The Government announced today (April 7) the re-appointment of Mr Pang Kin-kee as the Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Legal Advice for Unrepresented Litigants as well as the appointment and re-appointment of members to the Advisory Committee for a two-year term from April 8, 2020, to April 7, 2022.

     The Chairman and non-official members of the Advisory Committee are as follows:

Chairman
———–
Mr Pang Kin-kee

Members
———-
Ms Maggie Chan Man-ki
Professor Anne Cheung Shann-yue
Mr Mark Daly (newly appointed member)
Mr Gary Mak Shing-ho
Mr Azan Marwah (newly appointed member)
Ms Rebecca Tsai Ching-yu (newly appointed member)
Mr Wan Wai-ming
Ms Catherine Yen Kai-shun
Ms Amarantha Yip Yun-wan

     The Advisory Committee also includes representatives from the Chief Secretary for Administration's Office, the Judiciary and the Legal Aid Department as members.

     The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, welcomed the newly appointed and re-appointed members. He also thanked the outgoing members, Ms Cheng Hui-kiu, Mr Giles Surman and Mr Patrick Hui Man-kit, for their valuable contribution to the work of the Advisory Committee during their term of service.

     The Advisory Committee was set up on April 8, 2016, to advise the Government on the policy and operation of the Legal Advice Scheme for Unrepresented Litigants on Civil Procedures (the Procedural Advice Scheme). The Procedural Advice Scheme is providing free legal advice on civil procedural matters to litigants in person who commence or are parties to legal proceedings in the Lands Tribunal, the District Court, the Family Court, the Court of First Instance or the Court of Appeal of the High Court, or the Court of Final Appeal.

The following is issued on behalf of the Judiciary:

     The Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal, Mr Geoffrey Ma Tao-li, is pleased to announce today (April 7) the appointment of a Senior Counsel of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. He is Mr Jonathan Chang Tien-yin.

     The appointment is made by the Chief Justice under section 31A of the Legal Practitioners Ordinance. The appointment will take effect from May 15, 2020.  

     Having regard to public health considerations, details of the ceremonial proceedings will be announced separately.

     The biographical note of the newly appointed Senior Counsel is as follows:

Mr Jonathan Chang Tien-yin

Mr Jonathan Chang Tien-yin, aged 42, obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree at the University of Hong Kong and a Master of Laws degree at King's College London. He was admitted to the Hong Kong Bar in 2001. He practices civil law.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (April 7) that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$437.5 billion as at the end of March 2020 (end-February 2020: US$445.7 billion) (Annex).
 
     There were no unsettled foreign exchange contracts at end-March 2020 and end-February 2020.
 
     The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$437.5 billion represent over six times the currency in circulation or about 45 per cent of Hong Kong dollar M3.
 
****************************************************************
 
     At present, four press releases relating to the Exchange Fund's data are issued by the HKMA each month. Three of these releases are issued to disseminate monetary data in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS). The fourth press release, on the Exchange Fund's Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account, is made in accordance with the HKMA's policy of maintaining a high level of transparency. For the month of April 2020, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
 

     The Secretary for Justice lodged an appeal against the acquittal of two company directors who were charged of assisting a company to evade profits tax. The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal on June 27, 2019, and remitted the case to the District Court for retrial. The retrial hearing was held in the District Court on November 26, 2019, and both directors were convicted of two charges of tax evasion today (April 7). Sentencing was adjourned to April 28 pending community service reports.  

     The two directors, now aged 53 and 59 respectively, were previously acquitted of five charges of offences, being wilfully with intent to assist a company to evade profits tax. The Secretary for Justice appealed to the Court of Appeal against the Judge's verdict on two of the five charges. The two relevant charges were wilfully with intent assisting a company to evade tax by making use of a fraud, art or contrivance or authorising the use of such fraud, art or contrivance, for the years of assessment 2005-06 and 2006-07, contrary to section 82(1)(g) of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap. 112) (IRO).    
  
     The court heard that the two directors were the shareholders and directors of a property agency company. The total assessable profits reported by the said company for the two years 2005-06 and 2006-07 amounted to $253,425. An investigation by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) revealed that the two directors included two bogus payments in the total sum of $199,000 as expenses of the said company, namely "computer and internet expenses" of $99,700 and "salaries and commission expenses" of $99,300, thereby reducing the company's assessable profits for the two years by a total amount of $199,000. The total tax evaded was $34,826.

     A spokesman of the IRD reminds taxpayers that tax evasion is a criminal offence under the IRO. Upon conviction, the maximum penalty for each charge is three years' imprisonment and a fine of $50,000 plus a further fine of three times the amount of tax evaded.

     The Government announced today (April 7) that the Chief Executive has re-appointed Mrs Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan as Chairman of the Public Service Commission for another term of three years from May 1, 2020, to April 30, 2023. 

     "Mrs Lau possesses outstanding leadership and a wealth of administrative and management experience. In the past six years, she has been leading the Public Service Commission in performing its role very effectively, providing impartial advice for the Government on matters of appointments, promotions and discipline in the civil service. I am very pleased that she will continue to serve as Chairman of the Commission," the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Joshua Law, said.

     The Commission is an independent statutory body. Its major role is to advise the Government on appointments, promotions and disciplinary matters in the civil service. Apart from Mrs Lau, the serving members include Mr Andrew Mak Yip-shing, Mrs Ayesha Macpherson Lau, Mr John Lee Luen-wai, Mr Lester Garson Huang, Mrs Ava Ng Tse Suk-ying, Mrs Margaret Leung Ko May-yee, Mr Tim Lui Tim-leung and Dr Clement Chen Cheng-jen.