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freedoms, and the attitudes of the Chinese authorities to
the justiciability of those rights and freedoms. In short,
is there a possibility that the fundamental rights chapter
of the Basic Law will have a higher status than the laws
of the SAR and will the system allow the courts to resolve
any inconsistencies? This is not a matter on which I am
in a position to advise.
That does not necessarily exclude
the resolution of inconsistencies between different laws
along the lines of the precedents. However, if the Chinese
were to classify the resolution of such inconsistencies as
a matter of constitutional interpretation (and we were
unable to move them from that approach) they might well
maintain the line that this is not a function of the courts
(which was confined to "judgment and punishment"), but of a
political organ: cf Article 67 of the PRC constitution:-
"The Standing Committee of the National Peoples
Congress exercises the following functions
and powers:
(1) To interpret the Constitution and
supervise its enforcement
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/4.