Following is a question by the Hon Carmen Kan and a written reply by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, in the Legislative Council today (December 4):
 
Question:
 
     It has been reported that some users of the eMPF Platform (the Platform) have relayed that they have encountered problems in handling contributions and other administrative tasks when using the Platform, including employers' contributions not being displayed instantly in employees' accounts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it knows if the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) has set up a complaint handling mechanism for the Platform; if MPFA has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(2) whether it knows the following monthly data and its month-on-month rate of change of the Platform since its launch (set out in a table):
 
(i) the number of complaints received by MPFA (set out by nature and handling progress), as well as the handling time of the cases that have been handled and whether such cases have been completed within the target time set out in the service pledge;

(ii) the number of digitally processed transactions and administrative instructions received via the Platform (set out by type of instructions, type of users, handling progress and handling time), and the percentage of such number in the estimated total number of instructions received (estimated on the basis of the number of onboarded trustees); and

(iii) the number of paper-based transactions and administrative instructions submitted (set out by type of instructions, type of users, handling progress and handling time), and the percentage of such number in the estimated total number of instructions received (estimated on the basis of the number of onboarded trustees);
 
(3) regarding the problems encountered by the aforesaid users in using the Platform, whether it knows:
 
(i) if MPFA has identified the causes; if MPFA has, of the details and the relevant solutions (set out by nature of the problems); if not, the reasons for that;

(ii) the number of users affected (set out by nature of the problems and type of users); and

(iii) the relevant amounts in dispute and the mechanism for claiming compensation;

(4) as the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury has indicated earlier on the social platform that he has demanded prompt response and action from MPFA, the eMPF Platform Company Limited (eMPF Company) and the contractor of the Platform project to the relevant problems, of the progress of the relevant work, and how the authorities will give an account to the public;

(5) given that section 19K of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance (Cap. 485) sets out the general duties of the system operator of an electronic MPF system, what punishment mechanism the Government and MPFA have put in place for the system operator that fails to discharge such duties; how the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau will step up its efforts in supervising the system operator, so as to ensure that similar problems with the aforesaid Platform system will not recur;

(6) given that according to the Framework for Regulatory Oversight of the Operation of an Electronic MPF System issued by MPFA, the system operator is required to report significant events/incidents and submit a written report to MPFA, whether it knows the clear definition of significant events/incidents, and the content to be covered in the relevant report (e.g. whether it will analyse who should be held responsible for the incidents and elaborate on the legal responsibilities to be discharged under the contractual agreement when the contractor of the system is to be held responsible); and

(7) as the eMPF Company has indicated that before the launch of the Platform, it had engaged an independent consultant to conduct an independent assessment on the Platform and confirmed that the Platform system was ready for use, whether the authorities have examined the reasons why there are still problems with the Platform system after completion of the independent assessment and confirmation of its readiness?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     In consultation with the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA), our reply to the seven parts of the question is as follows.
 
(1) The eMPF Platform has a comprehensive complaint handling mechanism. Employers and scheme members may lodge complaints through various channels, including the eMPF mobile application and online platform, the eMPF customer service hotline, email, and post. Upon receipt of the complaints, the eMPF Platform Company Limited (eMPF Company) and the contractor will conduct thorough investigations in accordance with the established procedures, and will notify the complainants of relevant results upon completion of investigations.
 
(2) As at end-November this year, key figures pertinent to the eMPF Platform's operation are as follows:
 
(i) Number of complaints received
 

 
     Over half of the complaints were already processed, with an average processing time of about ten working days. Longer processing time was required for more complicated cases. eMPF Company has already instructed that the contractor must continue to refine the complaint handling mechanism. Measures already implemented include arranging dedicated customer service staff to follow up on cases and maintain close communication with complainants, and strengthening the liaison and co-ordination between the staff of the contractor and its sub-contractor, etc, so as to expedite the processing of complaint cases. MPFA and eMPF Company will continue to closely monitor the complaint handling mechanism of the eMPF Platform to ensure that scheme members' MPF assets are fully protected.
 
(ii) Number of administrative instructions processed
 

 
(iii) Average processing time of administrative instructions (Note)
 

Note: Including the time required for handling back-end tasks upon receipt of administrative instructions, such as verifying MPF contribution information and/or supporting documents submitted by Platform users, and sending subscription instructions to trustees and the lead time required for them to complete the fund subscription process based on the relevant instructions, etc. The various service pledges of the eMPF Platform have been uploaded onto the Platform's official website for public reference.
 
(3) and (7) Prior to the official launch of the eMPF Platform, eMPF Company has not only requested the contractor to conduct numerous internal testing but also engaged an independent consultant to conduct an external assessment on the Platform to provide additional and objective assurance on system readiness for the commencement of trustee onboarding. Final results from the independent assessment indicated at that time that the Platform's system attained readiness in terms of software development, testing and operation, and that MPF trustees could commence onboarding to the Platform in an orderly manner from end-June this year.
 
     Since the launch of the eMPF Platform in end-June this year, MPFA and eMPF Company have been continuously reviewing the Platform's operation to ensure its robustness and reliability. As at end-November this year, the Platform has successfully processed over 103 000 administrative instructions. In response to the feedback from employers and scheme members on the user interface/user experience, the contractor has, at eMPF Company's request, implemented a series of enhancement measures to improve service quality, including providing clearer guidelines on contributions on the Platform, shortening the default recordings of the customer service hotline, as well as refining the facial recognition software to simplify the eMPF Platform registration process under the premise of ensuring the safety of users' personal data.
 
     eMPF Company is aware of the situation encountered by users at the initial stage of using the eMPF Platform to handle contributions and other administrative work, including cases where contributions were not timely reflected in scheme members' account balance after contributions had been made by employers. Employers and scheme members may not be fully familiarised with the Platform's functions, such as inputting incomplete information or not fully complying with the system requirements when making contributions, resulting in the contributions received not being immediately displayed on the user interface. eMPF Company has actively followed up on these cases and taken additional measures, including assigning dedicated officers to help the employers concerned to familiarise with the Platform's specific operation as soon as possible.
 
     If it is assessed that losses are attributable to the fault of the Platform, eMPF Company will handle the cases in accordance with the established mechanism and make appropriate compensation having regard to the relevant terms and conditions. Since cases involving claims for compensation contain commercially sensitive information, eMPF Company cannot disclose the relevant information.
 
(4) The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) attaches great importance to the situations encountered by employers and employees when they first used the eMPF Platform to process MPF contributions and perform other administrative work, including the failure of having the relevant contributions reflected in employees' account balances timely after employers' making contributions. eMPF Platform's functions are most crucial to the retirement savings of over four million scheme members. To provide the public with timely information about the incident details, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, MPFA Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer of eMPF Company already published articles on official social media platform, online blog and newspaper on November 13, November 17 and November 20 respectively to explain the root causes of the incidents and the follow-up actions taken by various parties, and will continue to disclose major incidents pertinent to the Platform in a pragmatic and open manner in the future.
 
     The FSTB considers any incident that may affect scheme members' MPF accrued benefits unacceptable, and has immediately instructed MPFA, eMPF Company and the contractor to promptly respond to the situation, analyse the root cause of the issue, and take corresponding enhancement measures, so as to ensure that scheme members' MPF assets are fully protected.
 
     eMPF Company and the contractor have proactively contacted the relevant employer and employees concerned to offer assistance, and have addressed the issues involved, with MPF contributions made by the relevant employer for June to October fully reflected in employees' account balance. Upon receipt of cases involving assistance requests, enquiries and complaints from eMPF Platform users, both eMPF Company and the contractor would conduct in-depth analysis of the root causes of the issues and take corresponding enhancement measures to ensure that similar problems will not recur in the future.
 
     To enhance the eMPF Platform's service quality, eMPF Company and the contractor have already implemented a series of enhancement measures, including setting up an eMPF contribution enquiry hotline (3197 2834) dedicated to enquiries from employers and employees on contributions, as well as strengthening staff training and enhancing the reporting mechanism for exceptional cases (e.g. incomplete information), etc, with a view to providing better customer service. eMPF Company will continue to provide appropriate and timely support to employers and scheme members, including arranging outreach teams to strengthen communication with employers to ensure that the employers concerned can make contributions successfully. At the same time, eMPF Company will strengthen its supervision on the contractor's work and continue to improve the system, and co-ordinate the relevant collaboration among different MPF trustees to ensure smooth operation of the Platform.
 
(5) and (6) As the system operator of the eMPF Platform, eMPF Company must fulfill the statutory obligations set out in section 19K of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance (Cap. 485) (the Ordinance). The Ordinance also provides a framework to ensure that these statutory obligations are properly discharged in accordance with the applicable standards. As far as the eMPF Platform's operation is concerned, eMPF Company's performance is subject to the stringent supervision of MPFA pursuant to section 6E(1)(ec) of the Ordinance. According to the Framework for Regulatory Oversight of the Operation of an Electronic MPF System (Regulatory Framework) published by MPFA, eMPF Company is required to submit a detailed report to MPFA within three specified working days after becoming aware of the significant events/incidents as follows –
 
(i) events that are caused by eMPF Company or trustees leading to non-compliance with the Operating Rules or Service Agreements which may have a materially adverse effect (e.g. financial impact) to the interests of scheme members or could pose risk to the administration and operation of the eMPF Platform;
 
(ii) breaches of other statutory and regulatory requirements, such as the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615);
 
(iii) system failures which affect eMPF Company or trustees to discharge its/their duties; and
 
(iv) events that may have material impacts on the interests of scheme members or employers (e.g. having an adverse financial impact on employers or scheme members, loss or leakage of data, cyber-attack, fraud, etc).
 
     The content of the report should cover key facts, causes and impacts of the significant event/incident, as well as the mitigating measures already taken/to be taken by eMPF Company in handling that event or incident. eMPF Company is also required to submit an assurance report issued by a third party confirming that it has duly fulfilled the relevant statutory obligations. Upon receipt of the report, MPFA will conduct thorough investigation, including determining the share of responsibilities. If it is confirmed after investigation that the incident was attributable to the fault or negligence of the contractor, the contractor will have to fulfil the relevant contractual obligations, including making compensations in accordance with the established mechanism.
 
     Where appropriate, MPFA will provide recommendations to eMPF Company to facilitate its compliance with the various requirements set under the Regulatory Framework. MPFA will continue to closely monitor the implementation progress of these recommendations. If eMPF Company fails to execute these recommendations effectively, MPFA may exercise its power to require eMPF Company to take specific actions within a specified period of time or adopt other necessary follow-up measures on eMPF Company.

     â€‹A spokesman for the Security Bureau said today (December 4) that the Government will publish the Protection of Critical Infrastructures (Computer Systems) Bill in the Gazette on Friday (December 6) and introduce it into the Legislative Council for First Reading and Second Reading on December 11.
      
     The spokesman said, "Critical infrastructures are infrastructures that are necessary for the maintenance of normal functioning of society and the normal life of the people. The Bill seeks to impose statutory requirements on designated operators of critical infrastructures to ensure they take appropriate measures to protect their computer systems and minimise the chance of essential services being disrupted or compromised due to cyberattacks, thereby maintaining the normal functioning of Hong Kong society and the normal life of the people. This is conducive to enhancing overall computer-system security in Hong Kong.
      
     "The statutory obligations under the Bill are grouped into three categories, namely, organisational obligations, preventive obligations, and incident reporting and response obligations. Operators of critical infrastructures are required to set up dedicated management units to oversee their computer-system security, and take preventive measures to enhance their resilience against cyberattacks. When a computer-system security incident occurs, the operator shall report it to the Commissioner's Office responsible for enforcing the Ordinance, and at the same time take its own response measures to restore the systems in accordance with the emergency response plan it submitted. The Commissioner's Office may provide timely assistance and take remedial measures to contain the problem and minimise the chance of affecting other critical infrastructures, so as to maintain the normal operations in Hong Kong society and the normal life of the people."
      
     The spokesman emphasised, "In drafting the Bill, reference has been made to relevant legislation of other jurisdictions to establish a regulatory model suitable for Hong Kong. The operators of critical infrastructures to be regulated will be those necessary for the continuous provision of essential services or maintaining critical societal and economic activities in Hong Kong, most of which are large organisations. Small and medium enterprises and the general public will not be regulated. The purpose of these statutory obligations to be imposed is to safeguard the security of the computer systems that are critical to the core functions of the critical infrastructure, and in no way target personal data and trade secrets."
      
     The spokesman added, "The Security Bureau has started consulting various stakeholders since 2023 and has organised more than 30 consultation sessions so far. The Bureau also consulted the Panel on Security of the Legislative Council in July this year and launched a one-month consultation exercise. The Bureau reported the outcome of the consultation to the Panel on Security of the Legislative Council in October this year and incorporated the views received into the Bill as appropriate. On the whole, the stakeholders and society have responded positively to the legislation."

     Following is a question by the Hon Chau Siu-chung and a written reply by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, in the Legislative Council today (December 4):
 
Question:
 
     It is learnt that the eMPF Platform (the Platform) formally came into operation on June 26 this year. Regarding the operation of the Platform, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it knows the following information about the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) trustees who have joined the Platform: the respective numbers of (a) members of the MPF schemes under their management (including (i) employees and (ii) self-employed persons) and (b) participating employers (including (i) large enterprises or organisations and (ii) small and medium enterprises), and (c) MPF accounts;

(2) whether it knows the number of transactions and administrative instructions processed under the Platform since the commencement of the Platform, together with a breakdown by nature (including but not limited to (a) contributions, (b) changes in investment portfolios, and (c) withdrawal of MPF benefits);

(3) whether it knows the following information about the eMPF Customer Service Hotline and eMPF Contribution Inquiry Hotline respectively: the number of service hotlines/inquiry hotlines, the number of staff dedicated to answering the service hotlines/inquiry hotlines, the average number of inquiries handled per day and the average waiting time for incoming calls;

(4) as it has been reported that some users of the Platform have relayed the situations such as the failure to display the MPF contribution records in their accounts, whether the authorities know the respective numbers of (a) inquiries and (b) complaints received by the company responsible for operating the Platform in respect of the Platform's operation, and set out in the table below a breakdown by (i) type of inquirers or complainants (i.e. (A) MPF scheme members and (B) participating employers) and (ii) nature of cases (such as failure to display contribution records); among such complaints received, of the number of cases which had been handled and its percentage, as well as the average time taken for handling each of the cases;
 

 
(5) whether it knows if the company responsible for operating the Platform and the project contractor of the Platform have, since the commissioning of the Platform, examined and discovered loopholes in the system of the Platform that affect users' experience in using the platform; if they have, of the details, including the nature of the loopholes and the follow-up work concerned; whether the Government knows if the company responsible for operating the platform has stepped up efforts in publicity and promotion among employees, self-employed persons and employers, so as to enhance the knowledge of more relevant stakeholders about the use of the Platform; if the company has, of the details; and

(6) given that in the reply to my question on March 15 last year, the authorities indicated that the initiative of paying MPF contributions for employees and self-employed persons exempted from making MPF contributions due to low income would be implemented after the full operation of the Platform, and it is learnt that the Platform is expected to come into full operation within next year, of the Government's measures in place to ensure that the Platform can come into full operation as scheduled for the smooth implementation of the aforesaid initiative of making MPF contributions on behalf of employees and self-employed persons?

Reply:
 
President,
 
     In consultation with the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) and the Labour and Welfare Bureau (LWB), our reply to the six parts of the question is as follows.
 
(1) As at end-November this year, five "early adopters" and the five Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) schemes under their administration, involving a total of about 7 900 employer accounts and about 262 000 scheme member accounts (including employees and self-employed persons), have onboarded to the eMPF Platform successfully. On average, there were about 33 scheme member accounts under each employer account. These employers, employees and self-employed persons will gradually register for the eMPF Platform and set up accounts to utilise the one-stop electronic MPF management services offered by the Platform.
 
(2) As at end-November this year, the eMPF Platform already processed over 103 000 administrative instructions, with details as follows:
 

 
(3) The eMPF customer service hotline (183 2622) launched on April 19 this year operates over 260 lines manned by 55 dedicated staff. As at end-November this year, the customer service hotline received a total of over 38 000 enquiries, and handled a daily average of over 400 enquiries with an average waiting time of about 10 seconds. The eMPF contribution enquiry hotline (3197 2834) launched in end-October this year operates 16 lines manned by six dedicated staff for enquiries from employers and employees regarding contributions. As at end-November this year, the contribution enquiry hotline received a total of about 400 enquiries, and handled a daily average of about 30 enquiries. The eMPF Platform Company Limited (eMPF Company) will continue to closely monitor the actual utilisation of the two hotlines, and will, on a need basis, request the contractor to ramp up its manpower resources to provide customer services of quality.
 
     Details of the 38 400 enquiries handled by the eMPF Platform as at end-November this year are as follows:
 

     Hotline enquiries were generally handled instantly. For written enquiries, the average processing time was about three to five working days, with longer processing time required for more complicated cases.
 
(4) As at end-November this year, details of received complaints concerning the eMPF Platform are as follows:
 

 
     Over half of the complaints were already processed, with an average processing time of about 10 working days. Longer processing time was required for more complicated cases. eMPF Company has already instructed that the contractor must continue to refine the complaint handling mechanism. Measures already implemented include arranging dedicated customer service staff to follow up on cases and maintain close communication with complainants, and strengthening the liaison and co-ordination between the staff of the contractor and its sub-contractor, etc, so as to expedite the processing of complaint cases. MPFA and eMPF Company will continue to closely monitor the complaint handling mechanism of the eMPF Platform to ensure that scheme members' MPF assets are fully protected.
 
(5) Prior to the official launch of the eMPF Platform, eMPF Company has not only requested the contractor to conduct numerous internal testing but also engaged an independent consultant to conduct an external assessment on the Platform to provide additional and objective assurance on system readiness for the commencement of trustee onboarding. Final results from the independent assessment indicated at that time that the Platform's system attained readiness in terms of software development, testing and operation, and that MPF trustees could commence onboarding to the Platform in an orderly manner from end-June this year.
 
     Since the launch of the eMPF Platform in end-June this year, MPFA and eMPF Company have been continuously reviewing the Platform's operation to ensure its robustness and reliability. As at end-November this year, the Platform has successfully processed over 103 000 administrative instructions. In response to the feedback from employers and scheme members on the user interface/user experience, the contractor has, at eMPF Company's request, implemented a series of enhancement measures to improve service quality, including providing clearer guidelines on contributions on the Platform, shortening the default recordings of the customer service hotline, as well as refining the facial recognition software to simplify the eMPF Platform registration process under the premise of ensuring the safety of users' personal data.
 
     eMPF Company is aware of the situation encountered by users at the initial stage of using the eMPF Platform to handle contributions and other administrative work, including cases where contributions were not timely reflected in scheme members' account balance after contributions had been made by employers. Employers and scheme members may not be fully familiarised with the Platform's functions, such as inputting incomplete information or not fully complying with the system requirements when making contributions, resulting in the contributions received not being immediately displayed on the user interface. eMPF Company has actively followed up on these cases and taken additional measures, including assigning dedicated officers to help the employers concerned to familiarise with the Platform's specific operation as soon as possible.
 
     To prepare for the gradual onboarding of the remaining MPF trustees with larger sizes of assets-under-management (AUM) from early next year, MPFA and eMPF Company will set up standing user group to gauge feedback from employers and scheme members in a systematic manner on the user interface/user experience after their trial use, with a view to continuously improving the Platform's services. At the same time, MPFA and eMPF Company are also devising online and offline publicity plans of large scale, and will continue to collaborate with different stakeholders, such as local groups, trade associations, labour groups, large enterprises, small and medium enterprises, and public bodies, etc, to publicise and promote the eMPF Platform to employers and scheme members, such that they will be familiarised with specific operation of the various functionalities of the Platform prior to onboarding.
 
(6) The eMPF Platform is a critical public financial infrastructure closely tied to the retirement protection of all Hong Kong people. The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) has been keeping a close eye on the Project progress and system quality, and has been monitoring the contractor's performance and tendering advice on an ongoing basis through actively participating in the Board meetings of MPFA and eMPF Company. The two Boards comprise representatives from the FSTB and the LWB, members of the Legislative Council, employers' and employees' representatives, as well as professionals in different areas, including legal, accounting, finance and technology, etc. The FSTB will continue to work closely with MPFA and eMPF Company to oversee the contractor's performance and Platform operation to ensure that scheme members' MPF assets are fully protected. The FSTB will also continue to closely monitor the regular testing conducted by MPFA and eMPF Company on the eMPF Platform, and will continue to arrange the remaining trustees to onboard to the eMPF Platform in an orderly manner (in ascending order of their AUM size) having regard to the actual circumstances. The target remains to achieve full implementation of the Platform within 2025.
 
     The initiative of paying MPF contributions for low-income persons could only be implemented upon the full implementation of the eMPF Platform. Since this initiative will involve a gigantic number of eligible persons and MPF accounts, the LWB plans to engage a third-party consultant to conduct a detailed study, which will cover technical and actuarial assessments. The technical assessment aims to ensure that the implementation details of the relevant proposal are technically feasible and will not affect the long-term operation of the eMPF Platform, whereas the actuarial assessment will analyse and assess the sustainability of the initiative as well as the financial implications on the Government. The LWB will carefully consider the way forward upon completion of the consultancy study.

     The Education Bureau (EDB) today (December 4) announced that parents of Primary Six (P6) students participating in the current (2025) cycle of the Secondary School Places Allocation (SSPA) who wish to apply for Secondary One (S1) Discretionary Places (DP) in government, aided and caput secondary schools as well as Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) secondary schools participating in the SSPA System for their children have to submit the applications to the secondary schools concerned between January 2 and 16, 2025.

Digitalisation of SSPA
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     Parents who have registered as SSPA e-platform (eSSPA) (esspa.edb.gov.hk) users and bound their account to "iAM Smart+" may browse choice-making information starting from tomorrow (December 5), and submit DP applications and view application results via the eSSPA at a later stage. The EDB encourages parents to register with "iAM Smart+" (www.iamsmart.gov.hk/en/reg.html) as early as possible and activate their eSSPA account using "iAM Smart+" for more convenient and faster electronic services.

     To cater for the needs of different parents, paper application forms will continue to be accepted, and primary schools participating in the SSPA System have been informed to collect copies of the Application Forms for Secondary One Discretionary Places (application forms) and the Handbook for Application for Secondary One Discretionary Places (Handbook) tomorrow. Parents of P6 students will each receive two paper application forms from their children's primary school. For students not studying in primary schools participating in the SSPA System (including newly arrived children and dependants under various talent admission schemes who are eligible for participating in the SSPA), their parents can obtain the application forms at the School Places Allocation (SPA) Section of the EDB.

Submission of S1 DP applications
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     An EDB spokesman said, "Parents are encouraged to submit the application forms and other required documents to secondary schools via the eSSPA. If parents prefer submitting paper application forms and other necessary documents in person, they should note the school office hours."

     The two electronic or paper application forms that parents will receive will show Order of School Preference 1 and School Preference 2 respectively. Order of School Preference 1 stands for the student's first-choice school and Order of School Preference 2 stands for the student's second-choice school. In all circumstances, primary and secondary schools should not request students or parents to disclose their order of preference. Likewise, applicants and their parents should not disclose their order of preference to schools.

     The spokesman reminded parents to read carefully the Notes for Parents on Application for Secondary One Discretionary Places. Parents should not submit applications to more than two secondary schools participating in the SSPA no matter whether the applications are submitted via the eSSPA or in paper application form. Otherwise, the DP applications of their children will be rendered void. In addition, parents should not submit duplicate applications via the eSSPA and in paper application form for the same child. 

     The spokesman said, "The schools to which parents apply for DPs are not restricted by districts. Parents are strongly advised to consider the schools in all respects, such as their educational philosophy, tradition, religion, class structure, admission criteria, development and operation, and their children's characteristics, personalities, abilities and interests to make a suitable school choice. Parents may refer to the relevant information in the Secondary School Profiles (www.chsc.hk/secondary) or school websites for reference.

     "Students who are successful in the DP application stage will not be allocated a school place in central allocation (CA). Parents should, therefore, apply to schools of their preference. The EDB will match students' preferences against schools' Successful/Reserve Lists for Discretionary Places. If a student is successful in both schools to which he or she has applied, allocation will be based on the student's order of preference."

Notification arrangements for successful DP applicants
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     The spokesman reminded that under the notification arrangements for successful DP applicants, if students are included by participating secondary schools in their Successful Lists for Discretionary Places, their parents will receive notifications from the schools on March 31, 2025. Parents who have registered as eSSPA users may also view notifications for successful DP applicants via the eSSPA starting from 10am on the same day. Parents do not need to reply to the secondary schools whether they would accept the DP offers. The allocation results of DP and CA will be released at the same time on July 8, 2025.

Enquiries
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     For the list of secondary schools accepting DP applications and the number of DPs for application, parents may ask for the Handbook from primary schools for reference or obtain the latest version of the Handbook through the EDB website (www.edb.gov.hk) and the fax service of the EDB's 24-hour Automatic Telephone Enquiry System on 2891 0088.

     If parents have enquiries about DP applications, they are advised to consult their children's primary schools or the secondary schools to which they apply. For general enquiries, parents may contact the SPA Section (SSPA) of the EDB (Tel: 2832 7740 and 2832 7700; address: Podium Floor, West Block, Education Bureau Kowloon Tong Education Services Centre, 19 Suffolk Road, Kowloon Tong).

     The Department of Justice today (December 4) gave notice to the Legislative Council (LegCo) of its intention to move a motion to seek the LegCo's approval of the Criminal Procedure (Appeal against Ruling of No Case to Answer) Rules at the LegCo meeting on January 8, 2025. The Rules were made by the Criminal Procedure Rules Committee under section 9 of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance (Cap. 221) on November 14, 2024. The Rules set out the relevant procedural matters for the new "no case to answer" appeal mechanism under the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Ordinance 2023. The new appeal mechanism allows the prosecution to appeal against rulings of no case to answer made by the Court of First Instance (CFI) of the High Court in criminal trials with a jury.

     A spokesman for the Department of Justice said that the new "no case to answer" appeal mechanism addresses the lacuna in the criminal appeal system due to the prosecution's inability to appeal against erroneous rulings of no case to answer made by judges of the CFI in jury trials. To facilitate its smooth operation, a new set of procedural rules has to be made for such appeals before the relevant provisions of the Amendment Ordinance come into effect.

     Relevant stakeholders including the Law Society of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Bar Association and the Legal Aid Department were consulted, and they welcomed the implementation of the Rules. The Department of Justice has also issued an information paper to the LegCo Panel on Administration of Justice and Legal Services in July this year to brief members of the Panel on the proposed draft rules.

      Subject to the LegCo's approval of the Rules, the Department of Justice will bring the relevant provisions of the Amendment Ordinance and the Rules into operation as soon as practicable.