1
2
Second Report
7.
The Second Report deals with the use of Chinese and English in oral and written communication between Government and the public and this was submitted by the Committee in mid-April 1971. The report recommended, inter alia, the appointment of a central authority, presumably a senior officer in the Colonial Secretariat, to keep a constant and positive check on departmental practice in the use of Chinese.
8.
A memorandum containing the official view of the Second Report is nearly ready for submission to Executive Council.
In brief, this memorandum recommends that the report be accepted in principle and that it should be implemented as and when resources, particularly the availability of interpreter/translators, permit. As soon as the Executive Council's decision is known, appropriate publicity will be arranged since it is thought that the public will be particularly interested in Government's decision on the question of the central authority.
9.
Whether or not the central authority should be in the Colonial Secretariat, as presumed by the Chinese Language Committee, or in some other department such as the Secretariat for Home Affairs, the present thinking is that the Umelco Office should also assume some responsibility for ensuring that the official language policy is properly implemented.
Third Report
10.
The Third Report which deals with the use of Chinese in court proceedings and as a language of the law, was submitted in early June 1971. The report recommended, amongst other things, two major
changes:-
11.
(a)
that proceedings in Magistrates' Courts and quasi-judicial bodies of similar rank should be conducted in Cantonese at the discretion of the presiding official; and
(b) that local legislation should be translated
into Chinese in stages.
On the other hand, the report concluded that because of the difficulty of precise translation from Chinese into English and vice versa of the many sources of local law, which of course derives from English law, Chinese and English cannot, under the existing local system, have equality of status if this meant that any person involved in court proceedings should have the right to demand that the proceedings be conducted in either English or Chinese or if it meant that both the English and Chinese versions of legal documents should have equal force in the law.
12.
A Memorandum for Executive Council is being prepared in the light of comments from the Chief Justice, the Attorney General and departments.
/Fourth
CONFIDENTIAL
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.