The Domicile Bill, which seeks to simplify the complex and confusing common law rules for determining a person's domicile, will be gazetted on January 26, the Department of Justice says.

The bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council on February 7.

Domicile has been defined as "the place or country which is considered by law to be a person's permanent home". It is an important legal concept, since it determines which system of law governs a person's legal status for different purposes.

Domicile unconnected with nationality

The concept is unconnected with, and distinct from, nationality, right of abode and citizenship, the department said.

The central notion of domicile is that of a long-term relationship between person and place. In other words, a person is domiciled in the country where he intends to live indefinitely.

If a person is domiciled in a particular country, that country's system of law will govern certain issues relating to that person. These issues relate principally to status and property.

The department said the bill dealt only with a natural person's domicile, not the domicile of a corporation.

If a Hong Kong court needed to decide where an individual was domiciled, the issue was to be determined according to Hong Kong law, he added.

Recommendations incorporated

The department said the bill has incorporated a number of recommendations from the Law Reform Commission which published a report entitled Rules for Determining Domicile in April, 2005.

The commission considered that, for practical purposes, the recommendations would not change the domicile of many people, with the exception of a married woman's domicile which would no longer depend on that of her husband.

It recommended a major change in the law relating to the domicile of children so that this would no longer be directly tied to the parents' domicile. This proposal will ensure that the domicile of children more closely reflects modern realities.

The commission also recommended the abolition of the concept of domicile of origin so that the domiciliary rule would be better tuned to modern conditions.