TNAG-1733-FCO40-2446-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 124

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Bill, it will be made perfectly plain that subsection (1)

will not confer on any police officer the right to enter

any premises. And there is no other statutory power which

would allow a policeman to enter another person's private

premises without invitation or warrant in order to prevent

that person

from committing an offence but from

committing suicide, which is not an offence under our law.

In this connection, it is pertinent to note that

the police officer in England had, before the law there was

had, ago,

not codified not so long ago, certain powers conferred by certain powers conferred by

the Common Law to enter

private premises

without the

warrant in order to

breach of the peace. But there is at least a doubt as to

save life or limb or to prevent the

whether police officers

in Hong Kong enjoy these Common

Law powers for there is a strong and respectable body of

legal opinion in Hong Kong both from academics and

practising laywers that there is a distinction between

police officers in England and their counterparty in Hong

Kong because the former

former were the creatures of the Common

Law and

and therefore enjoy these Common Law powers whereas

the latter are creatures of

of statute and

and therefore only

enjoy statutory powers.