Dates announced for first round of evidential hearings of Independent Committee in relation to fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po and online pre-registration for public observation
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The Independent Committee in relation to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po announced today (March 3) that it will hold the first round of eight evidential hearings from March 19 to April 2 to receive evidence. Members of the public may pre-register for selected hearings that they wish to observe via the online system from 10am on March 5 to 10am on March 8.
At the direction conference held on February 5, the Chairman of the Committee, Mr Justice David Lok, announced that the evidential hearings would commence on March 19 to hear evidence on matters in accordance with the terms of reference of the Committee. The Committee aims to clarify the relevant facts through oral evidence, written submissions, and other forms of evidence presented by witnesses. This will provide an important basis for the preparation of its report and recommendations.
The schedule for the first round of eight evidential hearings is as follows:
| Date | |
| 1. | March 19 (Thursday) |
| 2. | March 20 (Friday) |
| 3. | March 24 (Tuesday) |
| 4. | March 26 (Thursday) |
| 5. | March 30 (Monday) |
| 6. | March 31 (Tuesday) |
| 7. | April 1 (Wednesday) |
| 8. | April 2 (Thursday) |
The Committee will first hear the opening remarks from the legal teams, which is expected to take a few days. Afterwards, the Committee will hear oral evidence from witnesses (including oral evidence from Wang Fuk Court residents). The Committee will release the list of exact witnesses who will be giving evidence at each date of hearing on its website (www.ic-wangfukcourtfire.gov.hk/eng/timetable.html) nearer the time.
The evidential hearings will be conducted in Cantonese from 10am to 1pm and from 2.15pm to 4.30pm on the aforementioned dates at the Multi-purpose Hall, 3/F, City Gallery, 3 Edinburgh Place, Central. Simultaneous interpretation in Putonghua and English will be provided in the City Gallery.
Some seats of the hearings will be reserved for the involved parties, and some seats will be open to the public to observe the proceedings. To allow more members of the public to attend the hearings, the proceedings will be broadcast simultaneously in transmission areas set up on the ground floor of the City Gallery and in the Lecture Theatre of the Hong Kong Central Library. Some members of the public will be arranged to observe the hearings in these two areas. A total of about 360 seats will be available for public observation in the main venue and the two transmission areas. About half of the seats will be set aside for residents of Wang Fuk Court on a priority basis. Separate arrangements will be made for the media.
To avoid members of the public queuing up outside the venue for a long time, and to allow those who wish to observe the hearings to have certainty of whether seats have been secured before the day of the hearings, individuals (including Wang Fuk Court residents) are required to make an online pre-registration for the first round of hearings (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ic-hearing/en/) from 10am on March 5 to 10am on March 8. Registrants should select on the online registration form the dates that they wish to observe (one or more sessions can be selected) and submit the duly completed form. The Secretariat of the Committee will allocate seats on a first-come, first-served basis according to the system's record of the time that the pre-registration forms are received.
Successful registrants will receive a "Confirmation of Successful Registration" regarding the first round of hearings issued by the Secretariat of the Committee by March 17. An SMS notification will be sent from the sender name "#IC-hearing". If an email address is also provided during pre-registration, an email notification will be sent from hearing@ic-wangfukcourtfire.gov.hk. The pre-registration will be considered unsuccessful for those who have not received a notification by that date. Each person can only pre-register for each day of hearing once. Duplicate registrations will not be processed.
According to the current plan, the Committee will continue to hold evidential hearings in April and afterwards. Details (including the specific dates of the remaining rounds of hearings, the witnesses who will be giving evidence, and the pre-registration arrangements for public observation) will be announced separately at a later date.
The Chief Executive established the Independent Committee in relation to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po to review the causes of the incident and related issues of the fire, and to make recommendations to prevent similar incidents from occurring again. The Committee formally commenced its work on December 19, 2025.
Ends/Tuesday, March 3, 2026
Issued at HKT 17:08
Issued at HKT 17:08
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