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HONG KONG LEGISLATION
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RECEIVED IN REGISTRYKI 5-05 NOV 1984
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REGISTRY Action Take
26 October 1984
Your Lice
Ser J. Freeland "Str P. Cradock
I have seen the Lord President's response to your minute of 8 October and mine of 16 October about the form of the nationality provisions in the forthcoming Hong Kong Bill.
Mr Burrows,
Legal Advisers
I think we can fully meet the Lord President's understandable concerns. The nationality provisions which we suggest should be included in the Bill will not be lengthy or intricate. I have no doubt that Parliamentary Counsel could prepare them very quickly so that there would be no risk of the introduction of the legislation being delayed on that account. What I have in mind is that rather than ask Parliament to approve enabling provisions which are totally general we should indicate on the face of the Bill the main purposes of the Order in Council to be made under it. It would, of course, be for the draftsman to advise on the exact words to be used, but we envisage that rather than the Bill conferring unqualified powers to make such provision about nationality as appears necessary or expedient in consequence of the cession of Hong Kong to China it would confer these powers, including powers to amend the 1981 Act, with certain stated objects. These objects would be removing Hong Kong from the list of dependent territories in Schedule 6 to the Act, withdrawing British Dependent Territories citizenship from Hong Kong BDTCS and entitling them to acquire a new form of British nationality. The title of the new status on which we await your further views - ought in my opinion to be stated in the Bill. If necessary the precise identification of the persons affected could be left to the Order in Council, but if a suitable general description covering all the people we have in mind can be devised I would prefer this also to be mentioned expressly in the Bill.
Legislating in this way would still leave the substantive amendment of the law to be made by the subsequent Order in Council but would, in my view, avoid the risk of Parliamentary criticism that the legislation was conferring a blank cheque so far as the nationality provisions were concerned and would therefore tend to shorten rather than lengthen the debate.
I hope that the Lord President will agree that we should proceed in this way and that officials of our two Departments can continue with the urgent consultations which we have already initiated so that we can prepare draft instructions to Parliamentary Counsel accordingly.
I am copying this letter to the Lord President, the Lord Privy Seal, the Attorney General and Sir Robert Armstrong.
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624
The Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey Howe, QC, MP
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