Kin om to Hong Kong, the common law and the rules of equity, ordinances of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and subordinate legislation made under an Ordinance, and customary law. The Basic Law does not carry forward any United Kingdom law which the United Kingdom has applied to Hong Kong. In addition to the Letters Patent for Hong Kong and other constitutional provisions, this includes a considerable body of civil and commercial law (including, for example, the laws regulating merchant shipping and civil aviation) which it was convenient to apply to dependent territories rather that to expect them to employ their limited drafting resources on a replication of such detailed and extensive legislation. However, the consequence of the agreement reflected in the Joint Declaration that United Kingdom laws should not apply in the SAR is that the present Hong Kong Administration has to embark now on a large legislative programme in order to "localise" these laws. A particular issue regarding United Kingdom laws which was not addressed in the Joint Declaration or the Basic Law relates to those laws which are not directly extended to Hong Kong by a United Kingdom authority, but are applied by reference under a Hong Kong Ordinance. The Application
of English Laws Ordinance contains a schedule of a number of United Kingdom laws, mostly concerned with property, which apply by virtue of that Ordinance, and, therefore, prima facie fall within the category of saved laws. Whether this will be acceptable to the Chinese remains to be seen. The Basic Law contains machinery which would allow such laws to be disapplied; under Article 160, the Standing Committee of the NPC.
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