The Legislative Council has been urged to pass the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014 soon in the overall interest of Hong Kong, or else a motion will be moved on March 4 to adjourn proceedings to bring examination of the bill to an end.
In a statement issued today, the Commerce & Economic Development Bureau said LegCo has two-and-a-half days to process the bill, adding that Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Gregory So will move the adjournment motion that day if the debate cannot not finish in a timely manner.
The current-term LegCo Bills Committee convened 24 meetings in 16 months to critically examine the bill and members supported resumption of the Second Reading Debate, the statement said.
Since the resumption of the second reading was put on the agenda, five out of the seven LegCo meetings were adjourned due to a lack of quorum, it added, noting that the number of bills and government resolutions pending before LegCo has increased to six because of pan-democrats' continued filibustering.
As many as 28 bills related to a wide range of social, economic and livelihood issues need to be processed by the current-term LegCo which ends in less than five months' time, the bureau said.
The Government strongly urges LegCo to pass the bill early as it offers more comprehensive protection for intellectual property rights than the current law and is of vital importance to Hong Kong's commerce and economic development.
The bill also has the support of copyright owners, the Bar Association, the Law Society and others, it added.
