China News Service, Hong Kong, October 22. The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region continued to deliberate on the Statutory Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019 (Bill) on the 22nd.
The President of the Legislative Council, Leung Junyan, crossed the line at 4 pm. The motion was finally passed with 38 votes in favor and 18 votes against it.
The bill involves changing the application for leave to appeal and the hearing of appeals for the granting of leave for judicial review, from three judges to two judges, and aims to help the judiciary handle appeal cases as soon as possible.
The Administration Office of the Judiciary, which proposed the amendment, stated that the number of civil cases has risen sharply in recent years, especially judicial review cases originating from non-refoulement claims, which has put tremendous pressure on the workload of the judicial institution.
In order to ensure that all cases can be dealt with as quickly and effectively as reasonably practicable, the Judiciary has reviewed certain procedures for legal proceedings in the High Court and recommended amendments to the relevant bills.
The Government submitted the bill to the Legislative Council in accordance with the above recommendations. The bill was gazetted on December 27, 2019 and formally submitted to the Legislative Council for deliberation on January 15, 2020.
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