TNAG-1858-FCO40-2633-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-memoranda-and-minutes-of-me-1989 — Page 190

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

19 July 1989

香港立法局

一九八九年七月十九日

77

As originally drafted, clause 4 of the Bill in effect imposed a quota on the number of practising certificates that the Law Society could issue in a year to former Government lawyers admitted as solicitors under clause 3 and it required the Chief Justice's approval before such practising certificates could be issued. The Law Society objected to these provisions, because they were inconsistent with the current arrangements concerning the issue of practising certificates. That objection has been accepted. The amendments to clause 3 which I have just described will now impose the quota on the number of admissions in a year. New clause 4 omits the provisions dealing with issue of practising certificates. Paragraph (b) of the new clause corrects a drafting error in the original Bill.

The amendment of clause 6 set out in paragraph (a) of the paper circulated to Members is a consequential change. Paragraph (b) of the amendment provides that where a former Government lawyer is admitted as a solicitor under clause 3 but does not commence practice within 12 months after his admission, his name can be removed from the roll of solicitors.

The amendment deletes the reference to "natural place of domicile" in the list of possible alternative residential qualifications in section 27 of the Ordinance. After careful consideration, it is accepted that the spirit of this phrase is adequately covered by the remaining criteria in section 27.

I turn now to the replacement to clause 10. As originally drafted, clause 10 would have permitted long serving lawyers within the Judiciary or Government legal service who are qualified in one of the scheduled countries to be admitted as barristers. New clause 10 now restricts this admission route to lawyers from the Legal Department of the Government, in keeping with the recommendations of the UMELCO standing panel and the committee under the chairmanship of the former Chief Justice. The new clause will also require applicants to have had advocacy experience and during the three years immediately or recently, before applying for admission, to have been engaged in work usually undertaken by a barrister of 10-year seniority. Other amendments are identical in effect with those made in clause 3 in respect of solicitors. Finally, there will be an annual quota of four on those admitted as barristers under this clause.

The effect of the new clause is twofold. First, as I mentioned in relation to clause 10, the quota for barristers will apply to admissions and not to the issue of practising certificates. Secondly, section 32 of the Ordinance is to be amended so that if a barrister who is admitted under this scheme does not commence practice within 12 months of admission, this will be cause to remove him or her from the roll of barristers.