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LCQ19: Societies registered or exempted for registration
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     Following is a question by the Hon Jimmy Ng and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Lai Tung-kwok, in the Legislative Council today (May 24):

Question:

     Article 27 of the Basic Law provides that Hong Kong residents shall have the freedom of association. According to the existing legislation, a local society shall, upon establishment, apply to the Societies Office for registration under the Societies Ordinance (Cap 151); and a non-profit making organisation may register with the Companies Registry as a company limited by guarantee under the Companies Ordinance (Cap 622). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the respective numbers of societies registered/exempted from registration under the Societies Ordinance and non-profit making organisations registered as companies limited by guarantee under the Companies Ordinance (i) at present and (ii) in each of the past 10 years;

(2) as the authorities indicated in May last year that the Societies Office did not maintain statistical breakdowns of societies by type of premises (e.g. residential property, commercial building and school) of their addresses, whether the Societies Office maintains statistical breakdowns (including the objects for which they were formed) of societies at present; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(3) among the societies and non-profit making organisations mentioned in (1)(i), of the respective numbers of those whose Chinese names contain the following words: (i) "旅港", (ii) "同鄉", (iii) "鄉親", (iv) "宗親", (v) "校友", (vi) "商會", (vii) "社團總會" and (viii) "社團聯會";

(4) of the respective numbers of (i) applications for registration as societies refused by the Societies Office under the Societies Ordinance, (ii) registrations of societies cancelled by the Societies Office under the Societies Ordinance of its own motion, and (iii) notifications of dissolution of societies by themselves received by the Societies Office under the Societies Ordinance, in the past 10 years; and

(5) as I have learnt that some societies provided false addresses when submitting their registration applications or did not notify the Societies Office of changes of their principal places of business in accordance with the legal requirements, whether the authorities will make reference to the Companies Ordinance and require the persons-in-charge of societies to submit annual returns in order to ensure the accuracy of the material particulars of societies; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     Our reply to the questions raised by Hon Jimmy Ng is as follows:
 
(1) to (3) As at April 30, 2017, there were a total of 39 146 societies in Hong Kong which have registered or have been exempted from registration under the Societies Ordinance (Cap 151), as well as 13 240 companies limited by guarantee (CLGs) registered under the Companies Ordinance (Cap 622). Figures of societies registered or exempted from registration and CLGs between 2007 and 2016 are at Annex I.

     Regarding CLGs, the Companies Registry does not have information on the number of non-profit making organisations registered as CLGs, or figures of such CLGs with Chinese names containing the words mentioned in question (3).

     In respect of societies, the Societies Office does not maintain statistics of societies by type of objects for which they were formed. Figures of societies registered or exempted from registration with Chinese names containing the words mentioned in question (3) are at Annex II.

(4) From 2007 to 2016, the Societies Officer has not in accordance with the Societies Ordinance refused to register or to exempt from registration any society or any branch, or cancelled the registration or exemption from registration of any society or any branch. In the same period, a total of 1 608 societies have dissolved themselves with notifications given to the Societies Officer under the Societies Ordinance.

     Section 13 of the Societies Ordinance states that if the Societies Officer has reason to believe that any society on the list of all societies and branches which have been registered or exempted from registration has ceased to exist, he may publish in the Gazette a notification calling upon such society to furnish him with proof of its existence within three months from the date of such notification. If at the expiration of such three months after such publication, the society has not furnished the Societies Officer with proof of its existence to the satisfaction of the Societies Officer, the Societies Officer may remove the society from the above-mentioned list. From 2007 to 2016, a total of 3 901 societies have been removed from the list by the Societies Officer in accordance with the law due to cessation of existence.

(5) According to the Societies Ordinance, a local society shall apply to the Societies Officer for registration or exemption from registration within one month of its establishment or deemed establishment. The application must include the name, objects and particulars of the office-bearers of the society, as well as the address of the principal place of business of the society and of every place or premises owned or occupied by the society.

     The Societies Ordinance also stipulates that where a society or its branch which has been registered or exempted from registration changes its name, objects, office-bearers or principal place of business or closes a branch which is registered or exempted from registration, the society shall, within one month from such change, inform the Societies Officer in writing of such change. In addition, the Societies Officer may, at any time, by notice in writing served on any society, require the society to furnish him in writing with such information as he may reasonably require for the performance of his functions under this Ordinance. In accordance with relevant provisions, where there is a breach of the above regulations, or if relevant information supplied to the Societies Officer is false, incorrect, or incomplete in any material particular, the person concerned shall be liable on summary conviction to a maximum fine of $10,000 or $20,000.

     In handling the above-mentioned applications, the Societies Office will require an applicant to submit address proof such as utility bill. If the society uses the address of another person or organisation, the applicant is required to additionally submit a letter of consent from the owner or the person-in-charge of the premises concerned, which must contain the signature of the owner or the person-in-charge. The Societies Office will ask the applicant for explanation or clarification if there is any doubt about the information submitted by the applicant. The Societies Office has been reviewing inactive societies which had not contacted it over the past ten years and issuing letters to these societies requesting them to prove that they still exist and to inform of any change of particulars (including address). In the light of Report No. 68 of the Director of Audit issued in April 2017, the Societies Office has now regularised such work of reviewing inactive societies. Moreover, the Societies Office will take follow-up actions upon receipt of a report or complaint about a society's address or other matters. From 2007 to 2016, no case of provision of false addresses in applications for registration of society was found by the Societies Office.

     Since the Societies Ordinance has clearly set out the provisions for regulating societies, the Societies Office has no plan at this stage to request all societies to submit annual returns.
 
Ends/Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Issued at HKT 16:20
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