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Another contentious issue is the provision in the Basic Law that no more
than 20 per cent of the members of the Legislative Council can have
foreign passports or the right of abode in foreign countries. It is not
clear just how this will be achieved but, however it is done, China's
consent will certainly be necessary.
The second of Britain's confidence-boosting measures was the passage of a
Bill of Rights. The Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance came into effect
in June last year. It incorporates most of the provisions of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and makes them
justiciable in the courts of Hong Kong. This has had a salutary effect in
Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Government, the people and the courts are today
much more conscious of human rights than before and action is being taken
to make the rest of Hong Kong's laws consistent with the Bill of Rights.
Unfortunately, China has expressed reservations on the Bill of Rights and
has announced its intention to review the legislation after 1997.
However, it is difficult to see how the Bill of Rights can be attacked on
the ground that it is not in conformity with the Basic Law since the Basic
Law stipulates that the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, on which the Bill of Rights is patterned, will remain in force in
Hong Kong after 1997.
In an attempt to entrench the Bill of Rights, the Letters Patent under
which Hong Kong is governed have been amended. A new article of the