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Following is the speech by the acting Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Michael Suen, in moving the Adaptation of Laws Bill 2000 for second reading in the Legislative Council today (November 8):

Madam President,

I move that the Adaptation of Laws Bill 2000 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.

The Hong Kong Reunification Ordinance has provided, inter alia, for the inclusion of Schedule 8 in the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance. Schedule 8 sets out the principles for interpreting laws which continue to remain as the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (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. Nevertheless, we consider it unacceptable to retain terminologies which are inconsistent with the Basic Law in our statute books after 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 HKSAR. This does not contravene Article 12 of the Bill of Rights Ordinance.

Madam President, this Bill is necessary not only for bringing the above three Ordinances into conformity with the Basic Law and with Hong Kong's status as a Special Administrative Region, but also obviating the need for making cross-references to the Hong Kong Reunification Ordinance and the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance. The Adaptation of Laws (No. 27) Bill 1999, with the proposed amendments to the three Ordinances concerned, was introduced into the Legislative Council in 1999. However, the Bill lapsed at the end of the last Legislative Council session as the Bills Committee did not have sufficient time to scrutinise the Bill. As such, we need to re-introduce the Bill so as to bring about the necessary amendments. I therefore commend it to this Council for early passage into law.

End/ Wednesday, November 8, 2000

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