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The following is issued on behalf of the Judiciary:
The Judiciary announced today (December 17) that the Labour Tribunal will commence operation in a new court building from January 2, 2008.
The five-storey building, which has a total floor area of 5,781 square meters, is located at 36 Gascoigne Road, Kowloon. It is the old site of the South Kowloon Law Courts Building just within 10-minute walk from the Jordan MTR station.
"The building is conveniently located so that users from Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories will have easy access to it by means of public transport," a Judiciary spokesman said.
At present, the Labour Tribunal is situated in a commercial building. The Working Party on the Review of the Labour Tribunal in its Report released in June 2004 recommended that the Tribunal should be relocated to a separate and purpose-built premises in a convenient location. The recommendation was accepted by the Chief Justice.
"It has always been the aim of the Judiciary to upgrade court facilities to better serve the community," the spokesman said.
The new Labour Tribunal Building has a total of 13 courtrooms, six discussion rooms and two conference rooms. It is equipped with modern communication network and office automation devices to cater for the needs of court users.
Besides, the new court building has courtrooms of varying sizes with better acoustics. There are also more rooms for interviews and discussion, and sufficient space to accommodate the litigants and the public visiting the Tribunal each day.
Ends/Monday, December 17, 2007
Issued at HKT 16:01
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