Government must stop dragging its feet on an archives law

The ombudsman's report, published last month, recommended that the government enact laws in support of the management of government records and archives, and of a public right of access to government information in Hong Kong. As a former government records service director, I welcome these recommendations.

At long last, we have an independent government body stating what many of us have known and campaigned for over many years, including this newspaper. Namely, that an archives law is an essential component of the infrastructure that ensures accountability and transparency in the conduct of government business as well as contributing to the efficiency and effectiveness of government agencies and services.

The key question now is whether the administration will respond positively to this recommendation and initiate legislation, or use the current review of this subject by the Law Reform Commission's archives subcommittee as an excuse to defer consideration of the issue until the subcommittee has submitted its report - an event that may be a year or more away.

Surely it is no longer a matter of whether an archives law is necessary. The ombudsman's report, as well as that of the director of audit before it, has made it abundantly clear that the existing arrangements and much touted "mandatory" administrative guidelines for the management of government records have failed to deliver what is required. But now it is a matter of what provisions it should contain and how it should be implemented.

If the Law Reform Commission's archives subcommittee still has a role to play, it must be to focus its attention on the content and form of archives legislation and to give a public undertaking (Hong Kong deserves no less) to deliver its recommendations and proposals for legislation within the next six months.

This is an issue of concern to everyone in the Hong Kong community, not just to archivists and historians. Good record-keeping goes to the heart of good government: government that is accountable and transparent in its dealings with and on behalf of the people. And government archives make a vital contribution to documenting and revealing a community's identity through its history - a core value of Hong Kong. We are what we were.