CCPR/C/SR.855 page 6
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United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, whose representatives were involved in the procedures. UNHCR, which shared his Government's view that comprehensive arrangements would have to be made for all non-refugees who failed to qualify for resettlement, was in touch with the Vietnamese authorities about the return of some 300 boat people who had asked to go back. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom was continuing its efforts to resettle the 16,000 boat people in Hong Kong who qualified as refugees. Action by the Hong Kong authorities to liberalize the conditions in which the refugees were living would include the lifting of restrictions on freedom of movement to enable individuals to take advantage of education, employment, vocational training and other opportunities.
19.
If there were any questions requiring a detailed knowledge of the law and practices of the 10 diverse territories which his delegation was unable to answer immediately, it would do so in writing as quickly as possible.
20. The CHAIRMAN read out section I of the list of issues to be considered by the Committee and invited the United Kingdom delegation to make its preliminary replies.
I. Constitutional and legal framework within which the Covenant is
implemented (articles 2 (2) and (3))
21.
Mr. FEARN (United Kingdom) said that, as the Committee was aware, the Covenant did not itself form part of the domestic law of the dependent territories. Although there were no examples of judicial decisions directly relating to the Covenant, if a conflict were alleged, the courts would be entitled, in accordance with common law rules of statutory interpretation, to look at the Covenant to resolve any ambiguity in domestic legislation relating to the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Covenant. Furthermore, in Bermuda, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and the Turks and Caicos Islands, the fundamental rights provisions of their respective Constitutions, which reflected the Covenant, took precedence over other domestic laws in force in those territories. If a conflict between the Covenant and domestic law were established and not remedied in the courts, the law could be amended either by local legislation in the territory or by United Kingdom legislation.
22. With regard to proposed new legislation in the dependent territories, harmony with the Covenant was achieved through the awareness of the legal advisers to the local Governments of the provisions of the Covenant and by the process of debate in local legislatures. Furthermore, Governors were constitutionally required to withhold assent and thus enactment into law of new legislation where they considered it might conflict with treaty obligations binding on the United Kingdom, until authorized to do so by the United Kingdom Government. In addition, laws enacted in dependent territories were examined by the United Kingdom Government, which had powers to require their amendment or to disallow them if they were found to conflict with the United Kingdom's treaty obligations.
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His delegation had no further information to add to that given in the second report on activities relating to the promotion of greater public awareness of the provisions of the Covenant. Since the Covenant did not have the force of law in the dependent territories, its provisions were given effect through various legal instruments. They included chapters which provided for the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms in some
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