Hong Kong Ordinances

SEX DISCRIMINATION ORDINANCE - SECT 69

Codes of practice

(Past version on 01/07/1997).
(Past version on 30/06/1997).

Codes of practice

(1) The Commission may issue codes of practice containing such practical
guidance as it thinks fit for the purposes of-

   (a)  the elimination of discrimination;

   (b)  the promotion of equality of opportunity between men and women
        generally;

   (c)  the elimination of sexual harassment.

(2) When the Commission proposes to issue a code of practice, it shall prepare
and publish (otherwise than in the Gazette) the code, shall consider any
representations made to it about the code and may modify the code accordingly.

(3) In the course of preparing any code of practice for eventual publication
under subsection (2), the Commission shall, where the code relates (whether in
whole or in part) to the elimination of discrimination in the field of
employment, consult with-

   (a)  such organizations or associations of organizations representative of
        employers or of workers; and

   (b)  such other organizations, or bodies, as appear to the Commission to be
        appropriate.

(4) If the Commission determines to proceed with a code of practice published
under subsection (2), it shall cause the code to be-

   (a)  published in the Gazette; and

   (b)  laid on the table of the Legislative Council at the next sitting after
        its publication in the Gazette.

(5) Where a code of practice has been laid on the table of the Legislative
Council under subsection (4), the Legislative Council may, by resolution
passed at a sitting of the Legislative Council held before the expiration of a
period of 28 days after the sitting at which it was so laid, provide that the
code of practice shall be amended in any manner consistent with this section.

(6) If the period referred to in subsection (5) would but for this subsection
expire-

   (a)  after the end of a session of the Legislative Council or a dissolution
        thereof; but

   (b)  on or before the day of the second sitting of the Legislative Council
        in the next following session thereof, that period shall be deemed to
        extend to and expire on the day after that second sitting.

(7) Before the expiration of the period referred to in subsection

(5) or that period as extended by virtue of subsection (6), the Legislative
Council may by resolution in relation to a code of practice specified therein-

   (a)  in the case of the period referred to in subsection (5), extend that
        period to the first sitting of the Legislative Council held not
        earlier than the twenty-first day after the day of its expiration;

   (b)  in the case where the period referred to in subsection (5) has been
        extended by virtue of subsection (6), extend that period as so
        extended to the first sitting of the Legislative Council held not
        earlier than the twenty-first day after the day of the second sitting
        in that next following session. (Replaced 8 of 2002 s. 18)

(8) A resolution passed by the Legislative Council in accordance with this
section shall be published in the Gazette not later than 14 days after the
passing thereof or within such further period as the Chief Executive may allow
in any particular case. (Amended 66 of 1999 s. 3)

(9) A code of practice issued under this section shall come into operation-

   (a)  in the case where before the expiration of the period referred to in
        subsection (5), or before the expiration of that period as extended
        under subsection (6) or (7), the Legislative Council does not pass a
        resolution amending the code of practice, upon the expiration of that
        period, or upon the expiration of that period as so extended, as the
        case may be; and

   (b)  in the case where the Legislative Council passes a resolution amending
        the code of practice, upon the expiration of the day next preceding
        the day of the publication in the Gazette of such resolution under
        subsection (8).

(10) A code of practice issued under this section may contain such
transitional provisions or savings as appear to the Commission to be necessary
or expedient in connection with the matters the subject of the code.

(11) The Commission may from time to time revise the whole or any part of a
code of practice issued under this section and issue that revised code, and
subsections (2) to (10) shall apply (with appropriate modifications) to such a
revised code as they apply to the first issue of a code.

(12) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), a code of practice
issued under this section may include such practical guidance as the
Commission thinks fit as to what steps it is reasonably practicable for
employers to take for the purpose of preventing their employees from doing in
the course of their employment acts made unlawful by this Ordinance.

(13) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), a code of practice
issued under this section, in so far as it relates to the elimination of
discrimination between men and women as regards terms of employment, may-

   (a)  make reference to any of the provisions of any enactment

(howsoever described) of any place outside Hong Kong where such enactment
relates (whether in whole or in part) to the elimination of such
discrimination;

   (b)  incorporate any of those provisions;

   (c)  both make reference to and incorporate any of those provisions, as the
        Commission thinks fit and subject to such modifications, if any, to
        those provisions as the Commission thinks fit and specified in the
        code.

(14) A failure on the part of any person to observe any provision of a code of
practice shall not of itself render him liable to any proceedings; but in any
proceedings under this Ordinance before any court any code of practice issued
under this section shall be admissible in evidence, and if any provision of
such a code appears to the court to be relevant to any question arising in the
proceedings it shall be taken into account in determining that question.

(15) In this section, "sitting" (會議), when used to calculate time, means
the day on which the sitting commences and only includes a sitting at which
subsidiary legislation is included on the order paper.

"sitting" (會議)