HKK 040/53
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
"I'M".
1 50CT 1984
DESK OFFICER
REGISTRY
CONFIDENTIAL
INUGA
PA
Action Taken
JAK
1614
Sir P Cradock
Private Secretary
LEGISLATION ON HONG KONG
FROM: A C GALSWORTHY, HKD
DATE: 4 October 1984
15
cc: PS/Mr Luce
PS/PUS
Sir J Freeland
Mr Burrows, Legal Advisers
Parliamentary Unit
Mr Wood, Legal Advisers
Mrs Radice, Protocol Department
1. I submit the first draft of a paper for Cabinet Committee on the legislation required before the Hong Kong Agreement can be
ratified.
2. There are essentially two points to be resolved on the
content of the Bill.
i) Should the transfer of sovereignty in 1997 be effected
immediately, or by subsequent Order-in-Council?
ii) Should provision be made for subordinate legislation at a
later stage to deal with the nationality problems?
A secondary point which needs to be decided is whether the paper should be put to OD(K), or directly to the Queen's Speech and Legislation Committee (QL).
3. On the transfer of sovereignty the draft paper comes down on the side of legislation to effect now a transfer to take place in
1997 rather than provision for a later Order in Council. This is
based on the argument of our Legal Advisers that there would be parliamentary pressure to make a later Order-in-Council subject to either positive or negative Parliamentary approval. This would have to be resisted, since, if an Order were subject to parliamentary procedures, it would prevent us ratifying the agreement.
This
CONFIDENTIAL
/situation