# Holidays Ordinance, 1947

Date of Commencement: 10 January 1947 Adaptation of law: See 35 of 1998, 54 of 2000 and 14 of 2002 for changes after the handover of Hong Kong Short title changed to General Holidays Ordinance per section 2 of the Holidays (Amendment) Ordinance 1998 (35 of 1998). For employment holidays, see section 39 of the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57), as progressively amended by the Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 (21 of 2021) until 1 January 2030.
* A verified copy of this enactment exists on Hong Kong e-Legislation since 2 August 2012.
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HONG KONG.
No. 1 of 1947.
* L.S.
I assent. Mark Young, Governor. 10th January, 1947.
An Ordinance to consolidate and amend the law relating to general and school holidays.
[10th January, 1947.]
Be it enacted by the Governor of Hong Kong with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, as follows:
Short title. 1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Holidays Ordinance, 1947.
Interpretation. 2. In this Ordinance,
    (a) “General holiday” means a day which, subject to the provisions of section 5, shall be a dies non and which shall be kept as a holiday by all banks, educational establishments, public offices and Government departments;
    (b) “School holiday” means a day which shall be kept by all Government schools, military schools and schools registered under the Education Ordinance, 1913.
General holidays. 3. The following days shall be general holidays—
    (1) every Sunday;
    (2) the first week-day of January;
    (3) Chinese New Year’s Day, or if that day should be a Sunday then the following day;
    (4) the first week-day following Chinese New Year’s Day, or if Chinese New Year’s Day should be a Sunday then Tuesday following Chinese New Year’s Day; ​
    (5) Good Friday;
    (6) the day following Good Friday;
    (7) Easter Monday;
    (8) the Birthday of His Majesty the King, unless it shall be ordered by the Governor, by an order published in the Gazette, that His Majesty’s Birthday is to be kept on some other day, and then, such other day;
    (9) Whit Monday;
    (10) the first week-day in July;
    (11) the first Monday in August;
    (12) the 30th day of August, or if that day should be a Sunday then the following day;
    (13) Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival Day, or if that day should be a Sunday then the following day;
    (14) the tenth day of October, or if that day should be a Sunday then the following day;
    (15) the day following Remembrance Sunday;
    (16) Christmas Day; or if that day should be a Sunday then the following day;
    (17) the twenty-sixth day of December, or if that day should be a Sunday then the following day, or if Christmas Day should be a Sunday then the Tuesday following Christmas Day.
School Holiday. 4. The following day shall be a School holiday:
Empire Day, that is to say, the 24th day of May, or if that day should be a Sunday then the following day.
Regulations may exclude public offices, etc. 5. The Governor may make regulations excluding in whole or in part from the operation of section 3 any public office or Government department.
​Acts relating to negotiable instruments not compellable to be done on a general holiday. 6. Subject to the provisions of section 14 of the Bills of Exchange Ordinance, 1885, it shall not be necessary for any person to make any payment or to do any other act, including noting or protesting, relating to any negotiable instrument on a general holiday, but all obligation to make such payment or to do any such other act shall apply to the next following day not being itself a general holiday.
Power of the Governor in Council to appoint holidays. 7. It shall be lawful for the Governor in Council by notification in the Gazette to appoint any day to be observed as a general holiday in addition to or in substitution for any day mentioned in section 3 and thereupon the provisions of this Ordinance shall apply to such added or substituted day and shall cease to apply to any day for which another has been so substituted.
Process, etc., on holidays. Ordinance No. 3 of 1901. 8. Subject to the provisions of section 32 of the Code of Civil Procedure relating to certain civil procedure, any summons or warrant may be issued, any summons may be served, any warrant or order may be served or executed, and any arrest, search or seizure may be made, on any day, whether a general holiday or not.
Repeal of Ordinances No. 5 of 1912 and No. 1 of 1941. 9. The Holidays Ordinance, 1912, and the Holidays Amendment Ordinance, 1941, are hereby repealed.
Passed the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, this 9th day of January, 1947.
D. R. Holmes, Deputy Clerk of Councils.
This work is a Hong Kong ordinance. As an edict of a government, it is in the public domain in the U.S. Because Hong Kong ordinances are originally written in English, this is not a translation and no separate translation license is needed. Since fifty years have passed from its publication. It is also in the public domain in Hong Kong according to section 183(2) and paragraph 36 of Schedule 2 of the Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528).
According to Section 3 of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1), the term "ordinance" also includes any subsidiary legislation made under any ordinances of Hong Kong that does not contravene with the Hong Kong Basic Law.
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