CONFIDENTIAL
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370/1
From:
Date:
K J Chamberlain
Deputy Legal Adviser
4 November 1992
сс
Miss Fletcher, Royal Matters Unit
Mr Marshall, HKD
ADAPTATION OF LAWS IN HONG KONG: THE CROWN IN RELATION TO LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES
1.
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In your minute of 3 November to Miss Fletcher you asked for comments on the draft paper in Hong Kong telegram number 2605.
2.
(2)
I have some difficulty with paragraph 7 of the draft paper. My understanding is that the proposed legislation will be essentially concerned only with the question of nomenclature. No change is envisaged in the status of the land in question or its ownership. As a matter of constitutional law the Crown in right of government of Hong Kong and the "Government of Hong Kong" are one and the same entity. The "Government of Hong Kong" is merely an emanation of the Crown in right of government of Hong Kong. Thus, land which is owned by the Crown in Hong Kong will under the legislation now proposed be owned by the "Government of Hong Kong". I therefore see some difficulty in the statement in paragraph 7 that the proposed amendments "should not be taken as implying that the land or natural resources are the property of the Government". Similarly, there would be difficulty in the legislative change proposed in paragraph 7.
3. In the light of the above it might perhaps be best for paragraph 7 to be deleted from the paper. Alternatively, the paragraph could be recase so as to make it clear that no change in the current status of the land or natural resources is contemplated and the legislative amendments are concerned only with nomenclature so as to ensure continuity after 1 July 1997.
Chamberlain
K J Chamberlain
HONGKONG/marshal14.11
CONFIDENTIAL
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