XN000022-1994-12-09 — Page 6

Transcript of Chief Secretary's media session

The following is a transcript of the media session by the Chief Secretary, Mrs Anson Chan, after inspecting the Immigration Service Annual Parade this (Friday) afternoon:

CS: Good afternoon, everyone. I'd like to say a few words about the Court of Final Appeal. As you know, the Bar Association had its EGM yesterday. We are naturally. very disappointed that at its EGM yesterday, the Bar Association failed to support the Court of Final Appeal Bill. It doesn't seem to us that the members of the Bar Association have taken into account the wider public interest. But on the other hand, we note that the motion that was eventually passed at the EGM is much less negative than that proposed by the Bar Council. In particular, we note that the motion states very clearly that it is a wish of members of the Bar Association to see the Court of Final Appeal established before 1997 in accordance with the Basic Law and the Joint declaration. On our part, we have said on many occasions that we are fully confident that the 1991 agreement with the Chinese is in full accord with the Basic Law and the Joint Declaration. We had given the Bar Association an authoritative statement from Her Majesty's Government, stating that this is so. We also note that the Bar Association has stated at its EGM that members of the Bar Association should concentrate on the legal and technical aspects of the bill, leaving the political aspect to the Legislative Council. This is precisely what we are consulting the members of the legal profession on. That is that we would wish to have their views on the legal and technical provisions in the draft bill now before them. We now look forward to receiving comments from members of the Bar Association. Let me state once again that it is our intention to see the establishment of the Appeal Board by 1996 at the latest. In order to achieve this target, we need to see the bill enacted during the current session of the Legislative Council. If we fail to enact the CFA, then of course, we run the serious risk of judicial vacuum at the very highest level, possibly for two or three years until the Special Administrative Region sets up a Court of Final Appeal after 1997 and, of course, there's no guarantee that the Court of Final Appeal established after 1997 would be any better in terms of composition of the Court of Final Appeal than the one that we've already reached agreement with the Chinese on the 1991 agreement. Finally, the Law Society, of course, will also be having its own meeting on December 21. I hope very much that members of the Law Society will take into account the wider public interest and will feel able to support the draft bill now before them. If they have any comments on the technical and legal aspects of the bill, we would be very happy to receive comments from them and, indeed, from any other members of the community. We will give careful consideration to these comments in deciding whether to propose amendments to the draft bill. Thank you.

Question: Mrs Chan, which party should consider the political aspect of the bill?