Author Archives: hksar gov

Attention TV/radio announcers: Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:      The Hong Kong Observatory has issued the Very Hot Weather Warning.      To prevent heat stroke, avoid pro… read more

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (May 30) that the covered spectator stand at Hammer Hill Road Sports Ground in Wong Tai Sin District will be temporarily closed from June 13 to August 31 for imp… read more

     The Development Bureau (DEVB) announced today (May 30) the appointment of 12 non-official members to the Arboriculture and Horticulture Industry Development Advisory Committee (AHIDAC) for a term of two years from June 1, 2022. 

     The new non-official member is Mr Chiky Wong Cheuk-yuet. The re-appointed non-official members are Professor Leslie Chen Hung-chi, Mr Kingsley Choi Lim-cho, Mr Daniel Ho Tat-pui, Ms Iris Hoi, Mr Lai Ka-ming, Dr Allen Lim Miaw-shin, Mr Victor Man Kwok-hing, Mr Ken So Kwok-yin and Dr Peter Yau as well as the Construction Industry Council and the Vocational Training Council.

     A spokesman for the DEVB said, “The AHIDAC comprises a wide range of experienced academics, practitioners and vocational trainers from trade associations, unions, professional groups, and higher education and vocational training institutions in the industry. The Committee offers a broad perspective and valuable insight on a wide range of issues related to the industry’s development.” The spokesman also expressed gratitude to the outgoing non-official member, Mr Ho For-hei.

     Appointed by the Secretary for Development, members of the AHIDAC advise the DEVB on issues related to the Registration Scheme for Tree Management Personnel, the Study Sponsorship Scheme and Trainee Programme under the Urban Forestry Support Fund, as well as development and manpower supply and demand of the arboriculture and horticulture industry.

     The membership of the new term of the AHIDAC is set out below:

Chairperson
————-
Deputy Secretary for Development (Works) 1

Non-official members (individuals)
————————————–
Professor Leslie Chen Hung-chi
Mr Kingsley Choi Lim-cho
Mr Daniel Ho Tat-pui
Ms Iris Hoi
Mr Lai Ka-ming
Dr Allen Lim Miaw-shin
Mr Victor Man Kwok-hing
Mr Ken So Kwok-yin
Mr Chiky Wong Cheuk-yuet*
Dr Peter Yau

Non-official members (institutions)
————————————–
Construction Industry Council
Vocational Training Council
 
Official members
——————-
Head of Greening, Landscape, and Tree Management Section, DEVB
Representative of Education Bureau
Representative of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department
Representative of Highways Department
Representative of Housing Department
Representative of Leisure and Cultural Services Department

* New non-official member read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Law Reform Commission:

     The Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong (LRC) today (May 30) published a report on Sentencing and Related Matters in the Review of Sexual Offences making final recommendations on the penalties for various offences proposed in the report on Review of Substantive Sexual Offences (Report on Sexual Offences); the reform and strengthening of treatment and rehabilitation services for sex offenders in Hong Kong; and the optimisation of the Sexual Conviction Record Check Scheme (SCRC Scheme) since it has come into operation in December 2011 as an administrative scheme.

     The report follows a study by the LRC’s Review of Sexual Offences Sub-committee, chaired by Mr Peter Duncan, SC, which issued a consultation paper on sentencing and related matters in November 2020. The Sub-committee has studied the legislation and relevant practices in Hong Kong, and compared them with corresponding legislation and practices in a number of overseas jurisdictions, namely, Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Scotland and New Zealand. The responses to the consultation paper have been taken into account in formulating the final recommendations in the report.

     Some of the main final recommendations contained in the report are:

(1) The current penalties for the existing offences of rape and incest should continue to apply to the recommended offences of sexual penetration without consent and incest.

(2) There is no final recommendation on the penalties for the proposed offences of voyeurism and non-consensual upskirt-photography as the Legislative Council had already enacted the Crimes (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 which covers, among others, the offences of voyeurism and non-consensual photography of intimate parts or private acts, both for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification and irrespective of the purpose, with a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment. With regard to the penalties for the remaining new offences proposed in the Report on Sexual Offences, they are to be set by reference to the penalties for the corresponding offences in the respective overseas jurisdictions with suitable adjustments.

(3) The current specialised treatment and rehabilitation programmes for sex offenders available on a voluntary basis at the Correctional Services Department should be maintained.

(4) The Government should review and consider the introduction of an incentive scheme for sex offenders in correctional institutions for increasing motivation for treatment and behavioural change.

(5) The provision of specialised post-release supervision to discharged sex offenders under the existing statutory schemes administered by the Post-Release Supervision Board and the Long-term Prison Sentences Review Board should be maintained.

(6) The current SCRC Scheme should be optimised by extending it to cover all existing employees, self-employed persons and volunteers, and the Government should extend the SCRC Scheme to its fullest and evaluate the need to make it a mandatory scheme at an appropriate time.

(7) The SCRC Scheme should not be extended to include “spent” convictions in order to give offenders of relatively minor sexual offences the chance to rehabilitate in accordance with the spirit of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance (Cap 297).

     The report and the executive summary can be accessed on the website of the LRC at www.hkreform.gov.hk. Hard copies are also available on request from the Secretariat of the LRC at 4/F, East Wing, Justice Place, 18 Lower Albert Road, Central, Hong Kong. read more

     The Government yesterday (May 29) exercised the power under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation (Cap. 599J) to make a “restriction-testing declaration” effective from 6pm yesterday, under which people (hereafter referred to as “persons subject to compulsory testing”) within the specified “restricted area” in  Kwun Tong (i.e. Tsui Yue House, Tsui Ping (North) Estate, Kwun Tong, excluding Tsui Ping North Shopping Circuit) were required to stay in their premises and undergo compulsory testing. Persons subject to compulsory testing are required to stay in their premises until all such persons identified in the “restricted area” have undergone testing and the test results are mostly ascertained. All persons in the “restricted area” who have tested positive in the past 14 days, including positive cases identified either by nucleic acid tests that have been recorded by the Department of Health (DH) or by rapid antigen tests that have been self-declared to the DH, were not be required to undergo testing in this compulsory testing exercise.
 
     In addition, the Government issued a compulsory testing notice yesterday, requiring any person who had been present at the building for more than two hours from May 23 to May 29, 2022, even if they were not present in the “restricted area” at the time when the declaration took effect, to undergo compulsory testing on or before May 31, 2022. As a mutant strain is involved, for prudence’s sake, vaccinated persons and persons who have recently been tested were also required to undergo testing.
 
     The Government finished the compulsory testing exercise at around 10am today (May 30) and is now carrying out enforcement actions in the “restricted area” to verify that all people in the “restricted area” have undergone compulsory testing. The Government will further announce the revocation time of the declaration.
 
     Starting from around 10am today, persons in the specified “restricted area” in Kwun Tong who have undergone testing and are able to present SMS notifications with negative test results as proof of having undergone testing may leave the “restricted area” through the designated exit after providing personal information to a prescribed officer.
 
     The Government set up temporary specimen collection stations in the “restricted area” yesterday and requested persons subject to compulsory testing to collect combined nasal and throat swab samples at the stations to undergo a COVID-19 virus test before 11.30pm yesterday. 813 people within the “restricted area” had undergone testing, among which no case tested positive.  
 
     Moreover, the Government also assigned staff to visit 392 households within the “restricted area”, among which 72 households did not answer the door. The Government will take measures to follow up.
 
     The Government reiterates that enforcement actions will be taken seriously. Any person who fails to present an SMS notification with a test result as proof of having undergone testing breaches the compulsory testing notice and may be liable to a fine of $10,000. The person will also be issued with a compulsory testing order, requiring him/her to undergo testing within a specified time frame. Failure to comply with the compulsory testing order or the “restriction-testing declaration” is an offence and the offender may be liable to a fine of level 5 ($50,000) and imprisonment for six months. read more