TNAG-1366-FCO40-1812-Hong-Kong-Legislative-Council-(Powers-and-Privileges)-Bill-1-1985 — Page 51

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DRAFT SPEECH BY HON S L CHEN, CBE, JP LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 26.6.85

Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Bill 1985

Third Reading

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY

- 9 JUL 1985

DISK OFFICEU

INDEX

PA

There have been a lot of public comments and discussions of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Bill 1985 since it was first gazetted on 10 May 1985. The

LegCo Ad Hoc Group set up under the convenership of Miss Maria

TAM has conscientiously and meticulously studied all public

comments and submissions on the bill.

Substantial changes in response to the comments have

now been proposed to the bill and these have been incorporated into the revised bill which was published in the Government

Gazette on 14 June 1985.

I wish to reiterate that I support the underlying principle and spirit of the bill. Having examined the comments and views of the legal and other interested groups and heard

the answers to them in this debate, I am satisfied that the

amendments tabled today have met their criticisms. I am

therefore convinced that there are no compelling grounds for

deferring the bill for a few weeks, and even less for deferring

it until the next session of the Legislative Council.

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A new-style Legislative Council will come into

existence in October this year. I believe that the powers and

privileges of Legislative Councillors should be set out clearly

so that members know where they stand. The bill will serve as

a reference point for the new legislature. From this point of view, I believe that the present bill with the proposed amendments incorporated is both satisfactory and adeguate.

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