XN000022-1995-07-12 — Page 28

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INDEPENDENCE OF THE JUDICIARY

A third principle of the rule of law, namely, the independence of the judiciary, explains why Hong Kong remains a free, open and well-ordered society. Our courts are independent of the executive. Throughout the years, decisions of the courts to protect the rights of the individual and to check abuse of the powers of the Government have exercised a profound influence -- a phenomenon which I would term the judicial education of the public sector. Lawyers, public servants, law draftsmen, members of this Council and the media all work to preserve the fundamental features of the common law system. And Here I would like to pay tribute to the invaluable role played by this Council in preserving the rule of law by questioning the Government on the use of its powers and scrutinising Government bills so as to limit arbitrariness and executive discretion. Complementing this legislative tendency, laws are in practice drafted and enacted to preserve rather than extinguish individual rights, to ensure that proper compensation is paid to those whose property is taken away for public purposes, to promote fair dealing rather than peremptory behaviour, and to lay down specific and clear limits to governmentál powers rather than to give discretionary or arbitrary powers that could readily be abused.

MEASURES TAKEN TO STRENGTHEN THE RULE OF LAW

Mr President, I now turn to set out the record of this Government on the rule of law. The Chief Secretary has already mentioned a number of areas where action has been taken to strengthen the rule of law. I wish to elaborate a little further on this aspect.

THE BILL OF RIGHTS

No one should underestimate the importance of the enactment of the Bill of Rights Ordinance to the protection of the rule of law in Hong Kong. The Ordinance incorporates into the law the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as applied to Hong Kong. It provides the people of Hong Kong with protected rights and freedoms which they can and do assert against the Government if the need arises.

Recently, the Government has introduced several other measures to consolidate and strengthen the impact of the Bill of Rights Ordinance and human rights protection generally. For example, extra resources have been provided to the Judiciary to introduce specialist lists for cases involving the Bill of Rights. Legislation has very recently been enacted, and the necessary resources provided, to enable the Director of Legal Aid to waive the means test in civil claims under the Bill of Rights Ordinance.