JOINT LIAISON GROUP
4. The main forum for implementation of the Joint Declaration is the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group (JLG). Its terms of reference are set out in Annex II to the Joint Declaration. The JLG meets at least three times a year (once each in London, Peking and Hong Kong) in plenary session. In 1988, both the British and the Chinese representatives on the JLG set up permanent offices in Hong Kong: there are frequent informal contacts between these offices at other times. The main function of the JLG is to agree on the necessary legal and practical steps required to implement the Joint Declaration and to ensure a smooth transfer of sovereignty in 1997. Much of its work is
technical in nature.
5.
The thirteenth plenary meeting of the Joint Liaison Group which was to have taken place in London on 18-21 July 1989, was postponed by the British side following the Tiananmen Square massacre. It took place, at British initative, on 27-29 September 1989 in London. The JLG has now resumed a regular pattern with meetings taking place in Hong Kong from 5-8 December, in Peking from 24-27 April, and in London from 25-28 September. Subjects currently on the agenda include the localisation and adaptation of laws, the continuation beyond 1997 of Hong Kong's international rights and obligations and the establishment of a Court of Final Appeal. Recent examples of agreement reached in the JLG include agreement in principle over future extradition arrangements between Hong Kong and relevant countries and localisation of admiralty jurisdiction and merchant shipping legislation. The next meeting of the JLG is scheduled to take place in Hong Kong from 11-14 December.
6. The Basic Law will be a constitutional charter for Hong Kong, giving legal effect under the Chinese constitution to
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