Speech by the Secretary for Justice, Ms. Elsie Leung, JP
at the Closing Ceremony of the 10th Zonta International
District 17 Conference on 7 November 1999

Ladies and gentlemen,

			I am honoured to be invited to speak to you at tonight’s Closing Banquet of the 10th District Conference of District 17 of Zonta International.  This Conference has brought to Hong Kong some 300 Zontians from the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, joining hands with our local Zontians in sharing ideals and cultural values during three days of discussions and fellowship.  I hope that you all have had a good time in Hong Kong and found Hong Kong a hospitable and charming place that you would like to revisit again and again in the future.

			Zonta International is an organization with members sharing the common goal of serving the community.  Zontians are committed to working together to help the less fortune, elevate the status of women, foster sisterhood and mutual help, and uphold justice.  It is in the quest of these ideals that Zonta International has united women from a wide spectrum of professions all over the world.

          I first came to know Zonta Hong Kong  in mid 1970s and joined as a member shortly.  Due to my professional commitments, I was unable to participate in its activities as frequently as I would like to do.  Hence I resigned to give way to more deserving member.  This is what evolution is about : to maintain continuity and at the same time, there must be new blood to keep the Association forward moving. Since then, under the leadership of its many able presidents, and now Sophia, it has grown from strength to strength, forging ahead with its goals and providing valuable services to the community.  

          This is also what is happening in Hong Kong.  The Sino-British Joint Declaration made jointly by the People’s Republic of  China and the United Kingdom ensured that the resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong by China will not affect the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.  For this purpose, it is necessary to provide for continuity of the previous capitalist system and way of life whilst allowing Hong Kong to continue to grow by making it a Special Administrative Region of the PRC which enjoys a high degree of autonomy in the exercise of its executive, legislative and judicial power in accordance with the Basic Law.

          Anything with life must change – growth entails changes.
Whilst the legal system of Hong Kong remains unchanged, laws, in particular the common law, must change with the development of the society, it did not stop at midnight on the 30 June, 1997, otherwise it would become so stagnant that it cannot meet the needs of the society.
With the coming into operation of the Basic Law on the 1 July, 1997, we have now a new constitutional order, created by a piece of legislation passed by the National Peoples Congress of the PRC, in an entirely different jurisdiction.  How the Basic Law interfaces with the domestic laws withover 156 years of history under the colonial rule is by no means simple.  Our experiences in the past 26 months show that the Basic Law can be compatible with the laws of Hong Kong.  There have been teething problems but if we embrace the challenges with fortitude, sagacity and adherence to the principle of “one country, two systems”, these problems will be resolved satisfactorily and will in turn enrich our legal system.

			I am sure that members of Zonta International will have noted that the United Nations Human Rights Committee has recently commented on Hong Kong’s human rights record.  The Administration will of course take those comments very seriously.

         Being an NGO enjoying consultative status in the United Nations, you will recall that Zonta took part in the Fourth World Conference for Women in Beijing in 1995 when over 180 countries came to a consensus on the Beijing Declaration, and those countries comprise the developed and developing countries, Christian and Islamic and other religious beliefs, and countries of different cultures.  How a consensus could be reached spoke for one fact, that is : by comity of nations, member states must try to understand each other and decide on broad principles leaving it to each contracting party to find ways and means to implement them according to the situation of its territory.

         We are not complacent of the criticisms made by the Committee, however, you will appreciate that the Committee’s remarks are directed to concerns as to what might happen and not what has happened.  Before the hand-over, the Fortune Magazine contained an article entitled “Hong Kong is Dead”.  During the short period you are here, you will no doubt agree with me that Hong Kong is not dead but is as lively as ever.  Since the interpretation of certain Basic Law provisions, some politicians proclaimed that “the Rule of Law in Hong Kong is Dead”, but you can see that the Courts still exercise independent judicial power and pronounce judgments for or against the Government without fear or favour and citizens do have access to the Courts even litigation is against the Government.  Despite what the Committee worry about, the rule of law and judicial independence have not been eroded.  You can see demonstration is very much part of the life in Hong Kong.  They are in front of the Central Government Offices and the Legislative Council every week if not every day.  You can see newspapers criticizing the Government, rightly or wrongly, and are not taken to court except when they exceed the boundary of decency or affect the administration of justice.  In fact, the Committee commended Hong Kong for the production of a very comprehensive report, the efforts made in the dissemination of knowledge of the ICCPR and equal opportunities.  In respect of areas in which they expressed their concerns, we explained to them the reasons why those did not amount to a breach of the conventional obligation or what steps are being taken to implement the Convention.  Human rights are in fact well protected in Hong Kong firstly at local level by the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance, secondly at the constitutional level by Article 39 of the Basic Law which entrenches the ICCPR as applied to Hong Kong and thirdly at the international level by the continued application of the ICCPR as applied to Hong Kong.  I hope that our overseas delegates will come back from time to time to see for themselves whether there has been derogation of human rights in Hong Kong because certainly time will tell.

         I have been given to understand that Zontians follow the motto of Henry David Thoreau, that is : “A man’s life should be a stately march to unheard music”, which means that a person should walk the path of life with dignity and order, guided by inner percepts and imperatives that uplift the individuals.  Those who follow the principle will discover harmony within and are thus able to cope with the discords in modern life, which harmony is enhanced by sharing with others and guiding them to do the same.

			As we approach the new millennium, I am sure that all Zontians will continue to share the Zonta spirit with others so that the influence of the “unheard music” will proliferate, for the good of mankind.

			Thank you.