To make special provision in relation to contributions paid by certain officers in the Customs and Excise Service in respect of pensions for their dependants under the Widows and Orphans Pension Ordinance (Cap. 94) and the Surviving Spouses’ and Children’s Pensions Ordinance (Cap. 79) and for matters connected therewith.
(Amended 21 of 2020 s. 49)
[15 March 1985]
(Format changes—E.R. 1 of 2019)
This Ordinance may be cited as the Pensions (Special Provisions) (Customs Officers) Ordinance.
In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires—
eligible officer (合資格人員) means a public officer or former public officer who—(a)was either—(i)transferred from the rank of Revenue Officer to the rank of Preventive Officer on 1 July 1977; or(ii)on or after that date, but before 1 January 1978, appointed to the rank of Preventive Officer or Customs Officer; and(b)on or after 1 July 1977 contributed under the Widows and Orphans Pension Ordinance (Cap. 94) whether or not he was an officer whose contributions ceased by reason of his electing to contribute under the Surviving Spouses’ and Children’s Pensions Ordinance (Cap. 79) from 1 January 1978; (Amended 21 of 2020 s. 50) former public officer (前公職人員) means a person who has ceased to be a public officer by virtue of his retirement from the public service under the Government of Hong Kong.Any eligible officer may, by notice in writing to the Director of Accounting Services within 3 months after the date of commencement* of this Ordinance or such greater period as the Director of Accounting Services may allow, avail himself of the provisions of this Ordinance and, upon so doing—
any contribution paid by him under the Widows and Orphans Pension Ordinance (Cap. 94) or the Surviving Spouses’ and Children’s Pensions Ordinance (Cap. 79) in respect of any service by him in the rank of Preventive Officer or Customs Officer on or after 1 July 1977 shall be refunded to him and any such contribution shall be deemed for the purposes of those Ordinances never to have been paid;
his widow or children, as the case may be, shall, for the purposes of the Widows and Orphans Pension Ordinance (Cap. 94), be entitled on his death only to a pension computed on the basis of the potential benefit acquired by such officer—
on 30 June 1977, if that officer was transferred from the rank of Revenue Officer to the rank of Preventive Officer on 1 July 1977;
immediately prior to his transfer to the rank of Preventive Officer or Customs Officer if the officer was transferred to that rank on or after 1 July 1977 and before 1 January 1978;
any election made by the officer while holding the rank of Customs Officer to contribute under the Surviving Spouses’ and Children’s Pensions Ordinance (Cap. 79) with effect from 1 January 1978, shall, with respect to the period for which he held that rank, be deemed never to have been made and his service in that rank shall not be contributory service within the meaning of that Ordinance. (Amended 21 of 2020 s. 51)
For the removal of doubt it is declared that a public officer who, at the time when he should have become a contributor under the Widows and Orphans Pension Ordinance (Cap. 94) in respect of service as a Preventive Officer or a Customs Officer on or after 1 July 1977 and before 1 January 1978, did not become a contributor, may not subsequently become a contributor and his widow or children shall not acquire any entitlement to a pension under that Ordinance in respect of any contributions which should have been but were not paid by him as a contributor during that period.
Section 28(3) of the Surviving Spouses’ and Children’s Pensions Ordinance (Cap. 79) shall apply, and be deemed always to have applied, to a Customs Officer who between the dates referred to in subsection (1) did not become a contributor under that Ordinance as it does to a Preventive Officer. (Amended 21 of 2020 s. 52)