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Following is the speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Anson Chan, in moving the second reading of the Adaptation of Laws (No. 27) Bill 1999 in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Madam President,

I move that the Adaptation of Laws (No. 27) Bill 1999 be read the second time.

The Bill seeks to bring terminological amendments to the Private Bills Ordinance, the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance and the Legislative Council Commission Ordinance.

Although the Hong Kong Reunification Ordinance has provided, inter alia, for the inclusion of Schedule 8 in the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance which sets out the principles for interpreting laws which continue to remain as the laws of the HKSAR and brings the laws of the HKSAR into conformity with the Basic Law and with Hong Kong's status as a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, we consider it unacceptable to retain terminologies which are inconsistent with the Basic Law in our statute books after the Reunification. We therefore need to enact the Bill to bring about the necessary terminological amendments.

The Bill, when passed into law, shall take effect retrospectively, as from the date of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. This does not contravene Article 12 of the Bill of Rights Ordinance.

Madam President, this Bill not only is important for bringing the above three ordinances into conformity with the Basic Law and with Hong Kong's status as a Special Administrative Region, but is also required to obviate the need for making cross-references to the Hong Kong Reunification Ordinance and the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance. I therefore commend it to this Council for early passage into law.

End/Wednesday, July 14, 1999

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