HONG KONG
DRAFT ORDER IN COUNCIL
NOTES ON ARTICLES
ARTICLE 3: LOSS OF BRITISH DEPENDENT TERRITORIES CITIZENSHIP
1.
Article 3 provides that those people identified under
Article 2(1) as BDTCs by virtue of a connection with Hong Kong
will lose that citizenship on 1 July 1997.
2.
The UK Memorandum associated with the Joint Declaration
refers to people who are such by virtue of a connection with Hong
Kong. Paragraph 2(1) of the Schedule to the Hong Kong Act 1985
follows this wording. The provisions of Article 3 will therefore
apply not only to persons whose BDTC status derives solely from
a connection with Hong Kong; but also to persons whose BDTC statu:
derives partly from a connection with Hong Kong and partly from
a connection with another dependent territory. Such persons are
regarded as having a connection with Hong Kong for the purposes
of the Order.
3. The wording of Article 3 ensures that its provisions do no
apply to those who derive their status as a BDTC not only through
a connection with Hong Kong, but also with an entirely separate
connection with another dependent territory. Such people will
retain their BDT citizenship by virtue of that other connection.
4.
The logic is that if a person can only claim to be a BDTC
by in some way relying on his connection with Hong Kong, then
that connection should not continue to maintain his BDTC status
after 1 July 1997.