Cap. 357 - Electricity Networks (Statutory Easements) Ordinance

To provide for the creation of easements in and over land in favour of certain undertakings which generate, transmit or distribute electricity; and for matters incidental thereto and connected therewith. [11 July 1980](Format changes—E.R. 4 of 2021) 1. Short title This Ordinance may be cited as the Electricity Networks (Statutory Easements) Ordinance. 2. Interpretation In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires—approved scheme (獲准計劃) means a scheme approved by the Secretary for Development for the purposes of section 3; (Amended L.N. 245 of 1981; L.N. 244 of 1989; L.N. 330 of 1999; L.N. 106 of 2002; L.N. 130 of 2007)electric line (電力線) means a wire, cable, conductor or other means of transmitting or distributing electricity from one location to another above or below ground, and any casing, coating, covering, tube, pipe, insulator, pole, mast or pylon enclosing, surrounding or supporting the same or any part thereof or any apparatus or ancillary facilities connected therewith;electricity network (供電網絡) means a system for the transmission or distribution of electrical energy consisting of one or more electric lines, but does not include any such system which is in operation at the commencement* of this Ordinance; owner (擁有人), in relation to any land, means— (a) a person registered or entitled to be registered as owner of such land in the Land Registry; (b) a person having any estate or interest in such land, or in lawful occupation thereof, under an instrument registered in the Land Registry; (Amended 8 of 1993 s. 2) power company (電力公司) means a person or any body of persons, corporate or unincorporate, by whom electricity is generated or transmitted or distributed;route (線路) means the alignment of the electric lines of an electricity network as specified by the terms of the approved scheme relating to such electricity network;terms (條款), in relation to an approved scheme, includes the conditions, specifications, restrictions and other stipulations contained therein, and any plans, maps, drawings or other documents forming part thereof or referred to therein;works (工程) means the construction, operation, maintenance, repair or replacement of an electricity network or any part thereof, or the investigation or examination thereof or of any land situated on the route thereof. Editorial Note: * Commencement date: 11 July 1980. 3. Provisions of Ordinance to apply to power company by order of Chief Executive in Council (1) Where the Chief Executive in Council is satisfied that a power company is carrying out or is about to carry out any works relating to an electricity network across any land in Hong Kong in accordance with the terms of a scheme approved by the Secretary for Development for the purposes of this section, the Chief Executive in Council may, at the request of the company made in writing to the Secretary for Development, order that the provisions of this Ordinance shall apply to the company for the purpose of enabling the company to carry out such works in accordance with the approved scheme. (Amended L.N. 245 of 1981; L.N. 244 of 1989; 61 of 1999 s. 3; L.N. 330 of 1999; L.N. 106 of 2002; L.N. 130 of 2007)(2) Before an order is made under this section in respect of an electricity network, the approved scheme relating thereto shall be deposited in the Land Registry.(Amended 8 of 1993 s.2)(3) It shall be sufficient for the purposes of an order made under this section to refer therein to an approved scheme by the description and date assigned thereto in the Land Registry for the purposes of subsection (2). (Amended 8 of 1993 s. 2) 4. Statutory easements (1) Subject to this Ordinance, a power company specified in an order made under section 3 may, in accordance with the terms of the approved scheme relating to the electricity network in respect of which the order is made, exercise from time to time all or any of the following rights in or over land situated on the route of such electricity network—(a) the right to place and retain any electric line above or below ground across such land; and(b) the right to carry out any works required for the purposes of paragraph (a) on such land, including the right to excavate, drain, remove or cover over any part of the soil of such land, and to lop, cut or remove any trees, shrubs, growing crops or vegetation of any kind on such land which obstruct or interfere with any electric line; and(c) the right to enter on and pass over or under such land with such persons, animals, vehicles and equipment and to do all such acts thereon as may be necessary for or incidental to the exercise of any right conferred by this section,but nothing in this section shall authorize the power company to place, construct, erect or retain any permanent structure, pole, mast or pylon on such land.(2) In this section land (土地) does not include unleased land within the meaning of the Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 28) which is not occupied under Part II of that Ordinance. (Amended 29 of 1998 s. 70) 5. Easements not to have effect until order registered (1) The rights conferred by section 4 shall not be exercisable in or over any land by virtue of an order made under section 3 unless the order is registered under the Land Registration Ordinance (Cap. 128).(2) It shall be the duty of the power company specified in an order made under section 3 to register the order under the Land Registration Ordinance (Cap. 128) not later than 14 days after the date of publication of the order in the Gazette. 6. Registration of order to be advertised in press (1) Where an order made under section 3 is registered under the Land Registration Ordinance (Cap. 128), the power company specified in the order shall, once in each of 2 consecutive weeks, publish in 2 Chinese language newspapers and an English language newspaper an advertisement containing the matters specified in subsection (2) in respect of such order:Provided that—(a) such period of 2 consecutive weeks shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to commence on the date of publication of the first such advertisement;(b) the first such advertisement shall be so published not later than 14 days after the date of registration of such order.(2) An advertisement published under this section shall contain—(a) a statement of the fact that an order made under section 3 has been registered under the Land Registration Ordinance (Cap. 128);(b) the number and date of the order, the date of registration and the number of the memorial thereof;(c) particulars of the land affected by the order;(d) a statement of the rights exercisable in or over such land under this Ordinance;(e) the name and business address of the power company specified in the order; and(f) a statement that claims for compensation under section 10 may be submitted in writing to the company at that address not later than 12 months after the date of registration of the order and, if the parties fail to agree, to the Lands Tribunal for final determination. 7. Rectification etc. of approved scheme (1) The Chief Executive may, at the request in writing (addressed to the Secretary for Development) of a power company specified in an order made under section 3, direct that the terms of the approved scheme in respect of which the order is made shall be rectified, modified or varied in such manner and to such extent as may be agreed in writing by the company and the Secretary for Development, and any such agreement shall be deposited in the Land Registry and annexed to the copy of the scheme deposited therein under section 3(2). (Amended L.N. 245 of 1981; L.N. 244 of 1989; 8 of 1993 s. 2; 61 of 1999 s. 3; L.N. 330 of 1999; L.N. 106 of 2002; L.N. 130 of 2007)(2) Where an agreement for the rectification, modification or variation of the terms of an approved scheme is deposited in the Land Registry under subsection (1), the Chief Executive may by order declare that, subject to subsection (3), the approved scheme shall have effect subject to such rectification, modification or variation, as the case may be; and any reference in this Ordinance or any order thereunder to an approved scheme shall be construed as including a reference to an approved scheme as so rectified, modified or varied. (Amended 8 of 1993 s. 2; 61 of 1999 s. 3)(3) Where the terms of an approved scheme are rectified, modified or varied by an order made under subsection (2) in such manner or to such extent that—(a) any part of the route of the electricity network comprised in the scheme is altered; or(b) any reference therein to land is added or substituted,the rights conferred by section 4 shall not be exercisable in or over any land affected by the part of the route which is so altered or in respect of which such reference is so added or substituted unless the order is registered under the Land Registration Ordinance (Cap. 128).(4) Sections 5(2) and 6 shall apply in relation to the registration of an order made under subsection (2) as they apply in relation to the registration of an order made under section 3. 8. Right of access over other land (1) Subject to this Ordinance, where—(a) a power company specified in an order made under section 3 intends to carry out any works relating to the electricity network in respect of which the order is made; and(b) it is necessary for that purpose for the company’s officers, servants or agents or other persons authorized by the company to enter on and cross over any land in order to gain access to the site of such works,the company, its officers, servants or agents or other persons authorized by the company in that behalf may enter on and cross over such land to and from such site with such persons, animals, vehicles and equipment as may be necessary for or incidental to the carrying out of such works.(2) Nothing in this section shall apply to unleased land within the meaning of the Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 28) which is not occupied under Part II of that Ordinance. (Amended 29 of 1998 s. 70) 9. Restrictions on exercise of rights under section 4 or 8 (1) Subject to this section, a power company shall, before exercising any right conferred by section 4 or 8 in respect of any land, serve notice of its intention to do so on the owner of the land; and for the purposes of this section notice shall be deemed to have been duly served on the owner of land if, but only if—(a) it is delivered to him; or(b) it is sent by registered post addressed to him at his last postal address known to the power company; or(c) where the owner is not known or cannot be found or for any reason it is not practicable to serve the notice in accordance with paragraph (a) or (b), it is published—(i) in the Gazette; and(ii) in 2 Chinese language newspapers and an English language newspaper,not less than 30 days prior to the exercise of such right:Provided that in the case of emergency, a power company intending to exercise any such right in respect of any land may notify the owner of such land of its intention in such manner as the power company may deem practicable in the circumstances of the case, and subsections (2), (3) and (4) shall not apply to such case.(2) Where the owner of any land on whom notice is served by a power company under subsection (1) wishes to object to the exercise by the power company of any rights to which the notice refers, he shall, before the expiration of the period of such notice, notify the power company in writing of his objection and the grounds thereof, and the power company shall, unless the objection is sooner withdrawn or resolved, deliver particulars in writing thereof to the Secretary for Development not later than 14 days after the expiration of such period.(3) Where particulars of any objection are delivered to the Secretary for Development under subsection (2), he may direct a public officer to attend, within a period of not more than 30 days after the date of delivery of such particulars, on the owner by whom the objection is made and the power company, respectively, and to receive and record any representations as to the matters in dispute put forward by the owner or the power company, as the case may be, and to submit a report in respect thereof for the consideration of the Secretary for Development.(4) The Secretary for Development shall consider any objection of which particulars are delivered to him under subsection (2) and any report directed to be submitted to him under subsection (3) in respect thereof, and shall give such directions to the power company relating to the exercise by the power company of any rights to which the objection relates as he may deem proper having regard to the public interest and shall give notice of such directions to the owner concerned; and it shall be the duty of the power company and the owner to comply with such directions.(Amended L.N. 245 of 1981; L.N. 244 of 1989; L.N. 330 of 1999; L.N. 106 of 2002; L.N. 130 of 2007) 10. Compensation for diminution of value of land (1) Where an order made under this Ordinance affecting any land is registered by a power company under the Land Registration Ordinance (Cap. 128), the company shall be liable to pay compensation to the person who, at the date of registration of the order, is the owner of the land in respect of any diminution of the value of his estate or interest therein attributable to the registration of the order.(2) Any person claiming to be entitled to be paid compensation by a power company under this section in respect of any land may, not later than 12 months after the date of registration of an order made under this Ordinance affecting such land, deliver particulars of the claim in writing to the company.(3) If, within a period of 28 days after the delivery of the particulars of any claim to a power company under this section, the claimant and the company fail to reach agreement in respect of the company’s liability, if any, under this section, the claimant may, not later than 60 days after the expiration of that period, submit the claim to the Lands Tribunal for determination.(4) The Lands Tribunal shall have jurisdiction to determine the amount of compensation, if any, payable in the case of any claim submitted to the Tribunal under this section; and in the application of the Lands Tribunal Ordinance (Cap. 17) to any such determination, section 11(1) of that Ordinance shall have effect as if for paragraphs (a) and (b) thereof there were substituted the words “the amount of compensation payable in the case of any claim submitted to it under section 10 of the Electricity Networks (Statutory Easements) Ordinance (Cap. 357)”.(5) In the determination of the amount of compensation, if any, payable under this section, no compensation shall be given in respect of—(a) any expectancy or probability of the grant or renewal or continuance by the Government or any person of any licence, permission, lease or permit whatsoever;(b) any use of the land which is not in accordance with the terms of the Government lease under which the land is held. (Amended 29 of 1998 s. 71)(6) For the purposes of this section, value (值), in relation to any land affected by an order made under this Ordinance, means the open market value of the land assessed as at the date of registration of the order. 11. Liability for loss or damage (1) Subject to this section, nothing in this Ordinance shall affect the liability of any person in respect of any loss or damage caused by or arising out of the exercise of any rights under this Ordinance.(2) Where by reason of the exercise by a power company of any rights under this Ordinance in or over any land—(a) any fixtures, growing crops, farm produce or plants on such land are damaged; or(b) in the case of land which is used exclusively for the purpose of tillage, the use of such land for that purpose is temporarily prevented or restricted to such extent as to cause any loss,the company shall be liable for such loss or damage notwithstanding that the company acted with reasonable care or that the loss or damage could not have been avoided without preventing or hindering the exercise of such rights:Provided that if the company proves that the loss or damage resulted wholly or partially either from an act or omission done with intent to cause any loss or damage by the person who suffered the loss or damage or from the negligence of that person, the company shall be exonerated wholly or partially from its liability to such person.(3) This section shall not apply in relation to any claim for compensation in respect of the diminution of the value of any estate or interest in land. 12. Offence to obstruct power company Any person who wilfully obstructs or interferes with the lawful exercise by any power company or its officers or servants or agents, or persons authorized by the company in that behalf, of any rights exercisable by the company under this Ordinance in respect of any land commits an offence and is liable to a fine at level 2 and to imprisonment for 6 months.(Amended E.R. 4 of 2021)