TNAG-1699-FCO40-2370-Hong-Kong-localisation-of-civil-service-legislation-1987 — Page 6

HONG KONG

LEGAL REPORT

THE SUPREME COURT (AMENDMENT) ORDINANCE 1987

(No. 52 of 1987)

Enclosure No. Z

The Supreme Court Ordinance, which was enacted in 1976, is derived from the Supreme Court (Consolidation) Act 1925 of the United Kingdom, as amended from time to time. The main purpose of this Ordinance is to update the Supreme Court Ordinance in line with the Supreme Court Act 1981 of the United Kingdom. The opportunity is also taken to incorporate the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 349); to adopt the provisions of the Charging Orders Act 1979 of the United Kingdom and the provisions relating to relief against forfeiture for non-payment of rent contained in the County Courts Act 1984 of the United Kingdom; and to expand the rule making powers of the Rules Committee. Also, in line with the new name of the Supreme Court of England and Wales, the Supreme Court of Judicature becomes the Supreme Court of Hong Kong (Clause 3).

The following are the more important changes

2.

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

(v)

section 17 of the principal Ordinance is repealed as it has outlived its usefulness and impinges on the rule making powers of the Rules Committee; in future Hong Kong courts will not be bound to follow English practice where no Hong Kong rule exists (section 11);

new provisions relating to charging orders are included to remedy the defects noted by the Law Commission in England in its report on Charging Orders (Law Com. No. 74) (sections 13, 14 and 44);

relief against forfeiture provisions (new sections 21F to 21H) have been included to make the existing law clearer and more comprehensible (section 18);

provisions relating to judicial review (new section 21K, inserted by section 18), trial by jury (section 25) and costs (section 39) have been transferred from the Rules of the Supreme Court in order to remove doubts about their validity;

the civil jurisdiction of a two-judge Court of Appeal is extended in order to make more efficient use of judicial manpower (section 27);