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SECTION 4(5) OF THE BRITISH NATIONALITY ACT
1. Section 4 (5) was introduced into the 1981 Act in
response to representations from Hong Kong. It is a
discretionary provision which allows the Home Secretary to
register as a British citizen a BDTC who, inter alia, is or
has been in Crown service under the Government of a
dependent territory. The then Home Secretary made clear at
the time that Section 4 (5) was intended to be used in
exceptional circumstances only.
2.
During the Second Reading debate on 19 April some
confusion arose as to whether Section 4 (5) had now been
subsumed. Mr Lloyd clarified the position in committee on
22 May when he stated that Section 4(5) would remain in
force both generally and in relation to Hong Kong:
"First, I should like to clear up the confusion, which
I think arose after an intervention by my hon Friend
the Member of Orpington (Mr Stanbrook) on Second
Reading, about section 4 (5) of the British Nationality
Act. As the Committee will know, that section allows
the Secretary of State to register as a British citizen
a British dependent territory citizen who, inter alia,
is or has been in Crown service under the Government of
a dependent territory.
Section 4(5), which covers BDTCs in other dependent
territories as well as in Hong Kong, will remain in
force both generally and in relation to Hong Kong. It is not being repealed, nor does the Bill subsume it as
far as Hong Kong is concerned.
What the Home Secretary was referring to on Second
Reading were certain special arrangements introduced to
give, in limited cases, rights of admission at the Home
Secretary's discretion to people who have ben exposed to
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