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Following is the speech by the Secretary for the Treasury, Miss Denise Yue, in moving the second reading of the Adaptation of Laws (No. 25) Bill 1999 in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

President,

I move the second reading of the Adaptation of Laws (No. 25) Bill 1999.

The Bill aims at adapting 12 Ordinances and their subsidiary legislation which are related to Government finance in order to render them consistent with the Basic Law and the status of Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

The Ordinances included in the Bill contain some references such as "the Governor", "the Governor in Council" and "the Crown" which are inconsistent with the Basic Law or the status of Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. Although the Hong Kong Reunification Ordinance (Cap. 1556) and the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) have laid down how these references should be construed, it is still unacceptable to retain such references in the Ordinances included in the Bill. We have therefore introduced the Bill to effect textual amendments to these Ordinances.

When the adaptation amendments set out in the Bill are passed into law, they would take retrospective effect as from the date of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

I hope Honourable Members will support the Bill. Thank you, President.

End/Wednesday, July 14, 1999

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