ENG-1986 — Page 55

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

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to Hong Kong and replace them by Hong Kong ordinances. The Hong Kong Act 1985 gave power by Order in Council to confer on the Hong Kong legislature the necessary additional powers in specified fields and the Hong Kong (Legislative Powers) Order 1986 specified the fields of civil aviation, merchant shipping and admiralty jurisdiction. It is anticipated that further orders will be made in future conferring similar powers in other fields.

Local legislation (that is, ordinances passed by the Legislative Council and assented to by the Governor) usually starts with one of the policy branches of the Hong Kong Govern- ment formulating drafting instructions for the Drafting Division of the Attorney General's Chambers. The instructions are prepared after consultation with the relevant government departments and, if appropriate, with interested public groups, as to the policy to adopt. After a Bill has been drafted it is submitted to the Governor in Council for approval to submit it to the Legislative Council. If the Bill is passed by vote of the Legislative Council, the Governor is empowered to enact by giving his assent to it and it is passed into law.

In much the same way that the common law of England has evolved, so has that of Hong Kong, based on the English common law and rules of equity, following and applying local ordinances and English or United Kingdom Acts where applicable. Hong Kong ordinances are often closely modelled on United Kingdom statutes, or the legislation of Common- wealth countries if considered more appropriate. Cases from Commonwealth countries and the United States of America are quoted in the courts and considered with respect. The Hong Kong courts apply a doctrine of binding precedent similar to that adopted by the English courts. The Hong Kong Court of Appeal is bound by its own previous decisions. Appeal from the Court of Appeal lies to the Privy Council and it was said in a Full Court case in 1969 that the Hong Kong courts were 'clearly bound by decisions of the Privy Council and of the House of Lords'. The Full Court again considered the question of precedent in 1973 and stated that ‘any relevant decision of the Privy Council' was binding on the Hong Kong courts.

The Attorney General's Chambers has assumed responsibility for drafting new laws in both Chinese and English and translating existing laws into Chinese. The Chinese text will be an authentic version of the laws that the courts can look to, with the English text, in ascertaining the meaning of an enactment. A discussion paper, canvassing ways in which laws in both Chinese and English might best be introduced, was issued by the Attorney General's Chambers in May 1986 for public comment. The discussion paper was favoura- bly received. It is expected that following the enactment of necessary enabling legislation, initially only new principal legislation will be enacted bilingually. Translation of existing laws into Chinese will be spread over a number of years. The Chinese language team in the Drafting Division of the Attorney General's Chambers started on the work of drafting laws in Chinese in July 1986.

Judiciary

The Chief Justice is the head of the Judiciary. He is assisted in the discharge of his administrative duties by the Registrar as well as Deputy and Assistant Registrars of the Supreme Court. A review of the administration of the courts was carried out by a senior judicial official from England during the year. It is anticipated that any changes to the administration of the courts recommended as a result of the review will be implemented in 1987.

The Chief Justice, the Justices of Appeal and the Judges of the High Court are appointed by Letters Patent issued under the Public Seal by the Governor on instructions from the