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Job No. 166880
HANSARD//JULT3:05
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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
13 July 1988
1831
Governor. Those documents were originally drafted in the 19th century, and they gave the Governor extraordinary powers, which could be-and often were-used to give effect to orders he received from London. However, the most important of these powers have fallen into disuse, particularly since the Second World War.
For instance, the Governor has the power of veto over all legislation. And he has the power to reject the advice of the Executive Council, and take his own decisions. But all the recent Governors have accepted the well-established constitutional convention that they cannot override either Council. In short, the Governor today is a part of the Government, not an absolute source of power--although like the chief executive of the future, he still wields a great deal of power and influence.
To put this another way, the trend in recent times has been for authority to be transferred from London to Hong Kong. In its internal affairs, and in its external commercial affairs, Hong Kong already enjoys a high degree of autonomy, far more than the reader of our constitutional documents might imagine. It is important that the drafters of the Basic Law should take account of these present realities. Our future constitution should provide for the continuation and future development of our existing autonomy, and of the balance of power that serves us so well.
In reality, the most important feature of our present system of government is that no-one has supreme power. None of the organs of government has the power to override all the others. The constant search for a widely acceptable consensus between different interests has been the key to stability in Hong Kong. We must preserve it.
My third point is that the drafters of the Basic Law should be concerned about principles, but not with policies. The Basic Law will be our future constitution. Constitutions are all about the principles by which a state or territory shall be governed, about the devolution and the distribution of power, the limits of power, the rights and duties of those who exercise power and of the individual citizen.
The Basic Law should implement the promises in the Joint Declaration. But beyond the implementation of those promises, the Basic Law should not try to lay down in advance the policies which future governments should pursue. Policy will need to be decided by the government of the day in the light of unfolding circumstances. The hands of future SAR governments ought not to be tied to particular policies which may appeal now, but which could be inappropriate and burdensome and the cause of legal wrangles in times to come.
Many commentators have drawn attention to Chapter V in this connection where, for example, draft articles prescribe how the Government of the Hong Kong SAR should draw its Budget, and practise a low tax policy. I hope very much that future Financial Secretaries will be able to follow these precepts. But