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Hong Kong and HMG were to cease to be responsible for the
government thereof, it must be assumed that an Act of
Parliament would be required.
Expiration of New Territories Lease
5.
Relinquishment of the New Territories upon the
expiration of the international lease on 30 June 1997 would
not in itself require an Act of Parliament. As regards the
possibility of an agreement to surrender the New Territories
to the PRC before that date, there exists a precedent for a
comparable transaction where no Act of Parliament was passed,
the surrender in 1930 of the lease granted by China in 1898
of Wei-hai-wei, which Mr Balfour had offered in 1922 to hand
back to China. The fact the Orders in Council in respect of
Wei-hai-wei were made under the Foreign Jurisdiction Act 1890
indicates, however, that Wei-hai-wei was not regarded as part
of His Majesty's dominions during the currency of the lease.
Since the New Territories are regarded as being part of a
colony, their premature surrender would seem to require an
Act of Parliament.
Novel Arrangements
6. There is no precedent for a situation in which the
UK relinquished its sovereignty over a territory in favour
of another State as part of an agreement with that State
that HMG should continue to have power and jurisdiction to
administer the territory and to conduct external relations
in respect of the territory.
/Necessity for Act of Parliament
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