Mr Wilford
CONFIDENTIAL
RIA
17/12
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EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS: HONG KONG
1. We spoke, and you asked me to check that Hong Kong's
rejection of Article 3 of the First Frotocol, referred to
on page 3 of Sir David Trench's letter of 9 November 1965,
did not invalidate the conclusions of my submission of
8 December.
2.
Article 3 of the First Protocol is an undertaking to
hold free elections at reasonable intervals by secret ballot,
under conditions ensuring free expression of the opinion of
the people in the choice of legislature. Clearly this
cannot apply to Hong Kong. But it is not necessary to
include the Protocols or any parts of them when extending
the operation of the Convention itself; and in fact none of
the Protocols have been extended to any of the dependent
territories. I do not therefore think that the existence
of this Article need prevent us from asking Hong Kong to
look again at the whole question, or that it invalidates
my submission, which I have accordingly sent forward to
Mr Royle's office.
Mr/~
13 December 1972
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11. dilford
A C Stuart
Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Department
No - but will we not get the
3?
same answer because of Art 3."
The Lovernor's legal advisers
with be aware of X1 so the existence of Prick 3,
of itself, should not load them to conclude that the convertion
CONFIDENTIAL
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should not be extended to Hong Kong, as it has been tooter dependent temibione was
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