14. The purpose of a statutory provision may be evident from the
provision itself. Where the legislation in (/uestion implements the
recommendations of a report, such as a Law Reform Commission
report, the report may be referred to in order to identify the
purpose of the legislation. The purpose of the statutory provision
may be ascertained from the Explanatory Memorandum to the
bill. Similarly, a statement made by the responsible official of the
Government in relation to the bill in the Legislative Council may
also be used to this end. See PCCW-HKT Telephone Ltd v
Telecommunications Authority (2005) 8 HKCFAR 337 atp.351F-J
and Director of Lands v Yin Shuen Enterprises Ltd (2003) 6
HKCFAR 1 at p. 15A-H."
(emphasis added)
49.
HKSAR v Cheuns Kwun Yin was applied in Commissioner of Police
v Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data [2012] 3 HKLRD 710 (see
paragraphs 16-17 on pages 719-720). The Court of Appeal in that case,
before construing sections 18-19 of the Ordinance, made the following
comments (see paragraph 18 on page 720):
"
18. Our attention was also drawn to the general interpretative
principle that the Court presumes, unless the contrary intention
appears, that, the legislator intended to conform to legal policy,
which
is
based on public policy
(Bennion on Statutory
Interpretation (5th ed., 2008) p. 769). Relevant aspects of legal
policy for present purposes would include the basic principles that
law should serve the public interest (Bennion, pp. 779, 786) and that
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