To incorporate the Hong Kong Red Cross, to further and protect the activities of Hong Kong Red Cross, and to provide for ancillary and connected matters.
(Replaced 55 of 1995 s. 2)
[26 November 1976]
(Format changes—E.R. 3 of 2021)
This Ordinance may be cited as the Hong Kong Red Cross Ordinance.
(Amended L.N. 126 of 1995; 55 of 1995 s. 3)
In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires—
Constitution (章程) means the Rules adopted and amended by the Council from time to time; (Added 55 of 1995 s. 4) Council (董事會) means the Council of the Hong Kong Red Cross as defined in section 8; (Added 55 of 1995 s. 4) emblem of the Geneva Convention (日內瓦公約標誌) means the heraldic emblem of the red cross on a white ground, formed by reversing the Federal colours of Switzerland, as defined in the Geneva Convention; (Added 55 of 1995 s. 4) Geneva Convention (日內瓦公約) means the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of August 12, 1949, Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea of August 12, 1949, Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949, and the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of August 12, 1949 as applied to Hong Kong and any subsequent Additional Protocols which are applicable to Hong Kong; (Added 55 of 1995 s. 4) Hong Kong Red Cross (香港紅十字會) means the Red Cross of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China; (Replaced 55 of 1995 s. 4. Amended 37 of 2000 s. 3) Society means the Red Cross Society of China. (Replaced 37 of 2000 s. 3)(Amended 55 of 1995 s. 4; 37 of 2000 s. 3)
The Hong Kong Red Cross shall act in accordance with the Fundamental Principles and Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the Constitution of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
(Added 55 of 1995 s. 5. Amended 37 of 2000 s. 3)
The Hong Kong Red Cross shall be a branch of the Society and shall enjoy a high degree of autonomy; the relationship between the Hong Kong Red Cross and the Society shall be governed by the Announcement of the Society as set out in Schedule 2.
(Replaced 37 of 2000 s. 3)
The aims, objects, powers and duties of Hong Kong Red Cross shall be defined by the Constitution which shall be subject to section 2A.
(Added 55 of 1995 s. 5)
No person shall, except with the authority of the Hong Kong Red Cross, distribute or sell or expose for sale— (Amended 55 of 1995 s. 6)
any badge, token or emblem specifically adopted by the Hong Kong Red Cross for use by members thereof;
any badge, token or emblem containing the words “Red Cross” or the characters “紅十字會”, with or without additional words or characters; or
any product which contains the emblem of the Geneva Convention, with or without additional words, characters or designs, or the words “Red Cross” or its equivalent Chinese expression, with or without additional words or characters, or any product which is contained in or packaged by materials containing the same. (Added 55 of 1995 s. 6)
(Amended 55 of 1995 s. 6)
No person shall, except with the authority of the Hong Kong Red Cross or with lawful authority or lawful excuse, have in his possession— (Amended 55 of 1995 s. 7)
any badge, token or emblem specifically adopted by the Hong Kong Red Cross for use by members thereof;
any badge, token or emblem containing the words “Red Cross” or the characters “紅十字會”, with or without additional words or characters; or
any product which contains the emblem of the Geneva Convention, with or without additional words, characters or designs, or the words “Red Cross” or its equivalent Chinese expression, with or without additional words or characters. (Added 55 of 1995 s. 7)
(Amended 55 of 1995 s. 7)
No person shall without the authority of the Hong Kong Red Cross or without lawful authority or lawful excuse have in his possession— (Amended 55 of 1995 s. 8)
any device which so closely resembles any badge, token or emblem specifically adopted by the Hong Kong Red Cross for use by members thereof as to lead to the belief that the device in question is such badge, token or emblem; or
any badge, token or emblem containing any words or characters so closely resembling any words or characters ordinarily used to describe any member of the Hong Kong Red Cross as to be calculated to deceive or mislead.
(Amended 55 of 1995 s. 8)
No person shall form, or work in connection with, or be a member of—
any organization which without authority from the Hong Kong Red Cross claims or purports to be the Hong Kong Red Cross;
any organization, other than those with the authority of the Hong Kong Red Cross, which uses the title of the Hong Kong Red Cross or the equivalent Chinese title or any title containing the words “Red Cross” or “紅十字會”, or any title in any language which, with or without additional words or characters, so closely resembles any of the said titles as to be calculated to deceive or mislead; or
any organization which, by the use of any such title or otherwise, without due authority, purports or claims to be connected with the Hong Kong Red Cross. (Amended 55 of 1995 s. 9)
No person shall, without the authority of the Hong Kong Red Cross, wear or use any uniform or equipment of the Hong Kong Red Cross. (Replaced 55 of 1995 s. 9)
Any person who contravenes any of the provisions of section 3, section 4, section 5 or section 6 shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine at level 2.
(Amended 55 of 1995 s. 10; E.R. 3 of 2021)
The Hong Kong Red Cross shall be a body corporate and shall in that name have perpetual succession, may sue and be sued in all courts and shall have and may use a common seal.
The Hong Kong Red Cross shall have a governing body to be known as the Council of the Hong Kong Red Cross which is responsible for the exercise of any powers conferred and the performance of all the duties imposed on the Hong Kong Red Cross by this Ordinance and by the Constitution.
Subject to the Constitution, the Council may by resolution delegate to any person or any committee such of its functions and powers as it may specify.
The Council shall comprise the President, the Chairman, the Director, the Honorary Treasurer of the Hong Kong Red Cross and such other members as may be defined by the Constitution.
(Replaced 55 of 1995 s. 11)
The following properties, namely, all those pieces and parcels of ground specified in Schedule 1, together with all erections and buildings thereon and together with all rights, easements and appurtenances thereto belonging vested in the former British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) shall from the commencement* of the British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) (Amendment) Ordinance 1995 (55 of 1995) be vested in the Hong Kong Red Cross absolutely for the unexpired residue of the respective term of years created by the Crown Lease or Conditions of Grant specified in relation thereto, subject to payment of the rent and performance of the covenants and conditions reserved by and contained in the said Crown Leases and Conditions of Grant. (Amended 37 of 2000 s. 3)
All debentures, stocks, fund shares, securities, vessels, goods, chattels and other movable assets vested in or belonging to or held for or on behalf of or in trust for the former British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) and all moneys subscribed for the purposes of the former British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) and all investments of such moneys and all interest, income and profits arising from such investments and all securities therefor shall, at the commencement* of the British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) (Amendment) Ordinance 1995 (55 of 1995), be transferred to, vest in, belong to or be held for or on behalf of or in trust for the Hong Kong Red Cross.
All rights, titles, benefits and interests of and in any assets, contracts, undertakings and properties vested in the former British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) shall, at the commencement* of the British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) (Amendment) Ordinance 1995 (55 of 1995), be assigned and transferred absolutely to the Hong Kong Red Cross.
All contractual and other rights exercisable or enforceable by the former British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) shall, at the commencement* of the British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) (Amendment) Ordinance 1995 (55 of 1995), be exercisable and enforceable by the Hong Kong Red Cross in place of the former British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch).
On the commencement* of the British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) (Amendment) Ordinance 1995 (55 of 1995), the Hong Kong Red Cross shall become liable for all the debts and liabilities and for the performance of all the contractual and other obligations of the former British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch).
(Replaced 55 of 1995 s. 12)
The Hong Kong Red Cross shall have power to acquire, accept leases of, purchase, take, hold, and enjoy any lands, buildings, messuages or tenements of what nature or kind soever and wheresoever situate, and also to invest moneys upon mortgage of any lands, buildings, messuages or tenements, or upon the mortgages, debentures, stocks, funds, shares or securities of any government, municipality, corporation or company, and also to purchase, acquire and possess vessels, goods and chattels of what nature and kind soever.
The Hong Kong Red Cross shall further have power by deed under its seal to grant, sell, convey, assign, surrender, exchange, partition, yield up, mortgage, demise, reassign, transfer or otherwise dispose of any lands, buildings, messuages, tenements, mortgages, debentures, stocks, funds, shares or securities, vessels, goods or chattels, which are for the time being vested in or belonging to the Hong Kong Red Cross upon such terms as to the Hong Kong Red Cross may seem fit.
The Hong Kong Red Cross shall further have power—
to build, rebuild, demolish, alter, vary, renew, maintain and repair any buildings, messuages or tenements acquired by the Hong Kong Red Cross or in which the Hong Kong Red Cross has acquired an interest and to effect any improvements thereto, and to apply to any tribunal or court or authority for any order, licence, permission and exemption required therefor;
to improve, develop and turn to account any land belonging to the Hong Kong Red Cross or in which the Hong Kong Red Cross has or may acquire a sufficient legal or equitable interest, by reconstructing, altering and demolishing buildings and by constructing new buildings of any kind whatsoever either alone or in any joint development scheme in conjunction with owners or lessees of sites adjoining any land belonging to the Hong Kong Red Cross or in which the Hong Kong Red Cross enjoys any interest as aforesaid; and
to do all such things as are directly or indirectly incidental to or conducive to the attainment of the aims, objects and powers of the Hong Kong Red Cross. (Added 55 of 1995 s. 13)
(Amended 55 of 1995 s. 13)
The Hong Kong Red Cross may make and execute any document in the performance or exercise of its duties or powers or in connection with any matter reasonably incidental to or consequential upon the performance or exercise of its duties or powers.
All deeds and other instruments requiring the seal of the Hong Kong Red Cross shall be authorized or ratified by resolution of the Council, and shall be signed by any 2 of the following: the President, the Chairman, the Director, the Honorary Treasurer and the Secretary General for the time being of the Hong Kong Red Cross.
(Replaced 55 of 1995 s. 14)
All matters of internal management of the Hong Kong Red Cross shall be settled and carried out in accordance with this Ordinance and the Constitution for the time being of the Hong Kong Red Cross.
(Replaced 55 of 1995 s. 15. Amended 37 of 2000 s. 3)
All books and other documents which would, before the commencement* of the British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) (Amendment) Ordinance 1995 (55 of 1995), have been evidence in respect of any matter for or against the former British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) shall be admissible in evidence in respect of the same matter for or against the Hong Kong Red Cross.
(Added 55 of 1995 s. 16)
The production of a Government Printer’s copy of this Ordinance shall, for all purposes, be conclusive evidence of the vesting and transfer of any property and liabilities of the former British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) in Hong Kong Red Cross in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance.
Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1)—
any deed or other document made or executed on or after the commencement* of the British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) (Amendment) Ordinance 1995 (55 of 1995), whereby the Hong Kong Red Cross or the former British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch), whether alone or jointly with any other person, conveys or transfers, or purports to convey or transfer, to any person (whether for consideration or not), or applies to be registered as the holder or proprietor of, any property held by the former British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) immediately before the commencement* of the British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) (Amendment) Ordinance 1995 (55 of 1995), whether alone or jointly with any other person, shall be sufficient evidence that the interest of the former British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) in that property is deemed to be vested in the Hong Kong Red Cross under this Ordinance;
where there is any other transaction or purported transaction by the former British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) or the Hong Kong Red Cross on or after the commencement* of the British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) (Amendment) Ordinance 1995 (55 of 1995) in connection with, or in relation to, any property or liabilities which are property or liabilities of the former British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) immediately before that commencement, it shall be deemed in favour of any other party to the transaction, or any person claiming through or under him, that the Hong Kong Red Cross has full power and authority for that transaction as if the property or liabilities were deemed to be vested in it under this Ordinance;
a certificate given by or on behalf of the Hong Kong Red Cross at any time that any property or liability specified in the certificate (which property or liability immediately before the commencement* of the British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) (Amendment) Ordinance 1995 (55 of 1995) is the property or liability of the former British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch)) is or, as the case may be, is not, deemed to be vested in the Hong Kong Red Cross under this Ordinance, shall be conclusive evidence for all purposes of the fact so certified;
The Hong Kong Red Cross shall register or cause to be registered in the Land Registry a Government Printer’s copy of this Ordinance in respect of the vesting of the properties of the former British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) in the Hong Kong Red Cross.
(Added 55 of 1995 s. 16)
The vesting in the Hong Kong Red Cross of an interest in land by virtue of this Ordinance shall not—
constitute the acquisition, assignment, transfer or parting with possession of that interest for the purposes of section 53(4)(a) or (7)(a) of the Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) Ordinance (Cap. 7); or (Amended 16 of 2004 s. 16)
operate so as to merge any leasehold interest in the reversion expectant on it; or
constitute an assignment, transfer, devolution, parting with possession, dealing with or other disposition of that interest for the purposes of any provision contained in any instrument concerning or affecting that interest; or
operate as a breach of covenant or condition against alienation; or
give rise to any forfeiture, damages or other right of action; or
invalidate or discharge any contract or security.
(Added 55 of 1995 s. 16)
Nothing in this Ordinance shall prejudice the powers of the Hong Kong Red Cross to alter its Constitution or to dispose of, or deal with, its property or liabilities or to carry on or discontinue any part of its functions; and nothing in this Ordinance shall prejudice the powers of the former British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) to dispose of, or deal with, its property or liabilities before the commencement* of the British Red Cross Society (Hong Kong Branch) (Amendment) Ordinance 1995 (55 of 1995).
(Added 55 of 1995 s. 16)
Nothing in this Ordinance shall affect or be deemed to affect the rights of the Central Authorities or the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region under the Basic Law and other laws, or the rights of any body politic or corporate or of any other persons except such as are mentioned in this Ordinance and those claiming by, from or under them.
(Amended 37 of 2000 s. 3)
(Replaced 55 of 1995 s. 17)
All those pieces or parcels of ground known and registered in the Land Registry as— (Amended 8 of 1993 s. 2)
Inland Lot 7966 (Anne Black Red Cross Headquarters; Crown Lease dated 21.1.1971)
Inland Lot 8101 (John F. Kennedy Centre, Sandy Bay; Crown Lease dated 2.7.1971)
Inland Lot 8265 (Margaret Trench Red Cross School, Sandy Bay; Conditions of Grant No. 9863 dated 10.3.1971)
Kwun Tong Inland Lot 255 (Princess Alexandra Residential School, Kwun Tong; Conditions of Grant No. 7058 dated 9.3.1962)
Announcement
The Hong Kong Red Cross will Become a Special Local Branch with High Autonomy of the Red Cross Society of China from 1 July 1997.
At the fourth session of the Sixth National Board of the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC), which was held in Xiamen, Fujian Province from 1st to 4th April 1997, the RCSC National Board considered the application by the Hong Kong Red Cross (HKRC) to become a branch of the RCSC from 1 July 1997.
As the Government of the People’s Republic of China shall resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong from 1 July 1997 with the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and that the British Red Cross Society (BRCS) had accepted HKRC’s notification to terminate its affiliation with the BRCS with effect from 1 July 1997, the RCSC National Board passed a resolution at the above-mentioned session to accept the HKRC to be a branch of the RCSC with a high degree of autonomy. The affiliation will come into effect on 1 July 1997.
The legal basis regulating the future relationship between the RCSC and HKRC shall be the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, the Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the Constitution of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. As from 1 July 1997, the full official name of the Hong Kong Red Cross shall be “The Red Cross of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China”. The accepted short title shall be the “Hong Kong Red Cross (Branch of the Red Cross Society of China)”. The HKRC shall use the emblem of the RCSC. The National Headquarters in Beijing shall continue to represent the RCSC in international organizations or meetings where statutory participation is confined to National Societies. However, whenever appropriate, HKRC representatives would be invited to serve as members of the RCSC delegations.
As a RCSC branch with a high degree of autonomy, the HKRC will have full autonomy, subject to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China and other laws enacted by the legislature of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to formulate or revise its regulations and rules, and to make its own decisions on matters concerning its internal management, which include organizational structure, policies and administrative decision making, working procedures, personnel, financial management, nature and forms of service operations. The Red Cross Law of the People’s Republic of China and the RCSC Constitution shall not apply to Hong Kong or to the HKRC. The Hong Kong Red Cross (Branch of the Red Cross Society of China) shall be able to maintain and develop direct contact and operational programmes with other members of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, provided such contact and programmes do not contravene the Movement’s Fundamental Principle of “Unity” and that the RCSC National Headquarters be duly informed.
15 April 1997, Beijing
(Schedule 2 added 37 of 2000 s. 3)