JUDGES' REMUNERATION BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

The Minister for Finance (Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

The salaries of Judges and political appointees are pegged to senior superscale salaries of the Administrative Service. A general salary revision of Civil Service salaries was made from 1st January 1994. Hence the judicial and political salaries also have to be adjusted.

The Judges' Remuneration Act (JRA) sets out the amount of annual pensionable salaries payable to the Chief Justice and other Judges of the Supreme Court. Salary changes for the Judges of the Supreme Court require to be formally effected through an amendment of the JRA. The need to amend the Act each time there is a change in Judges' salaries is rather cumbersome as a Bill has to be introduced in Parliament and taken through three readings. Much time and effort is expended before the amending Act is finally approved and gazetted. A more expeditious method of making changes to Judges' salaries is to empower the Minister for Finance to determine the salaries of Judges by order published in the Gazette. This obviates the need to specify such salaries in the Act itself.

A new category of Judges known as Judges of Appeal with a higher pensionable salary than a Judge of the Supreme Court was created from 1st July 1993. The JRA was to have been amended to reflect the salary of a Judge of Appeal who was then paid a basic salary of $21,100 per month or an annual pensionable salary of $253,200. The amendment was, however, deferred in view of the general salary revision, including those of Judges, to be effective from 1st January 1994. Now that the revision has taken place and there has been no change in the annual pensionable salary of a Judge of Appeal and the other Judges of the Supreme Court, it is necessary to validate the pensionable salary paid to Judges of Appeal since July 1993.

The Bill is now being introduced in Parliament to repeal and re-enact the JRA to enable the Minister for Finance to determine by order the annual pensionable salaries of the Chief Justice, Judges of Appeal and the other Judges of the Supreme Court as well as to provide for payment of salaries to Judges of Appeal, with retrospective effect from July 1993. Certain obsolete provisions of the existing Act have also been repealed. These changes will expedite the method of revising salaries in future for Judges of the Supreme Court.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau].

Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.