CONFIDENTIAL
Mr Galsworthy, HKD
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m HUU 040/53 никою
RECEIVED IN REGIS.
13 DEC 1984
DESK OFFICER INDEX
PA
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1477
HONG KONG BILL:
NATIONALITY
1. I attended a meeting this morning with Parliamentary Counsel (de Waal). I was accompanied by Mr Pakenham-Walsh (Home Office) and Mr Hill.
2. We discussed paragraph 2(1) of the schedule to the draft Bill enclosed with de Waal's letter of 10 December, together with the suggested revision enclosed with his letter of 12 December. After discussion we agreed that this paragraph
should read:-
"2(1)
Her Majesty may by Order in Council make provision whereby
(a) British Dependent Territories citizenship
cannot be retained or acquired on or after the relevant date by virtue of a connection with Hong Kong; and
(b) persons who are British Dependent Territories citizens by virtue of any such connection may before that date (or before the end of 1997 if born in that year before the relevant date) acquire such new form of British nationality as is specified in the Order."
3. I suggest that this text should be incorporated in the draft Bill which is to be telegraphed to Hong Kong today. Counsel confirmed that he wishes to have the Bill printed next week in what we can reasonably regard as final form. He asked for instructions as to whether it must continue to be printed "Confidential" or can be reduced to "Restricted".
4.
I also discussed with Counsel the Secretary of State's suggestion that a fresh provision should be inserted into the Bill to indicate that the new status may not confer any right of abode in the United Kingdom. As a matter of drafting this would be a simple matter, but Mr Pakenham-Walsh repeated the Home Office's firm objection to this course. I drew attention to the words "new status" in paragraph 2(2) of the schedule and asked that the word "new" should be inserted into paragraph 2(1)(b). You will see that this has been done. On this basis I suggested, and it was agreed, that paragraph 2(2) could not be used to create a right of abode. This was because the status has to be new, and the Immigration Act 1971 only confers a right of abode on existing categories of persons. It would therefore be ultra vires the Act to use the power conferred by this paragraph of the Schedule to confer a right of abode.
CONFIDENTIAL
/5.