The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) will hold a meeting tomorrow (June 3) at 11am in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, the proceedings of the committee of the whole Council on the National Anthem Bill will resume. After the committee of the whole Council has completed consideration of the Bill and its report is adopted by the Council, the Bill will be set down for the Third Reading.
 
     The Second Reading debate on the Trade Marks (Amendment) Bill 2019, the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Tax Concessions) Bill 2020, the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Ship Leasing Tax Concessions) Bill 2020, the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation (Amendment) Bill 2018, the Fire Safety (Industrial Buildings) Bill, the Discrimination Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2018, the Occupational Retirement Schemes (Amendment) Bill 2019, the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2019 and the Supplementary Appropriation (2018-2019) Bill will also resume. If the Bills are supported by Members and receive their Second Reading, they will stand committed to the committee of the whole Council. After the committee of the whole Council has completed consideration of the Bills and their reports are adopted by the Council, the Bills will be set down for the Third Reading.
 
     On Member's Bill, the Second Reading debate on the St. John's College (Amendment) Bill 2019 will resume. If the Bill is supported by Members and receives its Second Reading, it will stand committed to the committee of the whole Council. After the committee of the whole Council has completed consideration of the Bill and its report is adopted by the Council, the Bill will be set down for the Third Reading.
 
     On Government motion, the Secretary for Justice will move a proposed resolution under the Fatal Accidents Ordinance. The motion is set out in Appendix 1.
 
     On Members' motions, Ms Yung Hoi-yan and Ms Alice Mak will move separate motions under Rule 49B(1A) of the Rules of Procedure to censure Ms Claudia Mo and Mr Dennis Kwok. The motions are set out in Appendices 2 and 3 respectively.
 
     Mr Lam Cheuk-ting and Ms Mo will move two separate motions under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance, in relation to the incident of assaults occurred in Yuen Long Station of West Rail Line of the MTR Corporation Limited on July 21, 2019. The motions are set out in Appendices 4 and 5 respectively.
 
     Mr Alvin Yeung, Dr Kwok Ka-ki and Mr Kwong Chun-yu will move three separate motions under Article 73(5) and (10) of the Basic Law and the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance, in relation to the incident of assaults occurred in Prince Edward Station of the MTR Corporation Limited on August 31, 2019. The motions are set out in Appendices 6 to 8 respectively.
 
     Ms Tanya Chan, Dr Kwok, Dr Fernando Cheung and Mr Kenneth Leung will move seven separate motions under Article 73(5) and (10) of the Basic Law and the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance, in relation to the Police's handling of protesters and persons performing duties in the protests during the "anti-extradition to China" movement. The motions are set out in Appendices 9 to 15 respectively.
 
     Mr Chung Kwok-pan and Dr Priscilla Leung will move two separate motions under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance, in relation to the causes and consequences of the social conflicts or disturbances arising from the amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and related matters. The motions are set out in Appendices 16 and 17 respectively. Mr James To will move an amendment to Dr Leung's motion.
 
     Mr Charles Mok, Mr Jeremy Tam and Dr Kwok will also move four separate motions under Article 73(5) and (10) of the Basic Law to summon persons concerned to produce papers and testify. The motions are set out in Appendices 18 to 21 respectively.
 
     Meanwhile, Mr Kwok will move a motion on no confidence in the Fifth Term Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as set out in Appendix 22. Ms Mo will move an amendment to Mr Kwok's motion.
 
     Mr Lam will move a motion on strengthening the combat against parallel trading activities, and tightening the arrangements for Mainland residents visiting Hong Kong. The motion is set out in Appendix 23.
 
     During the meeting, Members will also ask the Government 20 questions on various policy areas, five of which require oral replies.
 
     The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo Website (www.legco.gov.hk). Members of the public can watch or listen to the meeting via the "Webcast" system on the LegCo Website. To observe the proceedings of the meeting at the LegCo Complex, members of the public may call 3919 3399 during office hours to reserve seats

     May 2020 was generally fine and hot in the first half of the month, while unsettled weather and occasional heavy showers set in in the latter half. Overall, the month was much hotter than usual. The monthly mean minimum temperature was 25.9 degrees, 1.8 degrees above the normal figure and the joint second highest on record for May. The monthly mean temperature of 27.7 degrees and the mean maximum temperature of 30.4 degrees were 1.8 degrees and 2.0 degrees above their corresponding normal figures respectively and both were the fifth highest on record for May. Moreover, the spring from March to May this year was exceptionally warm. The mean minimum temperature of 21.9 degrees, the mean temperature of 23.7 degrees and the mean maximum temperature of 26.4 degrees were the fourth, fifth and sixth highest on record for the same period respectively. May 2020 was also wetter than usual. The monthly rainfall was 352.5 millimetres, about 16 per cent above the normal figure of 304.7 millimetres. The accumulated rainfall recorded in the first five months of the year was 566.2 millimetres, about 12 per cent below the normal figure of 640.8 millimetres for the same period.
      
     Under the dominance of the anticyclone aloft, except for a few isolated showers from May 8 to 10, the weather of Hong Kong was generally fine and hot on the first 10 days of the month. On May 11, it was fine and very hot during the day with the maximum temperature recorded at the Hong Kong Observatory soaring to 33.5 degrees, the highest of the month. A thundery rainband associated with a trough of low pressure moved across the coastal areas of Guangdong that night and brought heavy showers and severe squally thunderstorms to Hong Kong. More than 30 millimetres of rainfall were recorded over some parts of the New Territories. With the trough of low pressure moving southward and getting away from Hong Kong, local weather improved gradually on May 12 with sunny intervals in the afternoon.
      
     Under the influence of a fresh to strong easterly airstream, the weather of Hong Kong was a mixture of sunshine and showers on May 13 and 14. With the gradual replacement of the easterly airstream by a southerly airstream, the weather of Hong Kong became generally fine and very hot from May 15 to 17. Affected by a trough of low pressure lingering over the coastal areas of Guangdong, local weather was mainly cloudy with occasional heavy showers and squally thunderstorms on May 18. About 50 millimetres of rainfall were recorded over Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. As the trough of low pressure moved away from the south China coast, showery activities on the next day receded with sunny periods during the day. With the setting in of a strong easterly airstream, the weather on May 20 turned mainly cloudy with a few showers and isolated thunderstorms.
      
     Under the influence of a trough of low pressure over southern China, local weather was unsettled with occasional heavy showers and squally thunderstorms on May 21 and 22. More than 80 millimetres of rainfall were recorded over most parts of the territory on these two days and the rainfall even exceeded 120 millimetres over some parts of Hong Kong Island and Tseung Kwan O. As the trough of low pressure moved away from the coastal areas, the showers over Hong Kong gradually eased off on the next two days. There were sunny intervals on May 24.
      
     Heavy showers and squally thunderstorms returned to the territory on May 25 and 26 when another trough of low pressure moved across the south China coastal areas. More than 40 millimetres of rainfall were recorded over most parts of the territory on these two days. The showery activities in Hong Kong became less active with sunny intervals on the next three days. Affected by an active southwest monsoon, local weather deteriorated again with heavy showers and thunderstorms on May 30. More than 100 millimetres of rainfall were recorded over most parts of the territory and the rainfall even exceeded 150 millimetres over Wong Tai Sin and Tseung Kwan O on that day. Apart from isolated thunderstorms in the morning, the shower activities receded with sunny intervals on the last day of the month.
      
     One tropical cyclone occurred over the South China Sea and the western North Pacific in May 2020.

     Details of the issuance and cancellation of various warnings/signals in May are summarised in Table 1. Monthly meteorological figures and departures from normal for May are tabulated in Table 2.

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Tuesday, June 2, 2020 is 108.6 (up 0.1 against yesterday's index).

     The Land Registry today (June 2) released its statistics for May 2020.
 
Land registration
——————-

* The number of sale and purchase agreements for all building units received for registration in May was 6,885 (+41.5 per cent compared with April 2020 but -33.5 per cent compared with May 2019)

* The 12-month moving average for May was 5,168 (5.3 per cent below the 12-month moving average for April 2020 and 21.4 per cent below that for May 2019)

* The total consideration for sale and purchase agreements in May was $60.2 billion (+57.1 per cent compared with April 2020 but -33.3 per cent compared with May 2019)

* Among the sale and purchase agreements, 5,984 were for residential units (+45.9 per cent compared with April 2020 but -27.1 per cent compared with May 2019)

* The total consideration for sale and purchase agreements in respect of residential units was $52.7 billion (+56.4 per cent compared with April 2020 but -32.8 per cent compared with May 2019)

     Statistics on sales of residential units do not include sale and purchase agreements relating to sales of units under the Home Ownership Scheme, the Private Sector Participation Scheme and the Tenants Purchase Scheme unless the premium of the unit concerned has been paid after the sale restriction period.

     Figures on sale and purchase agreements received for the past 12 months, the year-on-year rate of change and breakdown figures on residential sales have also been released.

     As deeds may not be lodged with the Land Registry until up to 30 days after the transaction, these statistics generally relate to land transactions in the previous month.
 
Land search
————-                                                                     
 
* The number of searches of land registers made by the public in May was 447,639 (+19.1 per cent compared with April 2020 but -10.0 per cent compared with May 2019)

     The statistics cover searches made at the counter, through the self-service terminals and via the Integrated Registration Information System Online Services.

     A Vietnamese illegal worker was jailed by Shatin Magistrates' Courts yesterday (June 1).

     During operation "Breakthrough" conducted on May 29, Immigration Department (ImmD) investigators raided a restaurant in Shatin. A female Vietnamese, aged 59, was arrested while working as a dish washing worker. An employer suspected of employing the illegal worker was also arrested and the investigation is ongoing.

     The illegal worker was charged at Shatin Magistrates' Courts yesterday with taking employment after landing in Hong Kong unlawfully and remaining in Hong Kong without the authority of the Director of Immigration or while being a person in respect of whom a removal order or deportation order was in force. She pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment. Meanwhile, she was also charged with one count of using a forged Hong Kong identity card and was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment. All sentences are to run concurrently, making a total of 15 months' imprisonment.

     The ImmD spokesman warned that, as stipulated in section 38AA of the Immigration Ordinance, illegal immigrants or people who are the subject of a removal order or a deportation order are prohibited from taking any employment, whether paid or unpaid, or establishing or joining in any business. Offenders are liable upon conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to three years' imprisonment. The Court of Appeal has issued a guideline ruling that a sentence of 15 months' imprisonment should be applied in such cases. Under the prevailing laws, it is an offence to use or possess a forged Hong Kong identity card or a Hong Kong identity card related to another person. Offenders are liable to prosecution and a maximum penalty of a $100,000 fine and up to 10 years' imprisonment.

     The spokesman reiterated that it is a serious offence to employ people who are not lawfully employable. The maximum penalty is imprisonment for three years and a fine of $350,000. The High Court has laid down sentencing guidelines that the employer of an illegal worker should be given an immediate custodial sentence. According to the court sentencing, employers must take all practicable steps to determine whether a person is lawfully employable prior to employment. Apart from inspecting a prospective employee's identity card, the employer has the explicit duty to make enquiries regarding the person and ensure that the answers would not cast any reasonable doubt concerning the lawful employability of the person. The court will not accept failure to do so as a defence in proceedings. It is also an offence if an employer fails to inspect the job seeker's valid travel document if the job seeker does not have a Hong Kong permanent identity card. The maximum penalty for failing to inspect such a document is imprisonment for one year and a fine of $150,000.

     Under the existing mechanism, the ImmD will, as a standard procedure, conduct initial screening of vulnerable persons, including illegal workers, illegal immigrants, sex workers and foreign domestic helpers, who are arrested during any operation with a view to ascertaining whether they are trafficking in persons (TIP) victims. When any TIP indicator is revealed in the initial screening, the officers will conduct a full debriefing and identification by using a standardised checklist to ascertain the presence of TIP elements, such as threats and coercion in the recruitment phase and the nature of exploitation. Identified TIP victims will be provided with various forms of support and assistance, including urgent intervention, medical services, counselling, shelter, temporary accommodation and other supporting services. The ImmD calls on TIP victims to report crimes to the relevant departments.