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Guide to the Air Pollution Control (Appeal Board) Regulations
1/ Introduction
The Air Pollution
Control (Appeal Board) Regulations were made on 27th July 1983 under
the Air Pollution Control Ordinance and came into operation on 1st
October 1983. The main objective of these regulations is to provide
the necessary procedures and prescribed forms for making an appeal
and they should therefore be regarded as a supplementary provision
to Part VI of the Ordinance.
This guide is
intended to explain briefly the provisions of these regulations
in simple terms. Following each heading, the relevant regulation
number, and where related, the section number of the main ordinance
are shown in brackets for easy reference. While every care has been
exercised in the preparation of this guide, the regulations themselves
remain the sole authority for the provisions of the law explained.
Copies of the regulations are on sale at the Publications Sales Section of the Information Services Department (ISD) and the online Government Bookstore at http://www.gov.hk/en/apps/isdbookstore.htm. Also, they can be found on the website of the Bilingual Laws Information at http://www.legislation.gov.hk.
2/ Definitions
(Regulations 2; Section 2)
Except where
the context otherwise requires, the terms in the regulations are
defined as follows :
"appellant"
means the person aggrieved by a decision, requirement or specification
of a public officer under any of the provisions listed in section
31(1) of the Ordinance and who has sent a notice of appeal to
the Chairman under regulation 3(1);
"Authority"
means the public officer appointed under section 4(1) of the Ordinance
to be the air pollution control authority who is the Director
of Environmental Protection;
"Board" means
an Appeal Board constituted under Part VI of the Ordinance;
"Chairman" means the Chairman of Appeal Boards appointed under
section 32 of the Ordinance;
"Secretary"
means the Secretary as defined under the Air Pollution Control
Ordinance.
3/ Initiating
an appeal by appellant (Regulation 3; Section 31)
Any appellant
may initiate within 21 days after he has received notice of the
decision, requirement or specification of a public officer, an appeal
by sending to the Chairman a written notice of appeal which should
be substantially in accordance with Form 1 in the Schedule (reproduced
in the Appendix) and should set out the grounds of the appeal. He
should, at the same time, send a copy of such notice to the Authority
or the Secretary as the case may be.
All such correspondence and enquiry on appeal matters should be addressed to:
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Secretary |
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Air Pollution Control Appeal Board |
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40/F, Revenue Tower |
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5 Gloucester Road |
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Wan Chai, Hong Kong |
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(Telephone No. 2594 6324) |
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(Fax No. 2872 0603) |
4/ Processing
of an appeal by the Board (Regulations 4 to 11; Section 33)
4.1/ Fixing
the date, time and place of hearing
Upon receipt
of the appeal notice, the Chairman will fix the date, time and place
of hearing such that the case is to be heard as soon as reasonably
practicable. He will not less than 14 days before the hearing date
send to the appellant and copy to the Authority or the Secretary
as the case may be, a notice substantially in accordance with Form
2 in the Schedule (reproduced in the Appendix).
4.2/ Hearing
of the appeal
The Board may
summon any person to appear before it to produce any document or
to give evidence that may be required by issuing a witness summons
which should be substantially in accordance with Form 3 in the Schedule
(reproduced in the Appendix).
Unless the appellant
or a witness requests otherwise and the Board accedes to the request,
proceedings before a Board are to be held in public.
The appellant
and the Authority or the Secretary may be represented at the hearing
by a barrister or solicitor.
Unless the Board
grants permission, no amendment is to be made on the grounds of
appeal as set out in the notice of appeal. However, the appellant
may abandon all or any of his grounds of appeal before or during
the hearing of his appeal. Where the appellant abandons the grounds
of appeal before the hearing, he should by a written notice, inform
the Chairman and the relevant party (i.e. the Authority or the Secretary)
of such abandonment.
The Chairman
will take a full minute of the proceedings of the hearing on matters
relating to (a) the nature of the grounds of appeal, (b) the names
of the appellant, the Authority or the Secretary and the respective
witnesses on either side, (c) the evidence of the witnesses, and
(d) the decision of the Board.
4.3/ Failure
of appellant to attend hearing
If on the day
of hearing, the appellant fails to attend the hearing either in
person or by a barrister or solicitor, the Board may (i) if satisfied
that the appellant's failure to attend was due to sickness or other
reasonable cause, postpone or adjourn the hearing, (ii) proceed
to hear the appeal, or (iii) dismiss the appeal.
If the Board
has dismissed the appeal, the appellant may, within 30 days after
the making of the order for dismissal, by a written notice addressed
to the Chairman, apply to the Board to review its order. If satisfied
that the appellant's absence was due to sickness or any other reasonable
cause, the Board may set aside the order for dismissal and proceed
to hear the appeal.
APPENDIX
| Form 1 - Click to enlarge |
Form 2- Click to enlarge |
Form 3- Click to enlarge |
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(Download the pdf file)
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