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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 2nd October 1969.
[MR WOO] Motion
included journeys to various parts of the Empire, but again he had no power to punish nor to hear any case except in conjunction with the officials of that district. His principal duty was to report and the final decision lay with the Emperor himself.
The Yu Shih was not the only official in ancient China able to deal with grievances of the people. The power to report grievances to the Emperor was not exclusive to the Yu Shih and every Chinese official was in fact under obligation to do so.
The Report by "Justice", Hong Kong Branch of the British Section of the International Commission of Jurists, put the case more accurately when it states that "the main difference in fact between the censorial system of ancient China and the Ombudsman system is that the primary function of the Chinese system seems to have been the control of the bureaucracy in the direct interests of the Executive rather than the redress of grievances in the interests of the people as a whole". In ancient China there was no question that the interests of the general public were to be safeguarded; as we all know, what the Emperor said was law.
The Report recommends that "There is an urgent need for an Ombudsman in Hong Kong and one should be appointed as soon as possible", and gives the reason that "There is in Hong Kong a lamentable lack of simple, inexpensive and effective machinery for safeguarding fundamental rights and freedoms and for enabling those who have suffered from violation of their rights to receive assistance in obtaining redress". Such a statement may give rise to the false impression that the Courts in Hong Kong are powerless to protect our rights, property and liberty when violated from any quarters. Hong Kong is no different from any other place. As I said before, in a complex community there are bound to be complaints of grievances. whether real or imaginary against administrative actions. But is an Ombudsman the only remedy to safeguard our rights and freedoms?
I am not against the appointment of an Ombudsman in Hong Kong if there is indeed the need for it and if it is the only remedy to redress grievances. On the other hand if the appointment is merely, as the Report says, "to sharpen the attention of the authorities in dealing with cases and to counteract tendencies toward abuse of powers and arbitrary decisions”, then there are many other ways and means of attaining the same result.
We must remember, Sir, that an institution which may be appro- priately suitable to one place is not necessarily so to another, and we have to closely examine it before it can be transplanted and adopted
as our own.
H
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