TNAG-1366-FCO40-1812-Hong-Kong-Legislative-Council-(Powers-and-Privileges)-Bill-1-1985 — Page 109

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reasons.

Each of the Honourable Members who speak on this bill or of their suggestions to amendments will give his or her

At the end of the debate we shall vote on the Second Reading i.e. on the principle and general merits of this bill with a clear understanding that it is subjected to the amendments that we have asked for in this Council. I believe a new version of this Bill will be gazetted in 2 days time and the Ad Hoc Group will scrutinize it and the public will no

doubt do the same.

Sir, I wish in particular to answer 3 points of criticism. The first is that the existing Legislative Council Members have a vested interest in this bill and therefore it should be deferred until it is debated by the new Legislative Council with its elected members. I hope this is not based on the assumption that appointed members are more prone to serve their own interest than elected members. The conduct of every Legislative Councillor elected or appointed must be and is indeed subject to the public's scrutiny. It is within our anticipation to work on a code of conduct following the ultimate passage of this bill and possible amendments to the Standing Orders of the Legislative Council.

But

Secondly, it has been suggested that there should be no restriction on reporting on the proceedings of the closed door meetings of the Council or committee; and that the press must judge whether the reporting on such proceedings is in the public interest. I can see the concern of the press and media on such restrictions and I agree that Clause 20, and in particular Clause 20 (c), should be deleted from this bill. I believe that appropriate legislative measures should be introduced to safeguard the interest of a witness who gives evidence in camera, or the disclosure of sensitive information. It would be wise to adopt the practice in the courts on proceedings in camera, and restrictions on report on evidence heard in camera, a practice with which the Hong Kong press and media are well familiar. I also believe that the Chairman of any committee or the President of the Council must