XN000022-1986-07-23 — Page 7

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 1986

IT RECOMMENDED THAT THE GOVERNOR IN COUNCIL, AND NOT THE GOVERNOR, SHOULD BE EMPOWERED TO DECIDE WHICH BILL WAS SO URGENT AS TO WARRANT ENACTMENT IN ONE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE ONLY.

THE GROUP CONSIDERED THAT SETTING UP THE BILINGUAL LAW ADVISORY COMMITTEE SHOULD BE COVERED BY STATUTE SO THAT THERE WOULD BE STATUTORY CONTROL ON ITS COMPOSITION AND THIS WOULD ALSO ENSURE THAT THE POLICY ON BILINGUAL LEGISLATION POLICY COULD BE SUSTAINED.

IT ALSO AGREED THAT A SELECT COMMITTEE, SERVING FOR A FULL LEGCO SESSION, SHOULD BE FORMED TO ENSURE CONTINUITY AND UNIFORMITY.

ON THE PRINTING FORMAT FOR THE LEGISLATION, THE GROUP SUGGESTED THAT THE ENGLISH AND CHINESE TEXT OF THE SAME SECTION OF THE ORDINANCE SHOULD BE PLACED ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER, ON FACING PAGES.

COMPREHENSIVE POLICY SHOULD BE ADOPTED *****

AN OVERALL POLICY IS NEEDED IN IMPLEMENTING THE BASIC POLICY OF DEVELOPING CHINESE AS A LANGUAGE OF THE LAW, THE HON PETER C. WONG SAID IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY (WEDNESDAY).

THE ULTIMATE AIM, AS FAR AS EVIDENCE WAS CONCERNED, MUST BE

TO USE CHINESE IN ALL LOCAL COURTS, HE SAID.

HOWEVER, ENGLISH MUST REMAIN THE MEDIUM OF EXPRESSION IN LEGAL SUBMISSIONS. HE ADDED, SINCE IT WAS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO TRANSLATE THE COMMON LAW OR HONG KONG LAW REPORTS INTO CHINESE.

MR WONG WAS SPEAKING DURING THE ADJOURNMENT DEBATE ON THE DISCUSSION PAPER ON THE LAWS IN CHINESE.

+ IN A NUMBER OF COUNTRIES, WHERE THE LEGAL SYSTEMS ARE DERIVED FROM AND BASED ON THE COMMON LAW, BUT A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF THE POPULATIONS DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH AS THEIR FIRST LANGUAGE, ENGLISH IS STILL MAINTAINED AS ONE OF THE LANGUAGES OF THE LAW, HE SAID.

HONG KONG COULD NOT MAKE ITSELF AN EXCEPTION, AND IT WAS ESSENTIAL THAT ENGLISH MUST BE USED FREELY IN THE COURTS IF THE EXISTING LEGAL SYSTEM WAS TO BE MAINTAINED.

/MR WONG