One of the main objectives of the Bill is to amend the law to modernise the judicial qualifications for appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court, a District Judge, an adjudicator of the Small Claims Tribunal and a Coroner, so that they refer to common law jurisdictions rather than Commonwealth jurisdictions.
It also aims to amend the Defamation Ordinance to provide for the functions of the judge and jury in a trial on indictment for criminal libel as well as to amend the Magistrates Ordinance to permit a police officer or bailiff to make a statutory declaration as proof of service of a summons to a person where the summons is left with a third person at the recipient's last or most usual place of abode.
A number of Ordinances which have become obsolete will also be repealed under the Bill.
The Bar Association and the Law Society have been consulted on the draft Bill.
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Curtain raised for building safety
Curtain for the 1997 Building Safety Campaign will be raised this Saturday (January 11) with a roving exhibition to be launched at Dragon Centre in Sham Shui Po.
The Building Safety Campaign is an annual event organised by the Buildings Department to bring home the importance of building safety and to educate members of the public on the needs and standards in maintaining their buildings, said a spokesman for the department.