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"Wherever possible, claims will be disposed of on the first call over either by way of settlement or by summary trials if the facts are not in dispute or if the issues in dispute are straight forward," he explained.

As a result, about three quarters of the cases are now concluded within 30 days. Those cases that cannot be disposed of at the call over stage will have to be adjourned to the fixture list for trial. At present the waiting time for trial is about 50 days.

"We plan to reduce this to about 30 days," the spokesman added.

The Eastern Labour Tribunal and the Sha Tin Labour Tribunal together handled

a total of 7,645 cases last year, an increase of 28 per cent over that of 1994.

The spokesman said: "It is particularly encouraging that the Tribunal, apart from clearing the backlog in the appointment register, has managed to cope with the 28 per cent increase in caseload."

End

New appointments to HK Sports Development Board made

The Governor has made the following appointments to the Hong Kong Sports Development Board for the period April 1, 1996, to March 31, 1998:

Chairman:

Mr John Terence Hung

Vice-Chairman;

Mr Timothy Fok Tsun-ting

Members:

Mrs Lai Wei Kit-lin, Minnie Mr Kong Churk-hoi, Billy Professor Chan Kai-ming

Mr Pong Fai, Frank

Mr Fan Kam-ping

Mr Yau Po-wing, David

Professor Fu Hoo-kin, Frank

Secretary for Recreation and Culture, with Deputy Secretary (Recreation and Culture) and Principal Assistant Secretary (Recreation and Sports) as his alternates.