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dispute, her colleague could not have taken into account the emotional problems that
might adversely affect her in handling the above dispute, thus causing additional
pressure to the complainant which might severely damage her physical or mental
health. Hence, section 59 applied to exempt such disclosure from the requirements
under DPP3.
Section 59A—Care and Guardianship of Minors
12.62
Section 59A is a new exemption introduced by the Amendment Ordinance. It provides
for the exemption from the provisions of DPP3 personal data relating to a minor that is
transferred or disclosed by the Hong Kong Police Force or Customs and Excise
Department to a relevant person of the minor if:
59A ……
(a) the purpose of the transfer or disclosure is to facilitate the relevant person to exercise
proper care and guardianship of the minor;
(b) the transfer or disclosure is in the interest of the minor; and
(c) the application of those provisions in relation to such transfer or disclosure would be
likely to prejudice the exercise of proper care and guardianship of the minor by the
relevant person or the interest of the minor.
12.63
A “relevant person” in relation to a minor, is defined in section 2(1) of the Ordinance to
mean a person who has parental responsibility for a minor. This exemption was added
under the Amendment Ordinance to facilitate parents and guardians to exercise proper
care and guardianship over their minor children who are obviously at risk but have not
been caught committing crimes. For example, the police found a 13-year-old girl in a
secluded place with drugs discarded on the floor. While the drugs were not found to be
possessed by the girl, all the circumstances would suggest that she might be involved in
or was vulnerable to becoming embroiled in drug taking or even trafficking. It was
suggested that in such cases, notifying the parents/guardians would facilitate early
identification of a hidden problem and enable necessary intervention to prevent the
problem from further deteriorating.
Section 60 — Legal Professional Privilege
12.64
This exemption relates to the basic rule of legal privilege, and exempts communications
between a legal advisor and his clients, for the purpose of obtaining legal advice or
when litigation is contemplated, from the application of the data access provisions
(DPP6 and section 18(1)(b)). Legal professional privilege is important so that legal advice
may be safely and sufficiently obtained and protected. It is a right recognised by the
Basic Law
8
which provides that Hong Kong residents shall have the right to confidential
legal advice.
8
Article 35 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong.