...UK
WK.FEP.JLG. HONGKONG.
CC Ms Barrett
HED 10 JUL 91 13:07.
CONFIDENTIAL
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Mr Galsworthy 17.
HKC241/2
MMD. *
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Referenc
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PG.17
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Ms Major
17-
MEETING WITH MISSION FROM THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS
1. The mission to Hong Kong from the International Commission of Jurists called on you at their request on 26
The June. The mission was led by Sir William Goodhart, QC. other members were The Hon. John Dowd, OC (Attorney-General for New South Wales), Mr Y M Raja Aziz Addruse (Senior Barrister of the Bar of Malaysia) and Professor Hans Heiner Kuhne (University of Trier) I attach relevant CVs. Mr Ruy Barretto (Temple Chambers, Hong Kong) who was accompanying the mission in Hong Kong, was also there.
2. At the outset you established that all that you said could be assumed to be off the record unless you said otherwise.
3. Sir William Goodhart said there were two main areas where the interests of the JLG and of the ICJ overlapped. They were: first, reporting obligations under the International Congress on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); and, second, procedures for setting up the Court of Final Appeal (CFA). You replied that the CFA was currently under discussion in the JLG and you were therefore not prepared to talk about the differences between the two sides. But on reporting obligations, the Joint Declaration (JD) was quite clear that there was an obligation to continue the implementation of the ICCPR including reporting obligations. We had not yet formally asked the Chinese side to discuss this subject, but that was the position we would take. We had set up a sub-group whose remit was to study participation of Hong Kong in international organisations, treaties and agreements. The question of participation in organisations had been more or less completed last year, and
The Chinese side had we were now turning towards treaties. been slow to respond, but we were hopeful that we would get
It was best to deal with a response from them this year. the less controversial treaties first: we were due soon, for
Human rights were of example, to discuss customs treaties. course a much more sensitive issue, and we preferred to get a mechanism for consultation up and running before dealing with them. (You later agreed with Sir William Goodhart that he would not report the point about leaving sensitive issues until later). Sir William Goodhart said that it was important to ensure the Chinese were under obligation to the United Nations and not only to their own constitution, to report under the ICCPR. They could perhaps vest that part
You said that in of their jurisdiction in the World Court. theory that would be possible, but they would not be keen to do so.
They were however under obligation to the UK, in the Mr Dowd asked if the Basic Law was contrary to the
JD.