TNAG-1449-FCO40-1953-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1986 — Page 177

Sir,

UMELCO

DRAFT SPEECH BY DR HON HENRIETTA IP, JP

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

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23.4.86

Small Claims Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 1986

I will speak only on the two principal provisions of this bill. The first provision is to increase the monetary jurisdiction of the Small Claims Tribunal from $5,000 to $8,000. This provision, as fully explained by the Attorney General at the second reading of the bill, is unanimously supported by LegCo Unofficial Members; it is understood that both the Bar Association and Law Society have also been consulted on it and both bodies supported the principle.

The second provision proposes to amend the time-limits for the hearing of a claim. At present the rule is that a case cannot be heard earlier than 10 days or later than 60 days after the filing of the claim unless both parties agree; the proposed amendment removes the 10-day bar and increases the 60-day limit to 90 days. Members support the removal of the 10-day bar as it will enable consumers, particularly short stay tourists, to obtain speedy redress against

malpractices by unscrupulous retailers. Members however, are not convinced of the arguments to increase the 60-day limit to 90 days and an Ad Hoc Group was set up to further discuss the issue with the Administration.

The main concern of Members is that the essence

of a Small Claims Tribunal is that it should allow small

claims to be pursued in a quick and inexpensive manner and these characteristics should not be unnecessarily tampered with. The proposed 90-day limit appears to

be too long for the efficient functioning of such a

Tribunal. The Ad Hoc Group set up to study the bill

has had the benefit of lengthy and detailed discussions

UMELCO