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| Hong Kong Government Gazette | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 香港特別行政區政府憲報 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 香港特别行政区政府宪报 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
The Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Gazette (formerly and still widely known asThe Hong Kong Government Gazette) is theofficial publication of theGovernment of Hong Kong. Published by theGovernment Logistics Department (GLD), it acts as an official channel to promulgate information which is required for statutory or other reasons to be made public,[1] includinglegislation, ordinances, appointments of major officials and public notices.[2]
It is normally published on Fridays.[3]
The Gazette consists of seven parts:
Regular issues of the Gazette are usually published every Friday, except when apublic holiday falls on Friday. Gazette Extraordinaries might also be published in between regular issues to carry important notices. Gazette Extraordinaries were previously published on need basis, but during theCOVID-19 pandemic, these have been increased to a daily basis so that statutory notices of compulsoryCOVID-19 testing for specific groups of people could be promulgated.
The current form of Hong Kong's government gazette began on 24 September 1853 when theHongkong Government Gazette (香港政府憲報) started publication, following a proclamation byWilliam Caine, theColonial Secretary, that it would become "the only Official Organ of Proclamations, Notifications, and all Public Papers of this Government".[4] Prior to this, theHongkong Gazette was an earlier government gazette in British Hong Kong, which was amalgamated with theFriend of China in 1842. TheFriend of China remained the government gazette between 1842 and 1845.[5]
When Hong Kong became theSpecial Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997, theHong Kong Government Gazette (香港政府憲報) was renamed theGovernment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Gazette. The format remained largely unchanged but the serial numbering of volumes started anew from Volume 1.
Old records are kept by libraries around the world (including theHong Kong Central Library), and in the Central Preservation Library for Government Preservation of thePublic Records Office.[6] Additionally, the public may also access the scanned copies of gazette issued before World War II on theHKU Libraries website. The official website of the Gazette contains online records of the Gazette (in PDF format) dating back to 2000.[7]