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20 June 1990
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BILL OF RIGHTS
1.
Should we not make one further attempt with the
Governor:-
(a)
(b)
2.
to enter into proper discussions with the Chinese on the Bill of Rights; and
therefore to defer the introduction of the Bill of Rights into LegCo?
A principal purpose of the Bill of Rights is that it should carry over into 1997. It is clear that the Chinese are going to make a serious effort to upset the Bill and it is very possible that, if it is enacted, they will carry out their threat to prevent it carrying over into 1997 by action under Article 160 of the Basic Law.
3.
I would hope that if we were to enter into serious discussions with the Chinese we could assuage some of their doubts. We have identified a number of what will be their obvious areas of concern and I have proposed ways of accommodating them. To bring the Chinese on board would be of great advantage to Hong Kong and the possibility of doing so is surely worth doing something to save their face even at the expense of being seen to defer to their
interest. consulted
It is a real interest which deserves to be
see my minute of 1 December 1989.
4. If the Bill of Rights is introduced into LegCo now and passed in October it will only be immediately effective only as regards executive action.
The two-year freeze period will defer its effectiveness as regards legislation. There is much objection in Hong Kong to the freeze period and an argument could be made and used publicly that, in view of this objection, it had been concluded that the best thing to do was not to have a freeze period but to make sure that any laws which might be inconsistent with the Bill of Rights were amended before the Bill of Rights was enacted. This would involve some delay in presenting the Bill of Rights to LegCo during which we could embark on a discussion with the Chinese.
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Paul Fifoot
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CONFIDENTIAL