The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     Following is the opening remarks by the President of the Legislative Council (LegCo), Mr Andrew Leung, on the interpretation of Article 104 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (Basic Law) by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress at a media briefing at the LegCo Complex today (November 7):

     Today, under the provisions of Article 67(4) of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and Article 158(1) of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has made a detailed interpretation of Article 104 of the Basic Law, including the statutory content that must be embodied in the oath as stipulated in the Article, the meaning of swearing in in accordance with law when assuming office, the legal binding effect of an oath taken under the Article, and the legal liabilities for taking a false oath or breaching the oath.

     I agree to the Standing Committee's interpretation of the Article for the purposes of upholding the sovereignty, territorial integrity and national security of the State.  In my view, the interpretation by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress will facilitate the taking of oath by Members of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in accordance with law when assuming office, and reduce controversies arising from oath-taking.  I look forward to the Court's judgments on cases involving the Article expeditiously, so that the Legislative Council can resume normal operation.

Ends/Monday, November 7, 2016
Issued at HKT 18:04

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