Publication of Hong Kong Legislation

The official and authorised text of Hong Kong ordinances, subsidiary legislation and bills are published first in the Government Gazette, Legal Supplement number 1, 2 and 3 respectively. They are published weekly. Every month a cumulative index for the year is published and each annual volume is indexed. Since 1992 they are published in English and Chinese. You may also access its online version which is available here.

An Ordinance is a piece of legislation (statutory law). It is law made by LegCo. An Ordinance is given a number according to the sequence of publication date in that year by which it may be cited: for example, the Race Discrimination Ordinance was No. 29 of 2008. It can be found in Gazette 2008, Legal Supplement No. 1 (L.S. No. 1), Ordinance no. 29. The same Ordinance will also be issued in the Loose-leaf Edition of the Laws of Hong Kong several months later.

Each Subsidiary Legislation is also given a number according to the sequence of publication date in that year by which it may be cited as: for example, the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution) Regulation 2007 was L.N. 149/2007. It can be found in Gazette 2007, Legal Supplement No. 2, Legal Notice no. 149.

Bills are published in Legal Supplement No. 3 before the first reading in the LegCo. They are printed in blue.