On 16 July this year, the Legislative Council held a debate on a motion in respect of the Y2K problem. The Administration has already given careful consideration to this issue and takes the view that it is unnecessary to introduce legislation. In principle, the commercial disputes arising from Y2K would not be substantially different from disputes arising from other commercial transactions, and could be dealt with according to the existing legal principles. If new specific legislation were to be enacted to provide for legal responsibilities, the legislation certainly would involve a lot of controversies and complex elements. Much discussion and consultation would also be necessary.
Legislation is therefore unlikely to provide any solution within a short period of time.
On the contrary, during the legislative process, some people, or even most people, would most probably direct their efforts towards studying how to protect their own interests or evade responsibilities under the new law, instead of dealing with the Y2K problem. From the result of voting in the Legislative Council on 16 July, we understand that a majority of the Legislative Councillors also took the view that it was not necessary to consider legislating for the Y2K problem. The applications of existing legal principles, including those in relation to contract, tort and insurance, to the Y2K problem would of course involve some challenging and interesting issues. The symposium today will be addressing legal issues which may arise if the Y2K problem causes actual damage. These are fair, quick and cost-effective means of dispute resolution.