Kg y courts the power to order action to prevent human rights
violations or award compensation for violations that have been
committed. The Bill of Rights presently contains no such
explicit provisions.
The Law Group also called for the Rights Bill to ensure the
continuing application of the U.N. monitoring procedures mandated
by the International Covenants now applicable to Hong Kong. The
report concludes that continued international supervision is
necessary to assure the Hong Kong public that, after reversion to
China in 1997, any subsequent government will remain accountable
to the international community for compliance with the provisions
of the Covenant.
In addition, the Law Group criticized the Bill's drafters ·
for weakening the privacy rights granted under the previous
version of the Bill. The current draft exempts private
individuals and institutions from suits alleging violations of
the right to be free from unlawful attacks on one's privacy,
family, home or correspondence. The Law Group found the
detrimental consequence to citizens of such an exemption far ·
outweighs the concerns expressed by some businesses in Hong Kong
that non-exemption might implicate certain business practices
involving the use of information.
The Law Group report also called on the U.K. and Hong Kong
Governments to take the following steps:
provide for continuing international monitoring of compliance with the International Covenants in Hong Kong by (a) entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.N., and (b) providing in the Bill of Rights that Hong Kong continue to submit periodic reports to