26 November 1992
faxed 26 Nov. pla.
- and again 15/12/92
Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
D Edwards Esq
Law Officer
International Law Division
Hong Kong
Dear Dond,
London SWIA 2AH
Telephone: 071-
ныс
HKC 031/24
8
POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC MULTILATERAL TREATIES APPLIED TO HONG
KONG
·1.
I have spoken to yourself and Ms Foakes about Ms Foakes' letter to Mr Marshall, Hong Kong Department of 16 November and the papers which she kindly attached. This letter sets out some general thoughts I have on this category of treaties and some specific comments on the papers.
2.
I have no difficulty with the proposed deletion of items 15.1 and 15.2 which it is proposed should not continue to be applied to Hong Kong after 1997. The rules set out in these conventions are little used, out of date and rather general in nature. I understand that the Permanent Court of Arbitration is currently drafting new rules. Equally, I have no difficulty with the deletion of items 15.4 and 15.4(1). Hong Kong will not have any "state owned" vessels of its own after 1997. I have also no objection to the deletion of item 5.6; this does not seem to be an important convention and it would appear to be of little concern to Hong Kong. As regards item 15.20, I see no reason why this convention would be of particular use to Hong Kong after 1997 except perhaps to clarify matters for Hong Kong people bringing cases before courts in countries which are parties to this convention.
3. I have considered together with Mr Anderson, Deputy Legal Adviser, the proposal to delete items 15.12, 15.13, 15.14 and 15.15. The Hong Kong SAR will have its own shipping register. The question is whether it would be of benefit to Hong Kong and to Hong Kong registered ships that some, if not all of these treaties, were to continue to apply to Hong Kong after 1997. All these conventions are to a greater or larger extent declaratory of customary international law. The ICJ has regarded aspects of the Continental Shelf Convention and the Territorial Seas Convention as declaratory of customary international law. The High Seas Convention is a codification of customary international law and the Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resources of the High Seas is part of the corpus of international law except for the fact that it does not refer to the economic zone, a concept deriving
1
/from