TNAG-0305-FCO40-341-Use-of-Chinese-as-official-language-in-Hong-Kong-1971 — Page 143

(vi) Statements made by suspects and prospective witnesses to the

police, including cautioned statements

The Sub-committee has been given by the Commissioner of Police to understand that whilst most of these statements are taken down in the language in which they are made, some oral statements made in Chinese are written down in English. The Sub-committee recommends that all statements should be taken down in the language in which they are made. In case of dis- crepancy, the original shall prevail.

(vii) Letters from Government departments to Chinese speaking mem-

bers of the public on legal matters

The Sub-committee agrees with the Chinese Language Com- mittee's recommendation in paragraph 49 of their Second Report that where legal technicalities are involved these letters should be written in Chinese with an English translation with the proviso that in case of dispute the latter shall prevail. The Sub-committee recommends that the decision as to whether or not legal technicalities are involved should be made by the Heads of Departments concerned (or their responsible delegates).

(viii) The problems of enacting future ordinances and subsidiary

legislation in the Chinese language

So long as English remains the language of the Courts, ordin- ances and subsidiary legislation in Chinese must of necessity be translated into English. However, the arguments set out in paragraph 13 apply equally to the translation of ordinances from Chinese into English. Also, unless and until there is in Hong Kong a substantial proportion of judicial officers and lawyers who can perform their task effectively in both Chinese and English, it will in fact be the English translation which is most frequently used, resulting in the anomaly that the translation, and not the original, will in reality be the version mainly relied

on.

Drafting laws is quite different from translating laws, therefore, the qualifications required of a draftsman are quite different from those required of a translator. In our opinion, the basic qualifications which a draftsman should possess in order to be able competently to draft statutory provisions in Chinese are as follows: (a) he must be a skilful law draftsman; (b) he must have a very good knowledge of the Chinese language and all its subtleties; (c) he should also have a basic knowledge of Chinese legal concepts and phraseology; (d) he must have a very good knowledge of the English language and all its subtleties; (e) he

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must be a lawyer trained under our legal system. These qualifica- tions may be difficult to find in a single person and more likely than not will have to come from a team of persons. There is at present a team of about eleven draftsmen in the Legal Depart- ment responsible for drafting laws. Even if only those Ordinances and subsidiary legislation generally affecting the Chinese speaking public were to be enacted in Chinese, another team of drafts- men with the necessary qualifications would have to be recruited. Until the time comes when Government can acquire on its staff the required number of such draftsmen, it would not be possible for ordinances and subsidiary legislation to be enacted in the Chinese language.

In view of the difficulties mentioned under this sub-paragraph, we do not recommend the enactment of ordinances and subsidiary legislation in the Chinese language.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

28. The Sub-committee acknowledges with thanks those foreign govern- ments, Government departments, organisations, and individuals who have replied to the questionnaires; and all who have rendered assistance to this Sub-committee in any way.

29. The Sub-committee would also like to place on record its apprecia- tion of the industry and efficiency with which its Secretary, Mr. Henry PANG, B.A., has carried out his duties.

May, 1971.

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T. L. YANG Chairman

MICHAEL WONG Member

WOO PO-SHING Member

PATRICK S. S. Yu

Member