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Mr. John Barry Mortimer, G.B.S., a non-permanent Hong Kong Judge of Court of Final Appeal has been appointed to chair the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Appeal Board to hear the appeal lodged by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation against the decision of the Director of Environmental Protection to reject the EIA report submitted for the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line and to refuse to issue an environmental permit.

A spokesman for the Environmental and Food Bureau said today (December 15) that the appointment had been made since the current Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the EIA Appeal Board Panel appointed in 1998 had excused themselves from hearing this appeal.

The Chief Executive had therefore exercised the authority given to him under section 20 (1) of the EIA Ordinance (Cap. 499) to appoint another qualified person to serve as Chairman of the Appeal Board to be established to hear this particular appeal.

The spokesman said that the Chairman of EIA Appeal Board Panel, Mr Ruy Barretto, had advised that he had expressed a personal opinion on the subject some months prior to the appeal and so did not consider that he could sit as the Chairman of the Appeal Board for this case. The Deputy Chairman of the Appeal Board Panel, Mr Donald Yap, also disengaged himself.

The Chief Executive decided to appoint Mr. Mortimer, G.B.S., a non-permanent Hong Kong Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, as Chairman of the EIA Appeal Board to hear the Spur Line appeal case.

The spokesman said that Mr Mortimer would bring great experience to the consideration of the appeal, which is the first to be heard by the Appeal Board since the enactment of the EIA Ordinance in 1998.

Mr Mortimer has been a non-permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal (CFA) since 1997. He was a High Court Judge from 1985 to 1993, a Justice of Appeal from 1993 to 1997, and from 1997 to 1999 served as Vice President of the Court of Appeal.

The CFA Judge was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star (GBS) for services to the Hong Kong Judiciary in 1999. He began his career in the UK and was appointed as Queen's Counsel in 1971. In Hong Kong, he has served on the Law Reform Commission and was Chairman of the Committee on Privacy and Data Protection. He is also a panel member of the Hong Kong International Institute of Arbitrators.

The Chairman will decide on the hearing date in due course. He will also select the other members of the Appeal Board who will sit with him from among the members of the Appeal Board Panel.

Separately, the Administration will consult the Legislative Council Panel on Environmental Affairs on the remuneration package for the Chairman of this Appeal Board and seek approval from the Finance Committee on January 5, 2001.

End/Friday, December 15, 2000

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