【Benefits with grace】How does the Department of Justice improve the quality of Hong Kong's governance?

Senior counsel Lin Dingguo is the Secretary for Justice, which is very suitable from the perspective of the rule of law; Solicitor Zhang Guojun is the Deputy Secretary for Justice, and he can also divide the labor with Lin Dingguo more closely.

The Secretary for Justice directly manages the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice has an often overlooked role in influencing governance. It is responsible for drafting all external contracts of the government, from government tenders to various types of contracts, which are drafted and supervised by the Department of Justice.

In order to develop the innovation and technology industry in Hong Kong, the government must promote high-quality governance. In addition to defending the rule of law, the Department of Justice is also responsible for drafting contracts and providing legal services for various government departments. The government and large-scale construction companies must sign contracts through the Department of Justice .

Well, in recent years, there have been project overruns and various problems in Hong Kong, which are also related to the Department of Justice to a certain extent, reflecting that the various contracts signed by the Hong Kong government have not caught up with the times.

In many cases, government officials just drafted contracts with an overly safe law, rather than looking at the overall interests of Hong Kong.

The MTR, the West Kowloon Cultural District, the Trade Development Council and other public institutions also follow the text of the government project contract. As a result, Hong Kong often signs public projects and only focuses on offloading responsibilities instead of meeting certain standards in cost control. .

This is a very complex legal and professional issue, but it seems that the Department of Justice has not dealt with it properly since the return.

How can the government effectively use public funds and save money in the future?

In drafting contract legislation, the Legal Department needs to conduct a systematic review.

On the other hand, how do some special services in Hong Kong, such as those related to information technology, meet the needs of technological development?

The current legal framework for contracts of the Hong Kong government is based on the model of the 1990s and has not been updated.

There is a lot of legal drafting work, and no preliminary research has been done yet, and there is no set of procedures for how to set up contracts related to information technology.

For another example, many building regulations in Hong Kong are very backward. In contrast, the United Kingdom has updated all their building regulations in recent years to meet the standards of information technology, especially the emergence of AI and automated factories.

To promote Industry 5.0 in Hong Kong, the current Buildings Ordinance must be updated.

How to push?

What role should the Department of Justice play?

What role should the Buildings Department play?

There are many planning regulations. For example, the Education Bureau wants to promote early childhood education and draft some laws. How should we do it?

The mainland has made a lot of updates in recent years. There are corresponding laws on environmental protection, sustainable development, big data, etc., but Hong Kong is basically blank in legal research.

In the process of turning policies into legal texts, the Department of Justice needs to understand policies before they know how to draft them well.

So should the Department of Justice open up more research on legal policies, and explore how one country, two systems, civil law and common law interact at a higher level?

These require very academic and professional research.

In fact, the Bar Association should play the role of a think tank. Only through continuous research and practical updates can it be able to improve and maintain its competitiveness, and only then can it actively safeguard the rule of law.

How to maintain Hong Kong as an arbitration legal center?

How to train legal talents?

This also involves a lot of research and analysis work. It does not mean that it is done.

If you want to train arbitrators, how should colleges and universities cooperate?

How to develop different types of legal talents?

What is the function of a barrister?

How can various legal professionals such as judges, barristers, solicitors and cooperating with arbitration do well?

In general, the Attorney General needs to be updated to move away from the passive mode of colonial rule.

First, we must create a blueprint for the layout of legal talents, so that there are talents who can promote the rule of law; second, the government can play an active and constructive role in the process of drafting legislation; third, we must review how public works contracts protect Hong Kong's public resources Fourth, to promote the legal support required by Hong Kong law to catch up with the era of digital technology, such as various IPs that promote creative industries and promote personal privacy.

Various legal-related matters require a lot of talent and resources, and the Department of Justice needs to be conscious, step-by-step and systematic in promoting reform.

Hu Enwei

is a member of the National Hong Kong and Macao Research Association, a member of the Jiangsu Provincial Political Consultative Conference, and Zuni.

Icosahedron United Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer

(The article is purely the author's opinion and does not represent the position of Hong Kong 01.)