HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 15 February 1989
香港立法局 ——————— 一九八九年二月十五日
Second Reading of Bills
LEGAL PRACTITIONERS (AMENDMENT) BILL 1989
48
The ATTORNEY GENERAL moved the Second Reading of: "A Bill to amend the Legal Practitioners Ordinance".
He said: Sir, I move that the Legal Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 1989 be read a Second time.
In May 1986, following consideration of a petition from a number of Australasian lawyers employed by the Government, the then UMELCO Standing Panel on Security recommended that the law be amended to allow certain Commonwealth qualified barristers to be admitted to the Hong Kong Bar on specified conditions.
Later on in that year, on 9 August, the Governor appointed a committee under the chairmanship of the former Chief Justice to conduct an overall review of the admission and practising criteria for barristers and solicitors in Hong Kong and to make proposals for the implementation of the recommendations of the UMELCO Panel. They were also asked to conduct a review of the Legal Officers Ordinance and to consider what qualifications and experience are desirable for a legal officer. A lawyer joining the Attorney General's Chamber is, under the Legal Officers Ordinance, appointed as a legal officer and, by virtue of that appointment, has all of the rights of a barrister and solicitor in Hong Kong. Although there is, in fact, no requirement in the Legal Officers Ordinance that he be a qualified lawyer, the Council will be relieved to learn that in practice only qualified lawyers are appointed as legal officers.
The aim of the Bill is to give effect, with some modifications, to most of the recommendations of the committee. In general terms, it aims at strengthening both branches of the legal profession in Hong Kong by imposing some restrictions on the present unfettered right of United Kingdom barristers and solicitors to come here to practise. At the same time, the Bill would permit a small number of lawyers who have worked for a substantial number of years in Judicial or Government Legal Service to become Hong Kong barristers or solicitors. The Bill recognizes the fact that these are experienced lawyers who have been practising law in Hong Kong for many years.
Sir, the opportunity presented by the Bill has been taken to broaden and strengthen the Advisory Committee on Legal Education, to increase the fines prescribed for offences under the Legal Practitioners Ordinance which have remained unchanged since 1968, to make a technical amendment to ensure that
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Private notes are available after approval.