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The Legislation Publication Bill, to be gazetted on October 8, aims to provide for the establishment of an electronic database of Hong Kong's legislation to facilitate public access to the legislation.
The Bill will also provide for powers to make editorial changes and revisions to legislation, and consolidate some existing provisions providing for editorial changes.
A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said today (October 6), "Access to the law is a fundamental element of a jurisdiction that upholds the rule of law. In the information age, the availability of an updated, reliable and searchable online consolidated legislation database with legal status is a must."
"Other leading jurisdictions have been improving the presentation of their legislation. In order to keep abreast with the current trend, we need powers to make editorial changes to our legislation with a view to improving its presentation and user-friendliness," the spokesperson added.
"We have obtained support from the Legislative Council's Panel on Administration of Justice and Legal Services and Finance Committee as well as the Bar Association and Law Society. The new document design of legislation has been implemented since July this year. Editorial powers are required to update the existing legislation to the new format and style to ensure uniformity in appearance of our legislation."
The bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council on October 20.
Ends/Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Issued at HKT 18:58
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