The HK output, or the Home International Register, was a system that recorded every movement of people and goods in and out of Hong Kong between 1992 and 1996. The system was intended to record every person and purchase that occurred within Hong Kong. The system also maintained data on any vessel that entered the territory and records all communications conducted by land and sea between Hong Kong and other ports and countries.

The HK output was implemented by the colonial government as part of a large move towards unification. The goal was to create a unified, Chinese legal system based on the historic British civil system. The aim was to replace the now obsolete British civil courts with the Civil Court system.

The HK output was introduced during a time when there was a great deal of confusion in the region. It took a while for the new system to get used and accepted by the people of Hong Kong. The system became popular among the middle class and was very unpopular with many in the higher socioeconomic classes.

Most of the HK output data was deleted from the system in the years following its launch. There were a lot of discrepancies between government records and party records. Many people with ties to the Communist Party of China (CPC) would move back and forth between the HK output and party records without them ever being reconciled. This made the data almost impossible to process.

After the 1996 handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese government, the Hong Kong government was allowed to archive records that it had accumulated. The original files that were archived were then re-searched to make sure they matched the new government records.

The original Lister files were put online in 2020. They contain information on the original HK output system and the errors that existed before its launch. These files are vital to the move towards reconciliation. The HK output system will not be completely deleted and will be preserved as a history. Some of the original files will be used to compile indexes that list HK output records in their correct order. When the data has been compiled, it will be available to help people determine what events actually took place in Hong Kong’s legal system.

The HK output files will not be completely deleted. These documents will be added to the HK output index to allow the Hong Kong government to make accurate comparisons with the new, simplified legal system that is being developed in mainland China.