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Following is the translation of the speech by the Secretary for Economic Development and Labour, Mr Stephen Ip, in Committee Stage amendments of the Civil Aviation (Amendment) Bill 2005 at the Legislative Council meeting today (January 11):
Madam President,
I move the amendments to Clause 2 of the Civil Aviation (Amendment) Bill 2005. The proposed amendments are contained in the document submitted for Members' consideration.
The existing Civil Aviation Ordinance imposes strict liability on aircraft owners. The term "owners" is defined to include "persons having the management of the aircraft". The Bills Committee was of the view that "aircraft management" is not sufficiently clear. We therefore propose to amend Clause 2(a) to expressly state that "persons having the management of the aircraft" are equivalent to "operators of aircraft", or generally understood as airlines. This amendment will provide useful parameters for the interpretation of "aircraft management".
Under the Bill, an owner would be exempted if he leases out the aircraft and does not have the management of the aircraft. The Bills Committee was concerned that this criterion was not clear enough and, as a result, a lessor owner who retains the repair and maintenance responsibility would still be exempted, hence mitigating the protection to the general public. We recognise that proper repair and maintenance is an important condition to ensure aircraft safety. However, there are also other internationally recognised technical requirements governing aircraft safety, generally referred to as "airworthiness". We consider the concept of airworthiness more embracing and therefore propose to amend the exemption criteria in Clause 2(b) to stipulate that a lessor owner would only be exempted if the lessee, i.e. an airline, has taken over the responsibility of ensuring the airworthiness of the aircraft. This amendment provides for more specific exemption criteria. It facilitates compliance by the industry and accords sufficient protection to third parties.
Madam President, the proposed amendments reflect the views and suggestions of the Bills Committee and have the support of the Committee and the industry. I recommend that Members pass the Committee Stage amendments.
Ends/Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Issued at HKT 16:20
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