2.
(f)
the enactment in June 1991 of the Bill of Rights Ordinance which incorporated provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights as applied to Hong Kong into the law of Hong Kong. These include Articles 23 and 24 of the Covenant concerning rights in respect of marriage and family and rights of children.
In January 1990, a Working Party was set up by the Hong Kong Administration to conduct a review of social welfare services and to draft a White Paper setting out the future direction of social welfare development in Hong Kong. After extensive public consultation, the White Paper on social Welfare into the 1990s and Beyond was published in March 1991. It recognised that new needs and problems are emerging which will require greater efforts in the context of the future provision of family and child welfare services. Family casework and counselling will remain the principal means whereby individuals and families are assisted to understand and deal with family problems. The Government will try to meet the demand for these services in full and allocate available resources flexibly in accordance with the needs of different areas.
B. Protection of the Family (paragraph 1)
3. A family welfare programme is well established in Hong Kong. The overall objectives of family welfare services are to preserve and strengthen the family as a unit and develop caring interpersonal relationship; to enable individuals and family members to prevent personal and family problems and cope with them when they arise, and to provide for needs which cannot be met from within the family. With these objectives in mind, support services have been developed to assist families when they are unable to discharge their caring and protective functions satisfactorily. The problems dealt with are mainly family relationship problems, child welfare, behavioural/emotional problems of young people and problems involving accommodation, finance and physical or mental health. Services provided include counselling, arrangements for schooling, training, employment, housing, financial assistance, home help service, family aid service, free legal advice, medical attention and residential service for vulnerable groups such as children, unmarried mothers, the aged and disabled people. A network of family services centres is operating on an area basis to bring services closer to those who need them. To preserve and strengthen the family as a unit, a comprehensive programme of family life education has been provided at the central and district levels since 1979.
C.
Right in Respect of Marriage (paragraph 1)
The right of men and women voluntarily to enter into
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marriage with their full and free consent is guaranteed under the Marriage Ordinance. The Marriage Reform Ordinance further makes it clear that, on or after 7 October 1971, the customary marriages of "Kim Tiu" (i.e. bigamy for the purpose of propagation of the future generations of two or more branches of the same family) and the custom of "sampotsai" (i.e. betrothal of a child bride brought about without her consent) have been rendered illegal.
5.
Section 18 of the Marriage Ordinance has been amended. The age at which a male or female can marry is 16 years. Parental consent is required if the person intending to marry is under 21 years of age. Until the enactment of the Age of Majority (Related Provisions) Ordinance in 1990, a person under the age of 21 who had been refused consent to marry by a parent or guardian could not marry. The Marriage Ordinance as amended now provides that, where consent has been withheld by a parent or guardian, the person affected can ask a District Court Judge to consent to the marriage and his consent shall have the same effect as if it had been by the personewhose consent is refused.
6. In 1991, these measures were further strengthened by the enactment of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance, Article 19 (2) of which recognises the right of men and women of marriageable age to marry and found a family. states that no marriage shall be entered into without the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
D.
7.
Maternity Protection (paragraph 2)
Article 19(3)
Under the Employment Ordinance, a female employee is entitled, subject to the fulfilment of certain qualifications of service, to maternity leave. A female employee who has worked for the same employer under a continuous contract for a period of not less than 26 weeks is entitled to maternity leave, but not to wages during the leave unless her contract of employment provides for such payment. If she has worked continuously for her employer for a period of not less than 40 weeks before the expected date of commencement of her maternity leave and has no more than two surviving children, she is entitled to be paid during such leave at not less than two-thirds of her normal rate of pay. Maternity leave normally begins four weeks before the expected date of confinement and ends six weeks after the actual date of confinement. An employee can give notice of her intention to take maternity leave to her employer at any time after her pregnancy has been certified. If she has worked for her employer for not less than 12 weeks prior to tendering such notice, she is protected from termination of employment by her employer during the period between the date on which she gives such notice and the date on which she is due to return to work.
8.
Proper ante-natal and post-natal care for a pregnant
female prisoner is provided by the Prison Medical Service. The new born child is allowed to stay in a prison institution with the mother during the normal period fo lactation. The child may remain in the institution until the age of three or when the mother has completed her sentence, whichever is the earlier. Appropriate welfare will be provided if the child needs further care.
E.
9.
Protection of Children and Young Persons (paragraph 3)
Under the Age of Majority (Related Provisions) Ordinance 1990, the age of majority is 18 in absence of any contrary provision in a document or Ordinance under consideration. Nevertheless, under section 39 of the probate and Administration Ordinance and section 38) (2) of the Trustee Ordinance a person under the age of 21 will remain incapable of being appointed as the sole executor of a will or sole trustee of a trust. The minimum age for voting at elections is also set at 21, by section 9 of the Electoral Provisions Ordinance.
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10.
The overall objectives of child welfare services in Hong Kong are to support and strengthen families so that they may provide a suitable environment for the physical, emotional and social development of their children and to provide assistance to those disadvantaged and vulnerable children who are not adequately looked after by their families. The primary responsibility for the adequate care of children rests with parents and the separation of children from their families should be tolerated only when there is no better alternative. Society has an obligation to protect children from all forms of maltreatment and to provide services for the prevention and treatment of abuse.
11.
All children and young persons are protected from moral and physical danger under the Protection of Women and Juveniles Ordinance without discrimination for reasons of parentage or other conditions. Statutory protective care is provided by the Social Welfare department in the form of supervision and/or residential care for males and females under 18 years of age whose parents or guardians do not exercise proper care over them and for those under 21 years of age who have no parents or guardians or who are adopted other than by court order. There is a Child Protective Services Unit to provide intensive casework service to children who are being abused and an Adoption Unit to provide services for the adoption of children. A child Custody Services Unit is also established to assist courts to conduct social enquiries on child custody and guardianship cases and to carry out statutory duties in respect of supervision cases arising from custody/guardianship matters.
12. The Child Care Centres Ordinance and Regulations enacted in 1975 ensure that children are adequately cared for and supervised in child care centres. The Child Care Centre
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