Having the next chief executive to govern the remainder of the original term of office will avoid anomalous consequences and will be beneficial to the development of democracy and human rights values under the Basic Law, a Hong Kong government department statement said Friday.

The Department of Justice said in the statement that an interpretation of laws governing the elected candidate's term that results in the original five-year term of office being partly filled by a new chief executive will avoid problems.

It said anomalous consequences may arise if the Basic Law is interpreted as requiring the chief executive who is elected this July to serve a five-year term.

It is an established common law principle of statutory interpretation that the courts seek to avoid a construction that creates an anomaly or otherwise produces an irrational or illogical result.

Therefore, an interpretation that results in the original five-year term of office being partly filled by a new chief executive will avoid such a result, the statement said.

It also pointed out that it is appropriate to seek the views of mainland legal experts on the issue as it is the responsibility of the Central Government and concerns the relationship between the mainland and Hong Kong.

The Constitutional Development Task Force is seeking a consensus on amendments that will be in line with the principle of gradual and orderly progress towards universal suffrage, the statement said.

If this can be achieved, and Annex I is amended, an election committee formed to elect the third-term chief executive in 2007 will be more representative than the current one, the statement said.

Editor: Olivia