The Government today held the third oath-taking ceremony for district councillors of North District, Tai Po, Sai Kung and Sha Tin at North Point Community Hall.

The district councillors took oaths individually to declare that they would uphold the Basic Law and bear allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The oath taking was administered by Secretary for Home Affairs Caspar Tsui who was authorised by the Chief Executive as the oath administrator.

According to the Interpretation of Article 104 of the Basic Law by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the person administering the oath has the duty to ensure that it is taken in a lawful manner.

The administrator shall also determine that an oath taken in compliance with the interpretation and the requirements under the laws of Hong Kong is valid, while an oath not taken in compliance with the interpretation and the requirements is invalid.

If the oath taken is determined as invalid, no arrangement shall be made for retaking the oath.

The oath administrator determined that the oaths taken by 34 district council members were valid.

As Yiu Kwan-ho of Tai Po District Council is currently in prison, the oath administrator considers that it is not reasonably practicable to arrange the oath-taking for him. If his situation changes and he is still serving as a district council member by then, the Government will make separate arrangements.

As for Wong Hoi-ying of North District Council, she provided the oath administrator with the reason for not attending today's oath-taking ceremony and requested separate oath-taking arrangements for her. The oath administrator is handling her case.

Meanwhile, as the oath administrator had doubts on the validity of the oaths taken by 16 district councillors, letters were issued to the councillors concerned to require them to provide additional information for the administrator to decide the validity of their oaths.