"
1
this was in line with the spirit of British Law and with
le 2
Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
3
Rights. I did not elaborate though, Sir, but went on to tell
4
5
6
on
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
you and Honourable friends this Council Professor Samuel
Finer's joke that "in England, whatever is not prohibited
by law is permitted; in Germany, whatever is not permitted
by law is prohibited; in France, whatever is prohibited by
law is still permitted, and in Russia, whatever is permitted by law is still prohibited".
Sir, I now wish to elaborate my thoughts further
and hope that you will bear with me as they are of relevance not only to the present Bill but also to the Draft Basic
Law which the Basic Law Consultative Committee of the People's Republic of China has recently released for public consultation in Hong Kong. Do not be alarmed, Sir, I am not going into
the Basic Law.
Article 19 of the said Covenant reads:
Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions
without interference.
Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression: this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.
16
17
18
19
20
1
21
22
27
23
24
25
26
27
3.
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
The exercise of the rights provided for in Paragraph
2 of this article carries with it special duties and responsibilities.
It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these
shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:
(a) For respect of the rights or reputation of
others;
(b) For the protection of national security or of
ørdre.
public order (arde public) or of public
health or morals.
Now I note Paragraphs 1 and 2 categorically upholds upbo1d
freedom
ital