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Gazettal of Adaptation of Laws (No. 17) Bill 1999

The Adaptation of Laws (No. 17) Bill 1999 was published in the Gazette today (Thursday).

The Bill aims at adapting 10 ordinances and their subsidiary legislation relating to the registration of certain medical and health professions and organizations in order to make them consistent with the Basic Law and with Hong Kong's status as a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

Most of the proposed amendments are terminological changes. "For instance, references to 'Governor' and 'Governor in Council' are replaced by 'Chief Executive' and 'Chief Executive in Council' respectively," a Government spokesman said.

"Although the Hong Kong Reunification Ordinance and the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance have set out how the inconsistent references should be construed, it remains undesirable to retain such references in the ordinances. The adaptations facilitate interpretation by dispensing with the need to make cross references," he added.

The 10 ordinances are :

* Dentists Registration Ordinance (Cap. 156)

* Medical Registration Ordinance (Cap. 161)

* Midwives Registration Ordinance (Cap. 162)

* Nurses Registration Ordinance (Cap. 164)

* Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Maternity Homes Registration Ordinance (Cap. 165)

* Child Care Services Ordinance (Cap. 243)

* Supplementary Medical Professions Ordinance (Cap. 359)

* Chiropractors Registration Ordinance (Cap. 428)

* Social Workers Registration Ordinance (Cap. 505)

* Hong Kong Red Cross Ordinance (Cap. 1129)

Subject to Article 12 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights, the adaptations, when passed into law, will take effect retrospectively as from the date of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The Bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council on 30 June 1999.

End/Thursday, June 17, 1999

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