### Oaths and Declarations Ordinance 《宣誓及聲明條例》

16. Forms of Oaths
The Oaths referred to in this Ordinance as—
(a) the Oath of the Chief Executive; (Replaced 123 of 1997 s. 10)
(b) the Oath of the Principal Officials; (Replaced 123 of 1997 s. 10)
(c) the Executive Council Oath; (Replaced 123 of 1997 s. 10)
(ca) (Repealed 123 of 1997 s. 10)(d) the Legislative Council Oath; (Replaced 123 of 1997 s. 10)
(da) (Repealed 123 of 1997 s. 10)(db) the District Council Oath; (Added 13 of 2021 s. 4)
(e) the Judicial Oath; (Replaced 123 of 1997 s. 10)
(f) the Oath of Fidelity; and (Added 123 of 1997 s. 10)
(g) the Oath of Secrecy, (Added 123 of 1997 s. 10)
shall be in the respective forms set out in Schedule 2.
(Amended 123 of 1997 s. 10)[cf. 1868 c. 72 ss. 2, 3 & 4 U.K.]

16A. Oath of the Chief Executive
(1) A person appointed or elected as the Chief Executive shall take the Oath of the Chief Executive before entering upon any of the duties of his office.
(2) The Chief Executive shall take his oath before a representative of the Central People’s Government or a person authorized by the Central People’s Government to administer the oath.
(Added 123 of 1997 s. 11)

16B. Oath of the Principal Officials
(1) A person appointed as a principal official shall take the Oath of the Principal Officials as soon as possible after his appointment.
(2) A principal official shall take his oath before a representative of the Central People’s Government or a person authorized by the Central People’s Government to administer the oath.
(Added 123 of 1997 s. 11)

17. Oaths of judicial officers
(1) Each of the judicial officers specified in Schedule 3 must take the Judicial Oath as soon as possible after appointment.
(2) The Judicial Oath must be administered by—
(a) the Chief Executive; or
(b) a person authorized by the Chief Executive to administer the oath.
(Replaced 13 of 2021 s. 5)

### Oaths and Declarations Ordinance 《宣誓及聲明條例》

18. Oaths of members of Executive Council
(1) A member of the Executive Council must take the Oath of Fidelity and the Executive Council Oath as soon as possible after appointment.
(2) The Oath of Fidelity and the Executive Council Oath must be administered by—
(a) the Chief Executive; or
(b) a person authorized by the Chief Executive to administer the oaths.
(Replaced 13 of 2021 s. 6)

19. Oath of members of Legislative Council
(1) A member of the Legislative Council must take the Legislative Council Oath as soon as possible after the commencement of the member’s term of office.
(2) The Legislative Council Oath must be administered by—
(a) the Chief Executive; or
(b) a person authorized by the Chief Executive to administer the oath.
(Replaced 13 of 2021 s. 7)

19A. Oath of members of District Councils
(1) A member of a District Council must take the District Council Oath as soon as possible after the commencement of the member’s term of office.
(2) The District Council Oath must be administered by—
(a) the Chief Executive; or
(b) a person authorized by the Chief Executive to administer the oath.
(Added 13 of 2021 s. 8)

20. Oaths of Clerk and Deputy Clerk to the Executive Council
The Clerk to the Executive Council and the Deputy Clerk to the Executive Council shall, as soon as possible after appointment, each take the Oath of Secrecy, which shall be administered by the Director of the Chief Executive’s Office.
(Amended 14 of 1994 s. 24; 123 of 1997 s. 15; 21 of 1999 s. 27; 10 of 2005 s. 5)

### Oaths and Declarations Ordinance 《宣誓及聲明條例》

20A. Declining or neglecting to take oath
(1) This section applies to a person who is required by this Part to take an oath.
(2) The person is to be regarded as declining or neglecting to take the oath if the person intentionally—
(a) contravenes the oath-taking procedure of the person or desecrates the oath-taking ceremony;
(b) alters or distorts the wording of the oath;
(c) says words that do not accord with the wording of the oath; or
(d) acts in a way that is not sincere or not solemn in purporting to take the oath.
(3) In this section—
(a) a reference to the oath-taking ceremony includes—
(i) the oath-taking procedure of any person during the ceremony; and
(ii) if section 5 of the National Anthem Ordinance (2 of 2020) requires the national anthem to be played and sung on the occasion of the ceremony, the playing and singing of the national anthem as required under that Ordinance; and
(b) a reference to the oath-taking procedure of a person includes the taking of the oath by the person.
(4) Subsection (2) does not limit the operation of section 21.
(Added 13 of 2021 s. 9)

21. Consequence of declining or neglecting to take oath
(Amended 13 of 2021 s. 10)(1) Any person who declines or neglects to take an oath duly requested which he is required to take by this Part, shall— (Amended 123 of 1997 s. 16; 13 of 2021 s. 10)
(a) if he has already entered on his office, vacate it, and
(b) if he has not entered on his office, be disqualified from entering on it.
[cf. 1868 c. 72 s. 7 U.K.](2) No person may arrange for the person who declines or neglects to take the oath to retake it. (Added 13 of 2021 s. 10)
(3) However, subsections (1) and (2) do not apply if—
(a) a person declined or neglected to take the oath before a person who is authorized by this Part to administer it (oath administrator

23. Use of English or Chinese
An oath, affidavit, affirmation or declaration may be administered, sworn, affirmed, declared, made, taken or received either in English or in Chinese at the option of the witness, deponent, affirmant, declarant or the person taking an oath.

### Probate and Administration Ordinance 《遺囑認證及遺產管理條例》

1. Short title
This Ordinance may be cited as the Probate and Administration Ordinance.