Extension of e-Appointment service to applications for registration of Enduring Power of Attorney in High Court Registry
The following is issued on behalf of the Judiciary:
The Judiciary today (June 26) announced that the e-Appointment service will be extended to applications for registration of Enduring Power of Attorney (EPoA) in the High Court Registry from next Friday (July 3), for the booking of appointments from July 6.
Starting from July 6, 2026, anyone who wishes to apply for registration of an EPoA at the High Court Registry is required to make an online appointment in advance via the e-Appointment System at www.judiciary.hk/en/court_services_facilities/hcr_index.html. For details, please refer to the Guidance Notes on the system's webpage. Walk-in applications without an appointment will no longer be accepted. Walk-in applicants will need to book an appointment for another day via the system, unless there are remaining timeslots in the afternoon of the same day.
Registered users of "iAM Smart" may use the auto form-filling function of "iAM Smart" to provide relevant personal data for making appointments.
The e-Appointment service aims at saving court users' time and enhancing the operational efficiency of court registries and offices. It has already been made available for a wide range of services, including those at the Appeals Registry of the Clerk of Court's Office of the High Court, the Apostille Service Office of the High Court Registry, the High Court Registry, the Probate Registry, the District Court Registry, the Family Court Registry, the Lands Tribunal Registry, the Labour Tribunal Registry and the Integrated Mediation Office. Details are available at www.judiciary.hk/en/court_services_facilities/es_index.html.
Source: AI-found images
Government to introduce Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill 2026 into LegCo
The Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill 2026 was gazetted today (June 26) to introduce a series of reforms to the Medical Council of Hong Kong (MCHK) (see Annex).
The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau said, "The MCHK performs important functions such as accreditation of local medical school programmes and medical interns' training upon their graduation, registration of medical practitioners, Licensing Examination for non-locally trained medical practitioners, continuing medical education and formulation of professional codes and guidelines, and handling complaints concerning professional conduct of medical practitioners. They are the vital components in ensuring the high quality and high efficiency of the healthcare system in Hong Kong.
"To enhance the executive-led structure and promote good governance, the Health Bureau has proposed to amend the Medical Registration Ordinance (MRO) after a comprehensive review of the provisions, putting forward holistic and targeted reform measures to bring relevant legislations and the professional regulatory regime up to date, supporting the MCHK to discharge their statutory duties in a more effective manner in fulfilling its mission of ensuring justice, maintaining professionalism and protecting the public."
Detailed amendment proposals under the Bill include: (1) reforming the composition of the MCHK to diversify the professional views and include more lay members with healthcare professional backgrounds, maintaining professional autonomy and self-discipline while reflecting different angles in society and promoting cross-disciplinary collaboration; (2) enhancing the MCHK's complaint handling mechanism by making it more independent, fairer, more transparent and efficient, increasing support to the MCHK, and requiring the MCHK to devise and promulgate target timeframes for various stages of complaint handling; (3) strengthen protection for society, including immediately suspending the right to practise of medical practitioners convicted of serious offences; and (4) other relevant amendments to dovetail with the need for medical training, continuing medical education and talent attraction.
Professor Lo stressed, "Handling complaints and conducting disciplinary inquiries are important functions of the MCHK. When the professional competence or conduct of individual medical practitioners may fail to meet the required standard, the MCHK will decide through inquiries whether to impose disciplinary sanctions in accordance with its independent quasi-judicial functions empowered by the MRO. In the drafting of the Bill, the Government made reference to the review carried out by the MCHK upon request by the Government on their complaint handling mechanism, and the Ombudsman's direct investigation operation report on the relevant work of the Secretariat of the MCHK, and met with Legislative Council (LegCo) members who were concerned with the subject, patient organisations, medical training institutions, professional bodies of the medical profession and more. I would like to express my gratitude for their invaluable advice."
The Bill will be introduced into the LegCo for first reading on July 8.
Source: AI-found images
