TNAG-2553-FCO40-3728-Hong-Kong-Bill-of-Rights-review-of-legislation-1992 — Page 49

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All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

Counsel: Tim Casewell, for the Crown; L. Lok, Andrew Kan and Timothy Cheung, for the defence.

Separation and Maintenance Ordinance (cap. 16)

In a case before the District Court provisions of this Ordinance which provide for different grounds for applications by husbands and wives for orders made under the Ordinance are being attacked on the ground that such distinctions amount to discrimination on the ground of sex contrary to article 22 of the Bill of Rights.

Note: For a discussion of the guarantees of equality under the ICCPR and the Bill of Rights in the light of international and comparative jurisprudence, see Byrnes, "Equality and Non-Discrimination" in R. Wacks (ed.), Human Rights in Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, forthcoming 1992).

PENDING LEGISLATION

In this section we note a number of recent Bills which may give rise to Bill of Rights issues or, more accurately, issues under article VII (3) of the Letters Patent, since if enacted, they will commence after 8 June 1991. We merely note the concerns that have been raised. The inclusion of the Bills in this section should not be taken to reflect a view on the part of the Editors that provisions of these Bills would be held to violate the Letters Patent. In a number of instances the Government has rejected suggestions that provisions of the Bills are inconsistent with the rights guaranteed by the ICCPR as applied to Hong Kong.

White Bill on Organized Crime

This Bill proposes a number of new offences to curb organized crime, confers a wide power on the courts to order the confiscation of "proceeds of crime", as well as broad investigative powers on law enforcement agencies. The consultation period ended on 22 November 1991 and a number of submissions have been made to the effect that various clauses in the Bill are likely to be found to be inconsistent with the guarantees of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (as incoporated in article VII (3) of the Letters Patent), notably the protection of presumption of innocence under article 14 (2). (Article 14 (2) of the ICCPR is in identical terms to article 11 (1) of the Bill of Rights.)

Professional Accountants (Amendment) Bill 1991

This Bill proposes the establishment of a practice review scheme. Under the Bill, the Council of the Hong Kong Society of Accountancy would be empowered to appoint a reviewer to review the practice of practising accountants to ensure that their auditing practice complies with professional standards. Subject to a duty of confidentiality, the reviewer has a right of access to any file or document which he reasonably believes is or

Bill of Rights Bulletin

December 1991