CONFIDENTIAL
THE NATIONALITY PROVISIONS OF THE HONG KONG ACT
A DRAFT ORDER IN COUNCIL
Introduction
A
1985
It
The Hong Kong Act 1985 (c.15) received Royal assent on 4 April 1985. made provision for the ending of British sovereignty and jurisdiction over Hong Kong on 1 July 1997, in accordance with the terms of the Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong reached between Her Majesty's Government and the Government of the People's Republic of China (hereafter "The Chinese Government"). Paragraph 2 of the Schedule to the Hong Kong Act conferred power to give effect by Order in Council to the provisions of the United Kingdom Memorandum associated with the Joint Declaration. The purpose of this White Paper is to present the text of a
draft Order in Council, which is at Annex 1.
2. During the passage of the Hong Kong Bill Her Majesty's Government gave two undertakings concerning the Parliamentary handling of the
proposed Order. The first was that it would be made within a year of the passing of the Bill, subject only to Parliament's own agreement (1). The
second was that in view of the constitutional significance of the Order
it should be subject to more extended Parliamentary scrutiny than the
usual affirmative resolution procedure allows (2). Orders made under the
affirmative resolution procedure require Parliament's positive approval,
usually following a debate of one and a half hours, and cannot be
amended, but merely accepted or rejected as a whole. It is Her Majesty's
Government's intention to provide time for debates in both Houses on this
White Paper and the annexed draft Order before the draft Order is
re-presented for approval by each House of Parliament under the affirmative procedure. Her Majesty's Government will take careful note
of points raised in
1.
2.
Official Report: Volume 71, Number 43, Column 735; Volume 460, Number 46, Column 484.
Official Report: Volume 72, Number 56, Column 1069, Volume 460, Number 46, Column 503.