XN000022-1988-04-16 — Page 2

SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 1988

PUTTING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO GOOD USE

THE DEPUTY CHIEF SECRETARY, MR JOHN CHAN, SAID TODAY (SATURDAY) THAT ONE OF THE MANY AREAS IN WHICH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY WOULD BE USEFULLY EMPLOYED IN THE RUN UP TO 1997 WAS THE PREPARATION OF THE LAWS OF THE TERRITORY.

"THE 31 VOLUMES OF THE LAWS OF HONG KONG WILL NEED ΤΟ BE REVIEWED AND, WHERE NECESSARY, AMENDED TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE NEW POSITION OF HONG KONG AFTER 1997.

"THIS EXERCISE IS ONE OF THE PRIORITY TASKS OF THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT FOLLOWING THE SIGNATURE OF THE SINO-BRITISH JOINT DECLARATION, MR CHAN SAID WHEN SPEAKING AT THE 18TH ANNIVERSARY

DINNER OF THE HONG KONG COMPUTER SOCIETY.

OF HONG EXISTING

HE SAID THAT IN PARALLEL WITH THE REVIEW OF THE LAWS KONG, THE GOVERNMENT WAS ATTEMPTING TO TRANSLATE THE ORDINANCES AND REGULATIONS INTO AN AUTHENTIC CHINESE VERSION AND ΤΟ START BILINGUAL DRAFTING OF NEW LEGISLATION.

"A GLOSSARY OF CHINESE LEGAL TERMS IS BRING PREPARED TO ASSIST THE TRANSLATION AND DRAFTING PROCESS, WHICH WILL BE COMPUTER-AIDED FOR BETTER EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY. EXPERT SYSTEMS WILL ALSO BE EMPLOYED IF THEY PROVE TO BE VIABLE, MR CHAN SAID.

"FURTHERMORE, SINCE HONG KONG WILL NEED ΤΟ SET UP ITS OWN COURT OF FINAL APPEAL, IT WILL BE NECESSARY TO ESTABLISH A DATABASE OF LOCALLY-TRIED CASES. THERE WILL ALSO BE A NEED

RESEARCH INTO THI LOCAL STATUTE BOOKS MORE FREQUENTLY FOR WHICH A TEXT RETRIEVAL SYSTEM WILL BE A MANDATORY TOOL, HE SAID.

Γ

"

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COMPUTERISED

HE NOTED THAT THE IMPACT OF ALL THESE CHANGES WAS NOT LIMITED TO THE GOVERNMENT.

"IT EXTENDS TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR AS WELL. ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD, THE LEGAL PROFESSION HAS BEEN EFFECTIVELY AIDED BY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR SOME TIME NOW. NO DOUBT HONG KONG WILL BENEFIT FROM ADOPTING SIMILAR ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AT AN FARLY STAGE HE SAID.

MR CHIAN POINTED OUT THAT ANOTHER AREA IN WITECH HONG KONG WOULD EXPERIENCE CHANGE IN THE RUN UP TO 1997 WAS THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF THE CHINESE LANGUAGE.

"THIS DIMENSION MUST NOT BE NEGLECTED DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN HONG KONG,

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IN

THE FURTHER HE REMARKED.

AND TECHNOLOGY,

IDENTIFIED

ON THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE MR CHAN SAID THAT THE COMMITTEE HAD ALREADY TECHNOLOGY AS ONE OF KEY AREAS FOR CLOSE EXAMINATION.

INFORMATION.

"THE COMMITTEE