Authorities seek to drop relics of British rule from Hong Kong ordinances in an effort to ‘decolonise’ laws
- Legislators aim to do away with terms such as ‘Letters Patent’ and ‘the Queen’ among others
- Officials slammed for slow pace of ‘decolonising’ laws since reunification with China 25 years ago
Hong Kong authorities are seeking to do away with terms such as “the Queen” and “Letters Patent” in the city’s ordinances as legislators slam officials for the slow pace of “decolonising” the laws since reunification with China 25 years ago.
The Law Reform Commission Secretariat has identified 76 pieces of legislation that need to be adapted, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok told a Legislative Council panel meeting on Monday.
While he could not say for sure how long the adaptation work might take, Lam, who is also the chairman of the commission, said it would adopt an approach of “doing easy issues first before moving on to harder ones”.
So far, seven pieces of legislation have been adapted, including Pilotage (Disciplinary Procedure) Regulations, Merchant Shipping Ordinance, and Road Tunnels (Government) Ordinance, the panel was told.
Fourteen others are set to be incorporated into bills amending existing or enacting new legislation to be introduced in the 2023-24 legislative session.