12-31-98 15:58
189 P13
2. Protecting the Bill of Rights from subsequent
infringement
As
In order to protect the Bill of Rights from subsequent erosion, the Legislative Council should provide for entrenchment of the Bill of Rights, as raised by the Law Group in its June memorandum. An entrenched Bill of Rights would be shielded from subsequent repeal or amendment by the Legislative Council. the Law Group previously stated, were Hong Kong to become party to the Covenants, the Bill of Rights would be entrenched as the domestic legislation executing Hong Kong's international obligations and thereby attain constitutional status under the Letters Patent until 1 July 1997. Alternatively, the Bill of
Rights could become entrenched by an amendment to the Letters
Patent which would restrict the Hong Legislative Council from enacting subsequent legislation that would override the Bill of
Rights.
After July 1997, the Bill of Rights would then remain
entrenched through Article 39 of the Basic Law. By entrenching
the Bill before 1997 in the manner suggested above, the Bill of
Rights should prove sufficient to meet the Basic Law's
requirement that Hong Kong laws not contravene the Basic Law.
3.
Providing for representation through popular elections
Section 13 of the Bill of Rights should be revised to
reflect the limited suffrage provided for in the Basic Law.
Section 13 currently negates the right to elect the members of the Executive and Legislative Councils despite the guarantees of
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