CODE 18-77
Reference
"... in the Court's opinion, judicial review as limited as
that available in the habeas corpus procedure in the present case is not sufficient for a continuing confinement such as the one undergone by X. The review should ... be wide enough to bear on those conditions which, according to the Convention, are essential for the "lawful" detention of a person on the ground of unsoundness of mind, especially as the reasons capable of initially justifying such a detention may cease to exist."
3. In the very unlikely event that the Hong Kong legislation in question was to come before the Human Rights Committee established under the Covenant, it is likely, in my view, that the Committee would reach a similar conclusion to that reached by the European Court of Human Rights in the judgment to which I have referred. Indeed, it is quite possible that the Committee would have regard to the European Court's judgment in this and other similar cases.
4.
Incidentally, I have not seen the text of the Hong Kong legislation in question but I believe that paragraph 25(c) of the Memorandum at folio 115 is sufficient for present purposes.
ड
Miner
D M Edwards
25 June 1982
Legal Counsellor W44/1 233 6112