CONFIDENTIAL
Subsection
force
on
1(2) provides for this clause of the Bill
the exchange of
of instruments
to come into
ratification,
which
paragraph 8 of the Joint Declaration states must take place before 30 June 1985. The exact date on which instruments of ratification will be exchanged is not yet known, and will depend both on the date on which this Bill receives Royal Assent, and on the date when the
date of the exchange of
instruments of ratification will be notified in the London Gazette
in order to avoid the Secretary
of State being presented with
repeated requests to certify that date, eg for the purposes of iitigation in the UK courts
Chinese
are
ready το
ratify.
The
We
an
Some members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong remain convinced that we should deal with the termination of sovereignty by a clause
enabling an Order in Council to be made at a later stage, perhaps much nearer to 1997. This was an option that we considered earlier
in discussion with EXCO. We were well aware of the presentational
advantages in Hong Kong of withholding the Order until after the publication by the Chinese Government of the Basic Law for Hong
Kong, which must enshrine the provisions of the agreement. accordingly considered a scheme whereby ratification preceded Order in Council divesting the UK of sovereignty. The Attorney General however advised that such a scheme was acceptable if (but
only if) the Order was not in any way subject to Parliamentary
approval.
parliamentary managers agree that Parliament could indeed seek to retain control by making the Order subject to affirmative or negative procedures. Ministers therefore decided to
deal with the termination of sovereignty by a clause in the Bill
itself. Presentation apart, there is no practica! difference
between the two possible courses.
I f the Chinese were to commit
fundamental breach of the
of the agreement Parliament could be asked
to repeal the Hong Kong Act, including its
s ome
The
termination of
provisions for
s ame effect as
sovereignty. This would have the
Such
a
Given the
declining to approve an Order in Council.
however very
unlikely to arise.
reversion to China of the New Territories
to see what our action would achieve.
situation
is
the
inevitability of
in 1997, it is also hard
CONFIDENT I AL