of the Special Administrative Region (SAR) extends both to matters within the autonomy of the SAR and the rest of the Basic Law with the following distinction, namely that, where a decision of the SAR courts necessitates their interpreting provisions which concern affairs which are the responsibilities of the Central Authorities or the relationship between the CPG and the SAR, the courts are required to seek an interpretation of the relevant provision from the Standing Committee before giving final judgement. (This latter provision is comparable to Article 177 of the Treaty of Rome).
5. The affairs which are the responsibility of the CPG will include both foreign affairs and defence and, to the extent that they do not fall within these categories, the six provisions set out in Annex III of the draft Basic Law. There are also matters which relate to the relationship between the Central Authorities and the SAR, eg the functions of the CPG as regards the Chief Executive
(Articles 43, 45 and 72 (9)).
6.
Although the conferring of the power of judicial interpretation on the courts of the SAR does not affect the power of legislative interpretation of the Standing Committee under Article 67 of the PRC Constitution, circumstances in which the Standing Committee might wish to exercise the power and the practicalities of its exercise are another matter. The Standing Committee is in no way a court of appeal from the courts of the SAR and, as noted above, the power is only exercisable in a way which will conform with the Basic Law.