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Newsletter - October 2006
2006-10-17 Dear Colleague LegCo resumed on 11 October with the Chief Executive’s Policy Address, entitled “Proactive, Pragmatic, Always People First”. As the highlights have been fully reported in the media, I will not repeat them here. At the CE Q&A session the next day, I asked Mr. Tsang a more fundamental question. He said that Hong Kong faces three major challenges: sustainable development, democratization and social harmony in the context of globalization. Each of these challenges involves the resolution of conflicting interests and views: how does he intend to go about it? His response was that his past efforts – the Tamar government headquarters project and the constitutional reform package – were thwarted by people who refused to compromise with the government. While I thought the boot is on the other foot, what really matters is that the way he handled such conflicts in the past obviously did not work, and we have to be able to change in order to move forward. With a closed political system, this is hard to achieve. A series of briefings by different policy bureaux follow the policy address. The Secretary for Justice will brief the AJLS Panel on 20 October. Then from 25 to 27 October, LegCo will debate on the traditional “vote of thanks” under 5 policy areas, headed by constitution and government. The most important political event this session is of course the CE election, preceded by the election of the 800-member election Committee. The “milestone” dates are 1 – 8 November 2006 (nomination of candidates for the Election Committee); 10 December 2006 (polling date for the Election Committee); mid-February 2007 (nomination of CE candidate); 25 March 2007 (CE election). A recent amendment in the law requires a “confidence” vote by secret ballot even if there is only one CE candidate. In my view, while this is an improvement, the crucial issue is competition. Much will depend on the new Election Committee. Twenty of the 800 are returned by the Legal Functional Constituency. You can make a difference by standing for election. Please do not miss this chance. A group of organizations and individuals, including Civic Party, has joined hands to promote a contested CE election by fielding a candidate. I believe this is in the interest of Hong Kong’s future. As for my LegCo agenda, I have been re-elected Chairman of the Panel on Administration of Justice and Legal Services, with Mak Lik of DAB as Deputy Chairman. The other panels I have joined are Security, Constitutional Affairs and Public Services. The last mentioned is new for me. I have re-joined the Establishment Sub-Committee. These new moves reflect my concern in the development of our civil service as a vital part of efficient and responsive government. For the legal sector, one of the most important tasks this session is the implementation of the mutual enforcement of judgments between the mainland and the HKSAR. The agreement reached between the two requires legislation to have effect. Another matter is the further progress of the consultation exercise of the CJ’s working group on the higher rights of audience for solicitors. I hope in this session, the question of legal aid fees for criminal matters will be resolved and practitioners will be paid more appropriately. Major changes are taking place in the market for legal services in Hong Kong. There is a serious “livelihood” issue as well as a legal system issue. Not only will the prospect of Hong Kong as a centre for legal services be discussed in the AJLS Panel. I am also very fortunate in getting Huen Wong, a senior practitioner with tremendous experience in the China market, to give a talk on this very topic in a tea gathering on 17 November. Please come and join the discussion. Stephen Wong, who has been busy over reviewing the arbitration ordinance, will discuss potential room for amendment. This is your chance to influence the government! There are many gems in the tea gathering programme I have put together for you. Jimmy Ma, Legal Counsel for LegCo, will speak on the “three readings” legislative process. Christopher Forsyth, learned editor of Wade on Administrative Law, who will be visiting Hong Kong, has agreed to talk on the latest developments in this area of his expertise. Fair competition law is not just a topic for political debate but about to become reality. Mark Williams is one of the few people at the forefront of its development and will give us an introduction. I am glad to say that the tea gathering are getting very popular, but with popularity comes administrative hitches, particularly due to a large number of on-the-spot payment which slowed down processing. My assistants have proposed some necessary measures and we hope you will understand and help us to help others by complying. I have to end with a cheerful confession that I succeeded to indulge myself trying out new recipes during the summer break. It is back to work now and I have no cause for complaint. Margaret Ng |
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