CONFIDENTIAL
A
B
Background
4.
These are two minor
amendments to the Hong Kong
constitutional documents. Our intention had been to submit
them to the Privy Council together with a more significant
amendment to provide for an increase in the official
membership of LEGCO (Mr Layden's minute of 19 March).
However Hong Kong have now told us that Unofficials are
unhappy with this proposal, and would prefer to see it
examined in the context of the 1987 Review.
Hong Kong have
therefore now asked us to defer this proposal until next
year. (Hence the deletion of Article 2. The Council will
accept proofs amended in manuscript.)
5.
However there is still a need to proceed now with
the remaining amendment to the Letters Patent. This is a
consequence of the provisions in the Joint Declaration
which enable current land leases to remain valid beyond
1997. Agreement has been reached in the Sino-British Land
Commission to remove "Colonial"
"Colonial" wording from documents the
validity of which will persist after the termination of
British sovereignty. This means that the requirements in
the Letters Patent, that grants of land shall be made in
the name of the Crown needs to be revoked.
position that all land in Hong Kong remains
until 30 June 1997 will not be affected. Sir W Harding is
writing separately to Buckingham Palace to give advance
notice of this change and to ensure that they see no
objection.
6.
The legal
Crown land
The amendment to the Royal Instructions would allow
Hong Kong to enact laws in Chinese as well as
in Chinese as well as in English or
in both English and Chinese. This is a technical change
arising from a Hong Kong
necessary to facilitate the
laws.
7.
Government
review of measures
future enactment of bilingual
It is convenient to take these two prerogative instruments at the 8 July Council together with an Order in
CONFIDENTIAL