prohibited by law" and the resulting ambiguities. However, for the policy reasons explained above, clarity in relation to Article 22 is not desired by CAB. This precludes any redrafting of the kind we proposed for Article 22, and, therefore for the sake of consistency, the whole Bill.
(e) Reference to the LP/BL in the BOR
It was agreed that although the inclusion of the words "subject to the BL" would be unhelpful from the point of view of legal interpretation and public perception, the price would be worth paying if it secured the "prize". It was also agreed that BL would be substituted for LP at midnight, but no precise formulation was tabled in writing.
(f) The Freeze
Consideration was given to whether HKG (if forced in Legco) could accept a compromise of a one year blanket freeze only. In view of the dissolution of Legco in June 1991, it is unlikely that necessary legislative amendments will be completed within the year. However, since a number of policy departments on being advised that their legislation is inconsistent with the BOR have decided not to amend it until obliged to do so by the courts, the justification for a longer freeze period looked dubious.
4. MEETING WITH MR EHRMAN: DISCUSSION ON BOR
THIS WAS NEVER SOLELY A G HOWE
IDEA
(i)
Mr Ehrman expressed the view that legal advice from the FCO and the HKG lawyers involved in drafting the BOR as to how the BOR should be drafted had been given without regard to the political imperatives involved. I told him that FCO legal advisers were fully aware of the political constraints; our point was that, even within these constraints, a more satisfactory legal approach could be found.
(ii) Mr Ehrman said that HKG had never wanted a BOR and
that the drafting of it was an exercise in damage limitation via-a-vis the Chinese. This consideration had to prevail over legal concerns about the effectiveness of the Bill or its possible effect on the Hong Kong legal system. Our concern, I told him, was that if the Bill was not drafted in a legally coherent fashion, it might not achieve the purpose which Sir G Howe had intended, namely, the boosting of confidence in Hong Kong.
When proposing drafting improvements, we had borne at the front of our minds the importance of securing
AY 3AAN