Page:Hong Kong Basic Law consultation report vol. 1.djvu/167

 policy" should be added after "on the basis of the previous social welfare system" in the first sentence of Article 144.

6.2 It was suggested that the phrase "laws and policies" in the last sentence of this article should be replaced with "laws or policies". Since very few laws in Hong Kong are on social welfare and the majority of the social services are not prescribed by law, the wording adopted in the Basic Law (Draft) may restrain the development of social welfare in Hong Kong, which seems to deviate from the present situation in Hong Kong.

6.3 A member held that replacing the word "and" with the word "or" would not make any significant difference. Furthermore, the word "and" is more inclusive.

6.4 A member held that in terms of logic, the expression "laws and policies" in this article is different from "laws or policies". The former includes both laws and policies, whereas the latter means either laws or policies.

6.5 A member agreed that the word "and" should be retained because the word "or" would limit the provision.

6.6 A member held that the end result of replacing the word "and" with the word "or" in the expression "laws and policies" would not make much difference and therefore did not agree to the proposal.

7. Issues arising from Articles 36 and 144

7.1 A member pointed out that although it was specified in Article 36 that Hong Kong residents shall have the right to social welfare "as prescribed by law", the existing social welfare in Hong Kong was not prescribed by law. If residents of the HKSAR will enjoy social welfare only "as prescribed by law", the problem of future Legislative Councillors demanding more laws to be enacted on social welfare as a means of electioneering would arise. Further, too many restrictions would discourage voluntary organizations from providing social services.

7.2 A member held that social welfare involved public policies whereas the right to social welfare was a legal issue, i.e. under what circumstances members of the public may enjoy this right. In terms of logic and legal principles, there is nothing wrong with the expression "as prescribed by law". Hence, with respect to the formulation of social welfare policies, Article 144 will not restrain voluntary organizations from developing their social services.

7.3 A member held there would be problems should social welfare be enjoyed "as prescribed by law". If too many pieces of rigid legislation were enacted on social