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JODOHODGESTICIDITABUFT
CONFIDENTIAL
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5.
Until now, the two Covenants have been implemented
in Hong Kong, as in the United Kingdom, through a
combination of common law, legislation and administrative
measures. This system has not been static, but has evolved
continuously through judicial interpretation of existing
legislation and enactment of new laws; through developments
in the common law; and through refinement of administrative
practices.
6.
For some time, there has been growing support in
the -community for the idea of a single piece of
legislation, a Bill of Rights, which would bring together
in domestic law all relevant rights included in the
Covenants. This idea was raised in a number of contexts,
most notably during local discussion of the first draft
Basic Law in 1987; and later, in 1988, at a meeting of the
UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva. During 1989, public
support for such a Bill increased. The Government then
decided that a draft Bill of Rights for Hong Kong giving
effect in local law to the relevant provisions of the
ICCPR, as applied to Hong Kong, should be prepared and that
the draft should be issued as a White Bill for public
This booklet contains the draft Hong Kong
consultation.
Bill of Rights Ordinance 1990.
Part II of the draft
Ordinance is called the Hong Kong Bill of Rights, and its
wording follows closely the text of the ICCPR.
CONFIDENTIAL